Gael Montgomery earned her B.A. in Italian from the New School in 1996 and her M.A. in Italian Studies from Middlebury College in 1999. She is living proof that one can learn a foreign language after the age of 18, with enough dedication, study and practice! Professor Montgomery has taught Italian at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University and George Mason University, and is now finishing her Ph.D in Italian literature at Johns Hopkins. She writes about sexuality and gender in Italian literature, particularly in the Renaissance period, and is also interested in Italian Jewish history and literature. During and in between degrees Professor Montgomery has lived and traveled extensively in Italy