A tenured professor at Duke University, Marianna Torgovnick teaches in Durham, North Carolina, during most Spring terms a very popular course called “America Dreams American Movies,” also the title of an anthology/textbook she published with Cognella in 2018. She lives the majority of the year in New York, where she directs the Duke in New York Arts and Media Program, which brings 15‐18 Duke students to New York during Fall and Summer terms to immerse themselves in the city’s culture and to work at a variety of internships. She is the author of many books, including, Crossing Ocean Parkway: Readings by an Italian American Daughter (University of Chicago Press, 2008).