Ilaria Serra

Ilaria Serra is Professor of Italian and Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University, where she earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Studies. She serves as coordinator of the FAU Italian Program and faculty member in graduate programs (Master's in Comparative Literature and PhD in Comparative Studies). Her research integrates Italian American Studies into broader Italian cultural contexts, focusing on Italian cinema, literature, cultural studies, Italian American culture, Italian song history, and history of Italian immigration.

• Founded and co-leads the FAU Study Abroad Program in Venice (since 2012)
• Created digital humanities projects: Italian American Oral History Archive, Italian American Memories Documentary Archive, Floritalians
• Initiated the FAU Italian and Italian American Film Festivals
• Organizes the International Symposium 'Italy in Transit'

Her teaching innovations include courses like 'Poetic Geography of Italy' and 'Italy in Lyrics' (teaching history through music). She received FAU's highest scholarly honor twice and was knighted by the Italian Republic in 2023. In 2024, she received career recognition from FATI and awards from the Italian Language Foundation and Columbus International Award.

Selected Scientific Awards

• University Scholar of the Year (Assistant Professor, 2012)
• University Scholar of the Year (Associate Professor, 2020)
• Cavaliere della Repubblica italiana (2023)
• Premio alla Carriera (FATI, 2024)
• Teacher Recognition Award (Italian Language Foundation, 2024)
• Columbus International Award (2024)

She integrates Italian and Italian American communities through initiatives like the Italian Program Choir, 'Nonna Night' with the Order of Sons of Italy, and the 'Italy in Transit' symposium that connected 24 time zones in 2020. Her grants include EU-Jean Monnet Center of Excellence funding for transnational cultural projects.