Faculty Profile
Nicoletta Marini Maio
(she/her/hers)Professor of Italian and Film Studies; Director of Mosaics; John J. and Ann Conser Curley Chair in Global Education (2007)
Contact Information
Bosler Hall Room 219
717-245-1592
Bio
Professor Marini-Maio completed her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in Italian cinema. She is the founding Editor of the international open-access peer reviewed journal gender/sexuality/italy. Her main fields of research are film studies and Italian cinema, particularly the intersections between politics, gender, cultural representations, popular culture, the narrative mode, and collective memory. She recently published a book on Silvio Berlusconi in cinema. Her monograph on the representation of left-wing terrorism in Italian film and theatre is near to completion. In addition, she published her research on the "decamerotici," a series of movies inspired by Boccaccio's Decameron produced in Italy in the 1970s, and on "Winx Club," an international comic strip and video series for young girls created in Italy. She has published articles on Italian cinema and theatre, Italian teaching pedagogy, and technology-enhanced language learning. In this areas, she has also co-edited the scholarly volumes "Set the Stage! Teaching Italian through Theater" (Yale University Press, 2009) and "Dramatic Interactions" (Cambridge Scholars, 2011). At Dickinson, where she is the Director of the Mosaics Programs, she is sharing with her students her passion for Italian culture and film and media studies. She is the Vice President of the American Association for italian Studies.
Education
- B.A., University of Perugia, Italy, 1986
- M.A., University of Rome, 1998
- M.A., University of Pennsylvania, 2001
- Ph.D., 2006
2025-2026 Academic Year
Fall 2025
FMST 101 Intro to Film Studies
NOTE: Students in this class will also have required half-hour group appointments on Wednesdays sometime between 7-10pm.
FMST 500 Independent Study
ITAL 550 Independent Research
Spring 2026
WGSS 301 Fascism and Film
Cross-listed with FMST 310-01 and ITAL 323-01. Taught in English. In this course, we will explore the narratives of fascism in cinema from the 1920s onwards. The infamous slogan "cinema is the most powerful weapon" was coined by fascist dictator Mussolini who understood how the media could create consensus and control. We will begin our analysis from the Italian cinema produced before and during fascism by directors Camerini, Gallone, and Brignone: their cinema revolves around a fantasy of masculinity associated with racial and ethnic superiority, in contrast to the feminine sphere of reproduction, pliability, and madness. We will then examine the shift to selective memories of victimization and rejection in postwar antifascist films by directors such as Bertolucci, De Sica, Wertmuller, Fellini, Cavani, Taviani, and Spielberg. These films characterize fascism through symbols of violence, immorality, and instability: from the policing of national and sexual boundaries to man-to-man bonding and the fear of homosexuality, and images of Nazi and fascist eroticism. Finally, through the analysis of works by directors such as Scola, Benigni, Bellocchio, and Tarantino, we will explore how cinema continues to intercept the cultural configurations that fascism has constructed of itself, the system(s) of power it has created, and the ur-fascist myths still present in western societies. The FLIC session in Italian (Wednesday, 11:30 - 12:30pm) is offered for Italian minors/majors, INBM majors, and INST majors who have completed ITAL 231 or equivalent.
FMST 310 Fascism and Film
Cross-listed with ITAL 323-01 and WGSS 301-03. Taught in English. In this course, we will explore the narratives of fascism in cinema from the 1920s onwards. The infamous slogan "cinema is the most powerful weapon" was coined by fascist dictator Mussolini who understood how the media could create consensus and control. We will begin our analysis from the Italian cinema produced before and during fascism by directors Camerini, Gallone, and Brignone: their cinema revolves around a fantasy of masculinity associated with racial and ethnic superiority, in contrast to the feminine sphere of reproduction, pliability, and madness. We will then examine the shift to selective memories of victimization and rejection in postwar antifascist films by directors such as Bertolucci, De Sica, Wertmuller, Fellini, Cavani, Taviani, and Spielberg. These films characterize fascism through symbols of violence, immorality, and instability: from the policing of national and sexual boundaries to man-to-man bonding and the fear of homosexuality, and images of Nazi and fascist eroticism. Finally, through the analysis of works by directors such as Scola, Benigni, Bellocchio, and Tarantino, we will explore how cinema continues to intercept the cultural configurations that fascism has constructed of itself, the system(s) of power it has created, and the ur-fascist myths still present in western societies. The FLIC session in Italian (Wednesday, 11:30 - 12:30pm) is offered for Italian minors/majors, INBM majors, and INST majors who have completed ITAL 231 or equivalent.
FMST 310 From Neorealism/Global Screens
Cross-listed with ITAL 400-01. This seminar traces the evolution of Italian cinema from Neorealism in the aftermath of World War II to the diverse, globally networked productions of the 21st century. Through landmark films and key critical debates, we will investigate how Italy's shifting political landscapes, socio-economic transformations, and cultural identities have shaped cinematic narratives and styles over the past eight decades. We will study major movements-Neorealism, auteur modernism, commedia all'italiana, genre cinema (spaghetti western, giallo/horror), political cinema of the "Years of Lead," and contemporary auteur works-alongside the industrial, technological, and institutional frameworks that enabled them. Readings and discussions will situate each film within its historical context while also analyzing cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing, sound, and performance. Specifically, we will focus on how form and history intersect, from postwar location realism to contemporary digital hybridity.
ITAL 323 Fascism and Film
Cross-listed with FMST 310-01 and WGSS 301-03. Taught in English. In this course, we will explore the narratives of fascism in cinema from the 1920s onwards. The infamous slogan "cinema is the most powerful weapon" was coined by fascist dictator Mussolini who understood how the media could create consensus and control. We will begin our analysis from the Italian cinema produced before and during fascism by directors Camerini, Gallone, and Brignone: their cinema revolves around a fantasy of masculinity associated with racial and ethnic superiority, in contrast to the feminine sphere of reproduction, pliability, and madness. We will then examine the shift to selective memories of victimization and rejection in postwar antifascist films by directors such as Bertolucci, De Sica, Wertmuller, Fellini, Cavani, Taviani, and Spielberg. These films characterize fascism through symbols of violence, immorality, and instability: from the policing of national and sexual boundaries to man-to-man bonding and the fear of homosexuality, and images of Nazi and fascist eroticism. Finally, through the analysis of works by directors such as Scola, Benigni, Bellocchio, and Tarantino, we will explore how cinema continues to intercept the cultural configurations that fascism has constructed of itself, the system(s) of power it has created, and the ur-fascist myths still present in western societies. The FLIC session in Italian (Wednesday, 11:30 - 12:30pm) is offered for Italian minors/majors, INBM majors, and INST majors who have completed ITAL 231 or equivalent.
ITAL 400 From Neorealism/Global Screens
Cross-listed with FMST 310-02. This seminar traces the evolution of Italian cinema from Neorealism in the aftermath of World War II to the diverse, globally networked productions of the 21st century. Through landmark films and key critical debates, we will investigate how Italy's shifting political landscapes, socio-economic transformations, and cultural identities have shaped cinematic narratives and styles over the past eight decades. We will study major movements-Neorealism, auteur modernism, commedia all'italiana, genre cinema (spaghetti western, giallo/horror), political cinema of the "Years of Lead," and contemporary auteur works-alongside the industrial, technological, and institutional frameworks that enabled them. Readings and discussions will situate each film within its historical context while also analyzing cinematography, mise-en-scène, editing, sound, and performance. Specifically, we will focus on how form and history intersect, from postwar location realism to contemporary digital hybridity.