Moby-Dick: from ‘Curiosity’ to ‘Classic

Giorgio Mariani is Full Professor of Anglo-American Languages and Literatures at
the Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies of the Sapienza
University of Rome. Previously, he taught at Rutgers University (where he also
earned his Ph D in English) and the University of Salerno. His research has focused
on 19th century American literature (especially Herman Melville and Stephen
Crane), on the relationship between war, violence and literature, on contemporary
Indian-American literature. In addition to having participated in dozens of
international and national conferences, he has lectured in numerous Italian and
foreign universities. He was Visiting Professor at the École norma supérieure in
Lyon, and (numerous times) Visiting Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign, as well as a member of the Faculty of the Institute for the Future of
American Studies at Dartmouth College. He was president of the I.A.S.A.
(International American Studies Association) from 2011 to 2015. With Donatella
Izzo he directs OASIS (Oriental American Studies International School) as well as
the editorial series "Le Balene" (La Scuola di Pitagora) and "Studies in American
Literature and Culture" (Sapienza Università Editrice) . He is editor-in-chief of RIAS
—The Review of International American Studies and a member of the Ácoma.
Rivista internazionale di studi nordamericani (of which he was co-editor from 2001
to 2021).