Faculty Spotlight: Giada Biasetti, PhD

AU Online Teaching Excellence Award

Culture has always played a major role in the life of Giada Biasetti, PhD. Born in Lima, Peru, to Italian parents and having lived in Caracas, Venezuela, and Milan, Italy, before moving to the United States, she considers herself Italian with a multicultural upbringing. 

Her role as associate professor of Spanish in Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences allows her the opportunity to watch students grow in their knowledge and appreciation of the culture every semester, turning them into well-rounded global citizens.  

“It is inspiring to see how our students really understand and appreciate the importance of learning another language and culture,” Biasetti said. “Many times, I witness how their passion and interest for the topics I teach, such as literature and translation, grow exponentially throughout the semester.” 

Throughout her 11 years in Augusta University’s Department of English and World Languages, she has worked to offer well-structured online courses with experiential learning opportunities and to organize virtual events that allow students to interact with a national and international audience.  

“Receiving this award is very important to me because it highlights how successful an online language course can be when using innovative and creative methodologies for online learning,” she said. “Many of the experiential learning projects that I assign in my classes were possible precisely because of the online component, which made the accessibility, frequency of interactions, level of feedback and international participation easier, thus allowing me to state that the quality of some of these projects would not have been the same had it not been for the virtual component. 

“To get this award means it is proof that online teaching and learning is very powerful and more than possible; learning can happen from anywhere and at any time.” 

Biasetti plans to continue developing courses that can move from virtual to “real life” by offering Study Away and Study Abroad opportunities linked to those courses and strengthening the online components and online presence in the Spanish program by also incorporating the resources available in the new Language Hub. 

She is currently collaborating with the director and producers of a documentary that focuses on Uruguayan author Silvana Marconi’s and other victims’ experiences with domestic violence. The documentary, which shares their stories and encourages viewers to understand and join them in their struggle to prevent domestic violence, will be screened as part of a multi-day event at AU in September.