Faculty

October 03, 2025

Writing New Worlds with JCU’s Professor Juliana Barbassa

Juliana Barbassa recently joined the Communication and Media Studies department. A Brazilian who has lived all over the world before coming to Rome, she now uses her extensive background in journalism to teach in the classroom at JCU.

October 03, 2025

Professor Rosa Filardi Participates in Conference on Dance Movement Therapy in Lithuania

From September 12 to September 14, 2025, JCU’s Professor Rosa Filardi recently participated in the fifth edition of the European Association of Dance Movement Therapy (EADMT) conference in Vilnius, Lithuania.

September 30, 2025

Professor David Levy Publishes New Book on Maimonides

Professor Levy recently published an Italian translation of Maimonides' philosophical commentary on Pirkei Avot (Giuntina, 2025).

September 26, 2025

JCU’s Professor Antonio Lopez Featured in Eco-literacy Guide The RePlaybook

JCU’s very own Professor Antonio Lopez has been featured in the book The RePlaybook: A Field Guide to the Climate and Information Crisis, which provides a comprehensive text for tackling climate change dialogue in the digital age.

September 16, 2025

“Overcoming the Biological Limits of Humanity:” JCU Professor Sorgner Discusses the Future of Transhumanism

In August 2025, the Italian newsmagazine L’Espresso dedicated a special issue entitled “È già futuro” (“The Future is Already Here”) to the themes of innovation and technological change. Among its featured contributions was the essay “Transumanesimo. L’identità aumenta” (“Transhumanism. Identity Expands”), written by JCU's Professor Stefan Lorenz Sorgner.

September 03, 2025

An Innovative Way Forward: Professor Riccardo Maiolini and Social Entrepreneurship

In his Social Entrepreneurship course, Professor Riccardo Maiolini teaches students to think systematically about social and environmental values and develop a socially conscious business mindset.

August 27, 2025

Purpose and Impact: Prof. Jakobsone Bellomi Guides Future Changemakers to Found NGOs

Professor Jakobsone Bellomi’s NGO Consulting Lab course adopts a holistic approach in its quest to uncover how to mainstream human rights, gender equity, diversity and environmental sustainability in the work of NGOs.

August 12, 2025

The Use of Technology for a Green and Sustainable Future: Professor Stefano Gazziano

Professor Gazziano seeks to convey to students the importance of using technology to create value and reduce environmental impact. His Technologies and Strategies for the Sustainable Enterprise course introduces students to technical approaches of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to understand how to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

August 12, 2025

Fostering Environmental Awareness Through Media: Professor Antonio Lopez

Through his vocation for ecomedia literacy, Professor Antonio Lopez motivates students to embark on the quest for environmental awareness. Each of his courses presents unique challenges and innovative solutions to the ongoing environmental crisis.

June 18, 2025

The Critical Cartography of Technology and Power: Meet Visiting Professor Vladan Joler

John Cabot University is pleased to welcome Visiting Professor Vladan Joler, teaching Special Topics in Media Studies: Critical Cartography of Technology and Power.

June 04, 2025

Professor Tobias Schildfat Interviewed by Leading Swedish Daily

John Cabot University professor Tobias Schildfat was recently interviewed about personal finance in Dagens Industri, Sweden's leading financial newspaper.

May 13, 2025

Prof. Stefan Lorenz Sorgner’s Philosophy of Transhumanism Through a Latin American Lens

JCU is pleased to announce the publication of "Latin America Replies to Transhumanism: A Symposium on Sorgner’s We Have Always Been Cyborgs."

April 03, 2025

Fighting Exploitation Hidden in Plain Sight: Professor Scarpa’s Human Trafficking and Contemporary Slavery Class

By utilizing international law, international relations, sociology, and history as tools, Professor Scarpa has built a transdisciplinary course, based on discussing and examining specific forms of exploitation in the world, which permeate modern supply chains in the global economy.

March 13, 2025

Advocacy for Future Generations: Professor Clough Marinaro and Green Criminology

Professor Isabella Clough Marinaro seeks to motivate students enrolled in her Green Criminology class to see that advocating for the environment is ultimately about fostering community, peace and social justice.

February 27, 2025

Let’s Get REAL: Meet Communications Professor Adele Tulli

Adele Tulli is a newly appointed professor of the Communications and Media Studies department. Her short and feature films, all focusing on contemporary issues, have been screened at several international festivals. Her latest feature documentary, REAL (2024), deals with the extreme digitalization of our daily lives.

February 25, 2025

The Gift of Giving Back: Professor Rodrigo Salcedo Du Bois and Environmental Economics

Professor Rodrigo Salcedo Du Bois teaches Environmental Economics with the belief that no action is small enough when it comes to building a better world.

February 12, 2025

Beyond the Great Wall with China Historian John Delury

A historian of modern China and expert on East Asia, Professor John Delury focuses on US-China relations and the Korean peninsula. In 2023, he was selected as the inaugural Tsao Family Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Rome, where he explored China’s vision of empire. He recently published the article “Can South Korea’s Democracy Survive?” in Foreign Affairs.

February 10, 2025

Environmental Archaeology and Paleoclimatology: Discovering Connections Between Past, Present, and Future

In his classes, JCU Professor Jens Koehler analyzes how humans have been impacted the environment and the climate since prehistoric times.

