Mario Sassi

Mario Sassi graduated in Italian language and literature at the University of Rome “La Sapienza,” with a thesis on Italian Philology (“Authorial Philology: Problems and Examples of Critical Editions”). His current research focuses on Late Medieval and Early Modern thought by studying popular religious narratives. His work analyzes how anonymous vernacular miscellanies of exempla transmit entertaining narratives and a system of values, and mirror fears, hopes, and habits of ordinary people between the 14th and 15th centuries. Additionally, he studies the contemporary reception (in movies, videogames, and TV shows) of Middle Ages literature and the formation of a literary Canon.

He obtained a Ph.D. in Italian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on medieval Italian literature, sermons, and exempla in Italian, French, and Latin. In addition, he collaborated with the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies as an administrator of the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts and Digital Scriptorium 2.0. He serves as Managing Editor of Bibliotheca Dantesca since 2018 and has been a founding member of the Graduate Group of the Dante Society of America.

Dissertation: The Supernatural in Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Exempla (Advisor: David Wallace)

Conference Participation

“Laughing with the Preacher in the Early Italian Renaissance,” in the panel Laughter: Sacred and Profane I, Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting, San Juan (PR), March 11, 2023

“Help, Plea, Punishment: The Virgin Mary in The Italian Legends of the Late Middle Ages,” in the panel
Medieval Sermon Studies II: Sermons and Saints, 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies,
Kalamazoo, MI (via Zoom), May 12, 2022

“UPenn MS Codex 331 and the Vernacular Exemplum,” on the panel Reading Italian Vernacular Literature, Global Medieval and Renaissance Studies Colloquium, March 19, 2022

“The Diseased Foot of a Greedy Man: French and Italian Vernacular Preaching through Exempla,”
Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting (via Zoom), April 20, 2021

“Meaning over word: Domenico Cavalca between the text and its message,” VOICES: An Interdisciplinary Conference, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ, November 22-23, 2019.

“Digitally-Enhanced Teaching and Learning for Language and Culture Teachers and Learners: Reflexive and Reciprocal Feedback,” in the panel “Technology in the Curriculum,” The Northeast Association for Language Learning Technology Conference, Philadelphia PA, April 6, 2019.

“Beyond Passion: Love between the Fiore and the Comedy,” in the panel “The Commedia: Text and Responses,” Medieval Academy of America Annual Conference, Philadelphia PA, March 8, 2019.

“Presentazione del progetto di edizione dei testi statutari dell’Arcadia,” Convegno internazionale di studi “Canoni d’Arcadia,” Sapienza Università, Rome, June 8, 2018.