Áine O’Healy, professor of Italian in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and director of the humanities program at Loyola Marymount University’s Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, has received a Fulbright Inter-Country grant to teach at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” next spring.
O’Healy, who also directs LMU’s Study Abroad program in Rome, will teach a doctoral seminar in gender studies and will co-teach an advanced undergraduate course on the application of post-colonial theory to issues of gender, race, and media representation. She earned a doctorate in Italian, then went to film school and developed an interest in media and cultural studies.
“The main focus of my research over the past several years has been film and media in Italy,” she said. O’Healy is completing a book on contemporary Italian cinema that is scheduled to be published next year.
Fulbright Inter-Country grants encourage cultural exchange between countries and O’Healy is happy to be returning to a country and city that she loves.
“I lived in Rome when I was a young student and went to the University of Rome before I immigrated to the U.S.,” said O’Healy, who was born in Ireland. “I have returned to Rome every year since then, so I have a long-term relationship with the city.” While modern life has done a lot to destroy some of Rome’s luster, she says “it remains one of the most beautiful cities in the world.”
Teaching at the University of Rome “La Sapienza” will provide a stark contrast to LMU. The campus, the largest in Europe and one of the oldest, has about 140,000 students. “It is not as cozy as LMU,” O’Healy said, “but I will be teaching in Italian and teaching Italian students, so there will be a very different pedagogical environment.”
When the semester ends in May, O’Healy will stay in Rome as the on-site coordinator for LMU’s Study Abroad Program in Rome this summer.
