Dr. Meriel Tulante Presents Book on Author Sebastiano Vassalli in Italy

Hallmarks Program for General Education Director Dr. Meriel Tulante presented her book, “Italian Chimeras: Narrating Italy Through the Writing of Sebastiano Vassalli,” at the Biblioteca Civica Negroni in Novara, Italy, on July 7.  
 
Roberto Cicala—professor at the Catholic University in Milan and University of Pavia, as well as the head of Interlinea publishing—invited her on behalf of the Novarese Center for Literary Studies. Vassalli lived in and around Novara for almost his entire life, and he’s particularly beloved in the area. The event was characterized as an international exploration of Vassalli’s work. 

Among Dr. Tulante’s other accolades, the Hallmarks program just received a $250,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation/National Endowment for the Humanities. She serves as co-PI with Dr. Tom Schrand, Jefferson’s associate dean of general education.

“The grant, ‘Cornerstones: Learning for Living,’ aims to reinvigorate the humanities by introducing the study of transformative texts into gateway courses and creating pathways through general education that respond to students’ majors,” she explains.

Dr. Tulante also is an associate professor of Italian studies in the Jefferson College of Humanities and Sciences and teaches courses in the Hallmarks program centered around literature, film, and cultural production of various types.