desimone@ucsb.edu
Phelps 5328
Tiziana de Simone is a Continuing Lecturer in Italian Studies and has joined the French and Italian Department at UCSB in 2000. She has taught traditional and hybrid lower-division Italian courses, including Italian conversation courses, for over 22 years at UCSB. Before that, she worked as a Lecturer in the Chemistry Department and as a researcher in the Materials Department at UCSB. Tiziana graduated from the University of Naples “Federico II” in Chemistry, completing a Master's thesis on synthesizing and characterizing new adhesives in the Materials Department at UCSB. Her research led to many publications in scientific journals.
She has always been enthusiastic about teaching complex concepts effectively and simply. Her first job as an educator was through the Upward Bound program at UCSB, where she taught underprivileged high school students and encouraged them to continue with their college education. Tiziana is passionate about enriching her methodology and teaching skills through new technologies and has participated in many workshops and symposia. She was recently chosen for the Center for Innovative Teaching, Research, and Learning Symposia (2021-23), where she participated in weekly seminars focusing on teaching equity and engaging technologies. She combined her background in science with her passion for teaching the Italian language with a presentation focused on how our brain learns and applies a new language.
She is passionate about books, music, dogs, art, hiking, and the ocean and loves bringing Southern Italian culture and traditions into her classes. As an authentic Southern Italian, she also enjoys cooking for and entertaining friends with the Italian dishes she grew up with.
She has volunteered at the Mission in Santa Barbara and in many local elementary and high schools, where she organized monthly meetings with local speakers to help students envision their career paths.