About

The Italian Research seminar is convened by DPhil students and seeks to bring together members of the sub-faculty at all levels (professors, researchers, and students), as well as anyone interested in any aspect of Italian studies. All of our events take place during term time on Mondays at the Taylor Institution Library. Timings vary; see individual events below for details.

Although the seminars are often examples of cutting-edge research, they are accessible to anyone with some knowledge of Italian literature, language, and culture, allowing for vibrant dialogue among a wide range of specialists. Our events range from seminars on recent and ongoing research, to methodological roundtables, to book presentations, to workshops on various issues connected with graduate and postgraduate life.

We often host speakers from other universities from across the globe. In recent years, our speakers have included Prof Virginia Cox (University of Cambridge), Prof Catherine Keen (University College London), Prof Corrado Bologna (Scuola Normale Superiore), Eva del Soldato (University of Pennsylvania), and Dr Rhiannon Daniels (University of Bristol), as well as current and former members from our own faculty, including Profs Emma Bond, Guido Bonsaver, Simon Gilson, Charlotte Ross, and Francesca Southerden.

We also often hold seminars in tandem with ISO (Italian Studies at Oxford), and occasionally with the Early Modern Italian Italian Seminar, Italian Poetry Today, and LEO (Leopardi Studies at Oxford). 

If you have any questions, or you would like to be in touch with the organising committee, please email italian.res-sem@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

The coordinators for 2025-2026 are Kate McKee and Victoria White.

 

Trinity Term 2026

Week 1 – April 27, 5:15 PM

Geri Della Rocca De Candal (Sapienza)

Italian Incunabula in US Collections: Paths, Patterns, and Investigation Methods

Week 3 – May 11, 5:15 PM

Graduate Work-in-Progress

Presentations from Silvia Cercarelli, Esme Hodson, Katherine McKee, and Victoria White

Week 4 – May 18, 5:15 PM

Ambrogio Camozzi Pistoja (Harvard)

Towards a Criminal History of Medieval Satire: Boccaccio, Decameron 5.10 (Sodomy, Apuleius, Forgery)

Week 7 – June 8, 12 PM

Saskia Ziolkowski (Duke)

More Mixed Feelings: Interreligious Affairs in Modern Jewish Italian Literature

Week 8 – June 15, 5:15 PM

Arielle Saiber (Johns Hopkins)

Neither Here, Nor There: Directionality in Dante's Paradiso