His current research includes projects on the imaginative making of place in modern and contemporary American poetry; electronic and digital mediations of modern and contemporary American poetry; and the cultural and geographical dimensions of Italian-American literature and film. He is also working on manuscripts for a collection of lyric poems along with an epic sequence. Dr. Cocola is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, essays, and a book of poetry. He earned his Ph.D. in English at the University of Virginia and earned his A.B. from Harvard College. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, Dr. Cocola was the Humanities Dean at The American School of Tangier, Morocco, and was a Stowe-Harvard Fellow at the Stowe School, Buckinghamshire, England.