Serenella Iovino is an Italian cultural and
literary theorist
Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mora ...
, and a Distinguished Professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...
. She is considered one of the main
environmental philosophers
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
of Italy.
She is a contributor to the Italian newspaper
la Repubblica
(; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...
.
Career
From 2001 to 2018, Iovino was a professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and of Modern Cultures at the
University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...
, Italy.
From 2008 to 2010, she also served as President of the European Association for the Study of Literature, Culture and Environment (EASLCE).
In 2014, Iovino was a J. K. Binder Lecturer at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
.
In 2019 Iovino became Professor of
Italian Studies and Environmental Humanities at the University of North Carolina, the first ever to obtain this double appointment. In 2024 she was named James Gordon Hanes Distinguished Professor in Humanities.
Iovino has published extensively on
ecocriticism
Ecocriticism is the study of literature and ecology from an interdisciplinary point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. It wa ...
, literature, and
environmental ethics
In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural resourc ...
. Iovino is the main proponent for material ecocriticism, a current of ecocritical thought.
Her book ''Ecocriticism and Italy: Ecology, Resistance, and Liberation'' was awarded the 2016 Book Prize of the
American Association for Italian Studies and the MLA's 2016 Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Italian Studies.
In 2025 she received the Seres Puentes Award from the Arizona State University, an academic lifetime achievement award for contributions to the field of environmental humanities.
Publications
* ''Gli animali di Calvino. Storie dall'Antropocene''. Roma: Treccani Libri, 2023.
''Paesaggio civile. Storie di ambiente, cultura e resistenza'' Milano: Il Saggiatore, 2022.
*
* ''Italy and the Environmental Humanities: Landscapes, Natures, Ecologies.'' Edited by Serenella Iovino, Enrico Cesaretti, and Elena Past. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2018.
* ''Environmental Humanities: Voices from the Anthropocene.'' Edited by Serpil Oppermann and Serenella Iovino. London: Rowman & Littlefield International, 2016.
* ''Ecocriticism and Italy: Ecology, Resistance and Liberation.'' London: Bloomsbury Academics, 2016.
* ''Material Ecocriticism.'' Edited by Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2014.
* ''Ecologia letteraria: Una strategia di sopravvivenza.'' Milan. Edizioni Ambiente, 2006 (2nd ed. 2015).
* ''Filosofie dell’ambiente. Natura, Etica, Società.'' Rome: Carocci, 2004. (Repr. 2006, 2007, 2008).
* ''Il ‘Woldemar’ di F.H. Jacobi, introduzione, traduzione e commento storico-critico.'' Padua: CEDAM, 2000.
* ''Radice della Virtù. Saggio sul ‘Woldemar’ di F.H. Jacobi''. Naples: Città del Sole, 1999.
Awards
* 2025
Seres Puentes International Award, Humanities for the Environment North American Observatory at the Global Futures Laboratory (UNESCO Bridges Programme, Arizona State University.* 2025
Green Book Premio Letterario, for ''Gli animali di Calvino. Storie dall'Antropocene'' (Treccani Libri, 2023).2023: XI Premio Nazionale di Divulgazione Scientifica "Giancarlo Dosi" (area: Humanities), for ''Gli animali di Calvino. Storie dall'Antropocene'' (Treccani Libri, 2023).* 2016: Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Italian Studies Winners for ''Ecocriticism and Italy: Ecology, Resistance, and Liberation'' (Bloomsbury, 2016).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iovino, Serenella
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Academic staff of the University of Turin
21st-century Italian non-fiction writers
21st-century Italian women writers
Environmental philosophers
21st-century Italian philosophers