Nicole Ferrari

Nicole Ferrari is a Visiting Assistant Professor of French and Italian at Colby College. She holds a Ph.D. in Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work bridges literary analysis and philosophical inquiry, focusing on intersections between 19th-century French and Italian literature and Ordinary Language Philosophy.

• Research Interests: 19th-Century French and Italian Literature, Ordinary Language Philosophy, Enlightenment Notions of Governance, Natural Law and Justice, Machiavelli's Legacy in French Republican Thought, Francophone Studies.

Her research examines how Enlightenment ideals shaped literary representations of republics, virtues, and justice in works like Alessandro Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi and Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. She also explores the role of skepticism in pre-Revolutionary French thought and its resonance in Italian and Francophone contexts.