Donatella Melucci was born and raised in Italy. She earned her Laurea in Lingue e Letterature Straniere from the University of Bari, Italy, and received a doctorate in English Rhetoric/Composition & Linguistics from Arizona State University where she taught for many years. She is now a Teaching Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Her field of specialization is methodologies for teaching Italian as a second/foreign language. Her studies have also focused on the use of technology in foreign language classes. Elissa Tognozzi, Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, is Senior Lecturer SOE of Italian and Director of the Language Program. Her principal field of research and teaching is second-language acquisition. Her interests also include teaching culture, Renaissance literature and teaching with technology. She is co-author of two Italian textbooks published by Cengage Learning, Piazza and Ponti and has published articles on teaching with technology. Her most recent research study assessed learning outcomes in three different teaching environments: the traditional classroom, the hybrid classroom and the fully online classroom. She earned the AATI Distinguished Service Award in 2015 and the honor of Cavaliere conferred by the Italian Government in 2005.
