This is a tightly cropped photo of Professor Annelli interacting with students in a small classroom setting. He is smiling and gesticulating with his arms and hands as though he has just invited the students out of frame to respond to a question posed in the target language and subsequently shares in the mutual satisfaction of their response.

Dr. Carlo Annelli

Assistant Professor of Italian

Truman State University

Baldwin Hall 254

Email:

cannelli@truman.edu

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Salve, sono Prof. Carlo Annelli

Following a prior career in IT support and consulting, I pursued graduate study in Italian through Middlebury College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I have served as Assistant Professor of Italian (NTT) at Truman State University in Missouri since 2017. As the sole faculty member in the Italian program, I lead language courses at the elementary, intermediate and advanced levels as well as courses in English on essential facets of Italian literary and cultural history. Balancing rigor with accommodation, extensive tech experience with consummate humanism, I am driven to support today's university students in both traditional and innovative ways. In 2019, I wrote Figurati! An Economical Approach to Elementary Italian, an accessible, meticulously-scaffolded introductory language textbook I provide digitally to all enrolled students for free.

Figurati!

This image shows an assortment of pages from the Figurati! textbook to highlight the author's meticulous attention to content, layout and graphic design.

Education

2017

Ph.D. in Italian, minor in Comparative Literature

University of Wisconsin-Madison

2010

M.A. in Italian

Middlebury College

2005

B.A. in Italian, minor in Medieval Studies

Indiana University

Courses

ITAL 101: Elementary Italian I
ITAL 102: Elementary Italian II

CML 429: Accelerated Elementary Italian
ITAL 201: Intermediate Italian I
ITAL 202: Intermediate Italian II

CML 429: Intermediate-Advanced Italian
ITAL 225: Italian Film
ITAL 301: Italian Conversation and Composition
ITAL 324: Italian Civilization I
ITAL 326: Italian Theatre
TRU 110: Self and Society Seminar: Digital Selfhood
INDV 150: Interdepartmental Studies Seminar: Elena Ferrante
JINS 300: Cultural Crossroads: Florence
JINS 3002: The World of the Divine Comedy
ROML 490: Romance Language Capstone Experience

This photo shows Professor Annelli standing at a podium addressing a large group of visiting high school students and their teachers during a plenary session at the Language Festival in 2018.

Comments

The following comments are a verbatim sampling of anonymous student course evaluations for a variety of courses offered in recent years:

 

"I think Professor Annelli is an exceptional professor and puts his students before himself. His giving and upbeat character allowed the class to be taught in a way that was easy to comprehend and follow along with. He is extremely generous in many ways and I am grateful for that. There are not many professors who care and give as much as Professor Annelli. Truman State should be grateful to have a professor of his caliber."
Elementary Italian I, Fall 2023

 

"Professor Annelli cares a lot about what he does and his students. It should be noted that he wrote the textbook and does not require students to pay for it. The accommodations he makes for students to feel comfortable and learn effectively are excellent. Truman should be glad to have him as a professor at their institution."
Elementary Italian II, Spring 2024

 

"I think that Dr. Annelli is a wonderful professor and comes into lecture everyday with an energy that a lot of other professors simply don't. He is truly passionate about the language and is always willing to help and accommodate students. He has plenty of available office hours and is happy to answer questions."
Elementary Italian II, Spring 2024

 

"The instructor has been beneficial and patient in helping me learn in and outside of class time. He truly shows he cares about all of the students, their well-being, their grades, and their success in learning Italian. He has made class engaging."
Intermediate Italian I, Fall 2023

 

"I enjoyed Professor Annelli's teaching style immensely. He created a welcoming and safe learning environment which helped me to ask the questions I wanted without fear. In addition, he was able to adapt to what the class needed rather than what he wanted to do. When he realized that the class was confused he was took extra time to ensure everyone understood. In addition, exams and homework packets were challenging and relevant to the material covered during class time. Lastly, I enjoyed how Professor Annelli plays piano music during exams! It helps with my anxiety around test-taking and its one less thing I have to be worried about before a big exam."
Intermediate Italian I, Fall 2024

 

"Professor Annelli is a kind hearted, enthusiastic teacher! I changed my degree from a BS to a BA because I felt confident in learning with him, and enjoyed the material. Give him a raise!"
Intermediate Italian II, Spring 2025

 

"Great class. He was very enthusiastic and open to discussion."
Italian Film, Fall 2023

 

"I did not expect to like this class, but it ended up being one of the most enjoyable classes I have taken thus far! I look forward to taking more classes with Dr. Annelli in the future."
Italian Civilization I, Spring 2024

 

"He has been one of the best teachers I have had at Truman and genuinely cares for his students."
Italian Theatre, Spring 2024

 

"I was taking this course as it killed three birds with one stone. It was JINS, WE, and intercultural. I expected to despise this course. I expected to find no interest in the topics discussed. Professor Annelli made this course fun, engaging, and even interesting. I am very glad I took this course, not just because of all the requirements it knocked out. Professor Annelli is absolutely wonderful at his job and deserves the world for being able to turn such a boring topic (in my opinion) into something engaging and interesting for students who previously had zero interest in the content. I don't think I've been able to give a positive evaluation to a professor I have had at this institution yet, but now that I have, I so badly wish I had time in my schedule to take more classes with Prof. Annelli. By far my favorite at this entire university. Keep on doing great work, we love ya for it! <3"
Junior Interdisciplinary Seminar: Cultural Crossroads – Florence, Fall 2022