February 10, 2025

Alumna Cecilia Palmeri to Release Documentary on Ocean Viking Rescue Mission

JCU Communications alumna and recently appointed lecturer Cecilia Palmeri traveled for two weeks on the Ocean Viking, a Norwegian humanitarian ship chartered by the SOS Méditerranée organization for the rescue of life at sea in the Mediterranean. While on board, Cecilia documented the crew’s humanitarian work through photo and video content, which she is currently editing into an upcoming documentary.

February 04, 2025

Through the Lens of Photography: Professor Federica Valabrega

Federica Valabrega is a Rome-born photographer and journalist. Throughout her career, she has worked with publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone USA. Currently a professor of photojournalism at JCU, Valabrega inspires students to explore the emotional depth of images and continues to work on personal projects addressing environmental and social issues.

January 29, 2025

Uncovering the Past and Shaping the Future with Professor Emily Hurt

Professor Emily Hurt is a scholar of Classical Studies with a passion for ancient Mediterranean exploration. Originally from Rhode Island, she moved to Italy in 2019, where she discovered John Cabot University and joined the faculty as a full-time Classical Studies professor.

January 27, 2025

Professor Della Ratta’s GEN_ Premieres at Sundance Film Festival

Communications and Media Studies Professor Donatella Della Ratta’s latest project, the movie GEN_, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Co-authored with director Gianluca Matarrese, the documentary stems from Della Ratta’s research on hormonal treatments at a public hospital in Milan.

November 22, 2024

Professor Silvia Giagnoni Publishes New Novel, Alabama Hunt

Communications professor Silvia Giagnoni just published her latest Italian-language novel Alabama Hunt (Alter Ego, 2024). The book was presented at the Biblioteca Lazzerini in Prato on November 7 with the participation of author Giorgio Van Straten, former director of the Italian Cultural Institute in New York City. It was also presented on November 9 at the Centro Pecci Books Festival in Prato by author Roberto Venturini, editor of the novel.

November 18, 2024

Professor Driessen Presents Research at International Conference on Humanitarian Islam in Indonesia

Professor Michael Driessen, Director of JCU's MA program in International Affairs, recently travelled to Indonesia to give an address at an international conference of political scientists and scholars of Islam and democracy titled “Nahdlatul Ulama and Humanitarian Islam.”

November 05, 2024

The Mental Health Impacts of Prejudice and Discrimination: Meet Psychology Professor Angelo Brandelli Costa

Angelo Brandelli Costa began teaching psychology at John Cabot University in Fall 2024. Born in Brazil but with Italian origins, he has dedicated his life to teaching and research in the field of psychology with a focus on sexuality, prejudice, and discrimination.

October 15, 2024

“Work: Profit or Person?”: JCU Welcomes Father Cassian Folsom for a Lecture on Monastic Tradition

Father Cassian Folsom, Order of Saint Benedict, founder of the Abbey of St. Benedict on the Mountain (Norcia, Umbria) and professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm in Rome gave a talk titled Work: profit or person? Insights from the Monastic Tradition.

October 10, 2024

Professor Will Schutt Wins Prestigious Poetry Translation Prize

JCU Creative Writing professor Will Schutt has won the Joseph Tusiani Italian Translation Prize for his translation of Brief Homage to Pluto and Other Poems by Fabio Pusterla.

October 03, 2024

In Conversation with Studio Art Professor Catherine Biocca

Catherine Biocca was born in Rome, Italy, where she earned her BA in Political Science. She studied fine arts at the Düsseldorf Art Academy, and she was a resident at the Postgraduate program “Rijksakademie van beeldende Kunsten” in Amsterdam. Her work was showcased in several international exhibitions, and most recently she was awarded the ALA Art Prize.

June 13, 2024

Stories Waiting to Be Told: Meet Professor Silvia Giagnoni

Born in Prato, Tuscany, Professor Silvia Giagnoni is a writer, activist, and media scholar who began teaching in JCU’s Department of Communication and Media Studies in Fall 2021.

June 05, 2024

A Commitment to Excellence: Professor Sergio Scicchitano

Originally from Catanzaro, a city in the Calabria region in the south of Italy, Professor Sergio Scicchitano teaches Economics at JCU, where he is currently the Chair of the Economics Department. An applied economist, he has over 15 years of experience as a teacher, researcher, and policy analyst.

February 14, 2024

Finding Your Why: Professor Thomas Hope

Born in London, Professor Thomas Hope joined JCU’s Department of Psychological and Social Sciences in 2023.

January 26, 2024

JCU Alumnus and Professor Mattia Maglione Co-translates Oliver Twist

JCU alumnus and English professor Mattia Maglione recently co-translated Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens into Italian with translator Livio Crescenzi. The translation is called Le Avventure di Oliver Twist (Mattioli 1885, 2023).

February 27, 2023

Meet Inaugural Director of the Upcoming MA in International Affairs Professor Michael Driessen

Professor Michael Driessen was recently appointed inaugural Director of the soon to be launched MA in International Affairs.

September 28, 2022

Italian and US Ambassadors Discuss Transatlantic Relations at JCU

On September 20, 2022, John Cabot University’s Department of Political Science and International Affairs hosted a workshop on Italy, the United States and the New Transatlantic Moment, in collaboration with the Centro Studi Americani in Rome.

September 08, 2022

Meet Professor James Gardner, Chair of New Art and Design Department

Studio Art Professor James Gardner has recently been appointed Chair of the new Art and Design Department at JCU. In 2018, Professor Gardner was named one of London’s Apollo magazine’s “40 under 40 in the Art World.” He has been working at JCU since 2019, and he will be teaching Introduction to Printmaking, Painting, Foundation in 3D Art and Design, and Experimental Drawing in Fall 2022.