He studied at the University of Bologna, and received his PhD from the University of Oregon. He has previously taught at Florida State University, the University of Oregon, Colorado College, Bucknell University, and Susquehanna University. His main research interests are humor and political satire, thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italian literature with an emphasis on political invective, and comic poetry during wartime. He published various articles on Rustico Filippi, Cecco Angiolieri, Dante, and the politicized reception of Dante during Berlusconi’s Seconda Repubblica. He is currently completing a monograph on Dante and medieval political invective in Italy and co-editing a volume on Dante and satire. X close