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Lorraine Denman

(she/lei/elle)
  • Teaching Professor
  • Coordinator, Italian Language Program
  • Study Abroad Advisor for Italian

Education

  • EdD, School of Education, University of Pittsburgh
  • MA, Applied Linguistics, University of Pittsburgh
  • MA, Italian Language and Literature, University of Pittsburgh
  • BA, Italian and Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh

Research Interests & Fields of Study

Lorraine Denman’s research interests include student-centered curricular development and design and content-based, multiliteracies, and genre-based approaches to foreign language instruction. With her colleague, Chiara Montera, she has co-authored three open educational resource textbooks for Italian Language and Culture (ITAL 0101, 0102, and 0103), which are currently on Canvas Commons. In addition to foreign language pedagogy and second language acquisition, Denman is interested in Italian foodways and food studies, the culmination of which is an English-taught course called "Food for Thought: Italian Food Culture" (ITAL 0087) that she offers every fall semester, and Mangiare all’italiana: Italian Social Identities and Foodways (ITAL 1072), a writing-intensive advanced-level course in Italian for majors and minors. She also teaches the graduate seminar on foreign language pedagogy each fall for the Dietrich School’s French, Italian, and Russian programs and supervises the teaching assistant and part-time instructors in the Italian program.

Dedicated to improving the learning and working conditions at the University, Lorraine Denman serves on a number of committees at the school and university levels and holds other service appointments in the Pittsburgh area and beyond, including as an advisory member on the Italian American Collection at the Heinz History Center and as an officer on the American Association of Teachers of Italian regional chapter. She co-founded the Department of French and Italian’s Inclusive Practices Committee with Todd Reeser in 2016 and is committed to accessible and inclusive teaching practices in all aspects of her work.

Teaching

  • Italian Language and Culture, ITAL 0101, 0102, 0103
  • Food for Thought: Italian Food Culture, ITAL 0087
  • Italian Conversation, ITAL 0050
  • Modern and Contemporary Italy, ITAL 0113 
  • Introduction to Italian Linguistics, ITAL 1032
  • Mangiare all’italiana: Italian Social Identities and Foodways, ITAL 1072
  • Teaching of Italian/French/Russian, ITAL 2970/FR 2970/RUSS 2970

Selected Publications

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Summer 2023: Provost Office Open Educational Resource grant to create an OER on Canvas (with Chiara Montera) for Italian 0103
  • Summer 2020: Provost Open Education Resource Grant (with Chiara Montera) for Italian 0101 and 0102
  • Summer 2018: UCIS New Course Development Grant to create a 1-credit language trailer for ITAL 0087
  • Spring 2016: Tina & David Bellet Teaching Excellence Award 

Selected Service Appointments 

  • Fall 2025-present: Member on the Educational Policies Committee, University Senate
  • Fall 2025-present: Member of the General Education Reform Task Force, Office of the Provost
  • Fall 2024-present: Member representing the Humanities and the Dietrich School on the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Programs (PACUP)
  • Spring 2024-present: Vice President (Higher Ed) on the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI) Keystone Chapter
  • Fall 2019-present: Faculty liaison (Italian) to the College in High School Program, University of Pittsburgh
  • Spring 2018-present:  Member on the Dietrich School Diversity Committee
  • Fall 2017-present:  Member, Heinz History Center Italian American Collection Advisory Council 
  • Fall 2014-present:  Faculty Advisor for the student organization Italian Club 

Professional Affiliations

AAIS, AATI, NeCTFL, NeMLA