David P. Bénéteau, Ph.D.

Professor of Italian and Director of Italian Studies
Department of Languages Literatures and Cultures

My main interests are in Medieval and early Renaissance Italian Literature.  I specialize on early prose translations into Italian from old French, and I have published a critical edition of a text composed in Florence in 1313 entitled "Li fatti de' Romani", (The Deeds of the Romans). I have been at Seton Hall since 1992.  I grew up in Italy, and then I lived ten years in French Canada before I received my Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.  I have since lived two years in China in different periods.

Aside from teaching Italian in all areas (literature, theater, melodrama, language), I have also taught in the medieval colloquium of the Honors Program; Great Books in English; Core 1101, The Journey of Transformation; and Core 3101, Engaging the World:  Meeting the Other.  I was visiting professor of American Literature in China, at Wuhan University.  I was Chair of the Faculty Senate for three years, Chair of the Faculty Guide Committee, Director of Liberal Studies and of numerous other committees.

Now a full professor, I direct the interdisciplinary Italian Studies program, comprising of six faculty and six part-time adjunct professors.