Carmen is the Department Head of Languages at La Scuola International School in San Francisco. In her current role, she creates and aligns language curriculum for the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme in Italian, Spanish and English. Before joining La Scuola in 2020, Carmen served for several years as Italian Language Coordinator and Continuing Lecturer in the Department of French and Italian at the University of California, Davis. She teaches Italian language classes of all levels, and various literature and culture courses literary genre, translation, food, history and culture in Italy. Carmen earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Italian at the University of California, Los Angeles in June 2013. During her tenure at UCLA, Carmen taught a number of Italian language classes ranging from elementary to advanced levels, courses in Italian literature, film and critical theory, as well as acted as a guest lecturer for the UC “Fiat Lux” program.

Carmen’s research interests include Italian and Italian American literature and film, contemporary Italian feminist thought, gender studies, Italian cultural studies, and language pedagogy. Currently, Carmen is exploring the intersection of International Baccalaureate Programming, language immersion and the Reggio Emilia Approach to create innovative and engaging coursework for young people.