Born in Torino, Italy, Valeria Garino majored in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of Torino, where she graduated in 1995 with a Laurea in Russian Language and Literature. In 1998, she obtained an MA in Italian Literature from the Catholic University of America. She taught Italian in several language schools in the metropolitan area (Casa Italiana, Italian Cultural Society, USDA, George Washington University, Montgomery College).

At Catholic she completed most of the courses towards a PhD in Comparative Language and Literature(Spanish-Italian).

Valeria Garino is currently a full time Italian instructor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at CUA where she teaches Italian 101-104 and is a supervisor in the intermediate level courses. Garino also serves as an advisor for the Italian Club.

In the academic year 2006-2007 she was a recipient of the “Outstanding Instructor” award in the DMLL.

Her interests include Contemporary Italian literature, Italian cinema and foreign language teaching methodology.