Dr. Alyssa Falcone has been teaching Italian language and culture at Loyola since 2022. At Loyola, she serves as the faculty moderator for Italian Club, professor and advisor for Messina, and coordinator of the annual Italian Week. Prior to her appointment at Loyola, she taught at Youngstown State University, the University of Alabama, and George Mason University. She completed her doctoral degree at Johns Hopkins University, where she specialized in early modern (medieval/Renaissance) Italian literature and also taught courses on Italian American culture. Her dissertation focused on the attempts of 16th- and 17th-century writers to "purify" famous works of Italian literature 鈥� namely Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron 鈥� in times of heavy literary censorship by the Church. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, doing yoga, playing trivia and word games, traveling, and spending time with her family
Education
- BA, Gettysburg College
- MA, Boston College
- PhD, Johns Hopkins University
Courses taught
- IT 101-104
- IT 202: The Living Language
Areas of Specialization
- Medieval/Renaissance Italian Literature
- The Literature of Migration
- Italian-American Culture
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
- Falcone, Alyssa, and Paolo Frasc脿. 鈥淎ppunti sull鈥檌nsegnamento della diaspora italiana nel Nordamerica anglofono.鈥� Cultura & Comunicazione, 2022, Vol. 20: 52-56.
- Falcone, Alyssa. 鈥淭eaching the Plague in Times of Worry: A Critical Look at Early Modern Literature in the COVID-19 Classroom.鈥� Sixteenth Century Journal, 2020 (Special Supplement), Vol. 50: n.p.
Book Reviews
- Review of David Lummus, ed. The Decameron Sixth Day in Perspective (University of Toronto Press, 2021). Speculum, 98.4 (2023): 1278-1279.
- Review of Marilyn Migiel, The Ethical Dimension of the Decameron (University of Toronto Press, 2015). Modern Language Notes, 132.1 (2017): 244-46.
- Review of Barbara Torelli Benedetti, Partenia, A Pastoral Play: A Bilingual Edition, ed. and trans. Lisa Sampson and Barbara Burgess-Van Aken (Iter Inc., 2013). Sixteenth Century Journal, XLV.4 (2014): 1063-65.
Other Publications
Olson, Kristina M. Learning Italian: How to Understand and Speak a New Language. (The Great Courses, 2020). Workbook Co-Author.
Fellowships, Grants, and Awards
- MAECI (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation) Grant, 2023, 2024,
2025
Center for the Humanities, Loyola University, Small Grant ($1,500), 2023, 2024; Medium Grant ($3,000), 2026 - Libra Award for Outstanding Advisor to Student Organization, Youngstown State University, 2020
- Mason Core Award for Excellent Teaching (ITAL 325), George Mason University, 2018
- Dean鈥檚 Teaching Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University, 2016
- Travel Grant, Singleton Center Summer Research Fellowship (Fano, Italy), Johns Hopkins University, 2016
- Visiting Research Scholar, Oxford University (Oxford, UK), 2014
- Travel Grant, Singleton Center Summer Research Fellowship (Florence, Italy), Johns Hopkins University, 2012
- Gilman Graduate Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University, 2011-2017
- Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Boston College, 2009-2011
Selected Conference Presentations
- Roundtable Discussant, 鈥淭eaching the Plague in Times of Worry.鈥� Fiesole: A Digital Early Career Symposium, Zoom, May 2020.
- 鈥淔ool Me Twice: Examining Trust Inside and Outside of the Decameron.鈥� American Boccaccio Association Conference, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 2019.
- 鈥淔emale Gender and Sexuality in the Decamerone Spirituale (1594): From 鈥榣usinghevoli femine鈥� to 鈥榥obilissime Donzelle.鈥欌�� Renaissance Society of America Conference, Toronto, Canada, March 2019.
- 鈥溾�楽he Who Does Not Speak, Does Not Sin鈥�: Silencing Female Voices in 16th-Century Italian Literature.鈥� Ninth Annual University of Alabama Languages Conference, University of Alabama, February 2019.
- 鈥淏occaccio Spirituale: Overhauling the Decameron in the Name of Religion.鈥� American Boccaccio Association Conference, Duke University, 30 September-2 October 2016.
- 鈥淏occaccian Economies: Merchants in and Merchants of the Decameron.鈥� Renaissance Society of America Conference, Berlin, Germany, March 2015.
- 鈥溾�榃omen鈥檚 Lib鈥� and Feminine Therapies: Storytelling as Prophylaxis for Female Readers of the Decameron?鈥� Therapeutic Genres of Art and Literature in Early Modern Europe, 1350鈥�1700, Graduate Seminar and Collaborative Research Project with Johns Hopkins and Technische Universit盲t Dresden, Dresden, Germany, March 2015.
- 鈥淏ecoming Boccaccio: Marketing the Decameron in the 16th Century.鈥� Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, New Orleans, LA, October 2014.
- 鈥淭he Aldine Decameron of 1522, 鈥榥uovamente stampato con tre novelle aggiunte鈥�: An Analysis of the Three Novelle Falsely Attributed to Boccaccio in the 16th Century.鈥� Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 2013.
Invited Talks
- 鈥淔ool Me Twice: Deception, Gaslighting, and Trickery in Medieval Italian Literature.鈥� Loyola University MLL Teatime Talks, October 2025.
- 鈥淩e-Imagining Dante: Modern Adaptations of the Divine Comedy and their Practical Uses in the Literature Classroom.鈥� Loyola University MLL Teatime Talks, February 2025.
- 鈥淐rucified in Concrete, Sanctified in Steel: Religious Representations of Workplace
Tragedies of Italian Americans in Art, Literature and Film.鈥� Loyola University MLL
Teatime Talks, September 2024.
鈥淐olumbus: Italian American Anti-Hero?鈥� Loyola University, October 2023. - 鈥�The Decamerone Spirituale (1594) and the Gerotricamerone (1745): A Critical Look at the Decameron, Transformed.鈥� American Boccaccio Association: The Virtual Brigata, Zoom, December 2020.
Conference/Event Organization & Related Activity
- Co-organizer, Italian Week, Loyola University, 2023, 2024, 2026.
- Co-organizer, Modern Languages & Literatures Essay Contest, Loyola University, 2023, 2025.
- Lead Organizer, Graduate Conference 鈥淰ERSUS: Antagonism, Self-Criticism and Hostility in Literature and Art,鈥� Department of German & Romance Languages & Literatures, Johns Hopkins University, September 2016.
- Co-organizer, Graduate Conference 鈥淐rossing Over,鈥� Department of Romance Languages & Literatures, Boston College, March 2011.
University Service
- Faculty Co-Advisor of Phi Sigma Iota Honors Society
- Faculty Moderator of Italian Club
- Italian Language Coordinator
- Messina Undergraduate Core Advisor