Aria Cabot

Aria Zan Cabot is the director of the World Languages and Literatures Teaching and Technology Center and an adjunct instructor of Italian. She holds a Ph.D. in Italian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has experience developing and teaching foreign language, literature, and culture courses in both traditional face-to-face and online formats. Prior to joining SMU, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian at Truman State University. She spent five years studying and working in Italy as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and as the Resident Director of a study abroad program in Florence, Italy.

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Research Interests 

• Early Modern autobiography
• Women writers from the Medieval through the Romantic period
• Travel writing in Europe from the Grand Tour to today
• Transvestism and gender identity in Early Modern literature
• Second-language aquisition and pedagogy
• Proficiency-based instructio
• Onnline curriculum development and assessment

Publications and Presentations

• “Sensibility, Self-Control, and Friendship in the Writings of the Princess of Carignano, Caluso and Alfieri” (in press). Arts et Savoirs. Entre le corps et l’esprit: langages et savoirs concurrents. (2018). Article.
• “Autopsy-turvy: Representations of Women Readers in Eighteenth-Century Italy.” The 44th Annual Meeting of the South Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies: The Eighteenth Century in Perspective. Dallas, TX, 21-23 February 2019.
• “Applying Best Practices in Online Course Design to Your On-Campus Courses.” Teaching & Technology Brown Bag Series, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, Southern Methodist University, October 9, 2018.
• “Italian Conversation Partners in Online & Face-to-Face Courses.” ACTFL 2018 Convention, November 16-18, 2018. New Orleans, Louisiana. Roundtable presentation.
• “Building a Post-Secondary World Languages Online Curriculum: A Case Study.” ACTFL 2018 Convention, November 16-18, 2018. New Orleans, Louisiana. Paper presentation.
• “Global Approaches to Italian Studies: The Mediterranean and East Africa.” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS) Annual Convention, June 2018. Sorrento, Italy. Chair of panel.
• “Incipit vita nova: The new life of De Sica’s Bicycle Thief in American Cinema and Television, from Amexicano (2007) to A Better Life (2011) and Master of None (2015-).” American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS) Annual Convention, June 2018. Sorrento, Italy. Paper presentation.

Courses Taught

• ITAL 1401
• ITAL 1402
• ITAL 1601
• ITAL 2401