Domenica Diraviam

Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction of Italian

Domenica Santomaggio Diraviam is currently a Visiting Professor of Instruction in Italian. Her academic background in Italian, focused on diasporic Visual Arts and Oral Histories, combined with expertise in Digital Humanities guide her research and innovative projects that emphasize the recontextualization of Italian American cultural paradigms.

Her dissertation, “Deciphering Tom DiSalvo: A First-Generation Artist Between Sicily and South Florida,” is a critical analysis of ethnic symbolism and a revelation of a newer emigrant experience that replaces the tropes of the hyphen and the melting pot with a richer and more complicated liminal space of in-betweenness. Dr. Diraviam has designed unique pedagogical resources and enduring public digital humanities projects that engage students and the community. These include the online art exhibit of select DiSalvo paintings, “Al di là delle reti / Beyond the Nets,” and a collaboratively designed digital repository, “Italian America Memories Archive/ITAMM”. Her fieldwork in South Florida and Italy have culminated in presentations at national and international conferences (including IASA, CAIS, and Italy in Transit) and publications including articles and a chapter discussing the implementation of public digital humanities in the Italian curriculum.

She is a proud alumnus of USF, having obtained her undergraduate and master's degrees in Foreign Language Education from the University of South Florida, and subsequently earning her PhD in Comparative Studies from Florida Atlantic University. She has been an educator of French and Italian since 1992, with classroom experience across learning modalities and grade levels, both on home campuses and through faculty led study abroad. Her experience and relationship with students are bolstered by her professional background as an instructional designer and certified virtual exchange educator.