About — Angelina Del Balzo

Close-up of turquoise, white, indigo, and red Iznik tiles at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. — About

A 30-something white woman with dark curly hair in a top knot and sunglasses on head standing with her hand on a column piece at a site of ancient Greek ruins — At the ancient Greek ruins of Priene in southwestern Turkey.

A 30-something white woman with short dark curly hair and sunglasses on head standing in the ruins of a medieval cloister — In the cloisters of the Arab Normal monastery St. John of the Hermits in Palermo, Sicily.

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. I graduated with a BA in English and Italian Studies from Wellesley College in 2011. After living in New York City for a year, I moved to Los Angeles and received my PhD in English with a concentration in Gender Studies from UCLA in 2019. In addition to my research and teaching, I played flute and sang alto with the UCLA Early Music Ensemble (specializing in pre-1800 European music) and was a volunteer tutor with 826LA, a non-profit supporting students in creative and expository writing. Before moving to Utah, I spent five years as an assistant professor at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. In my spare time I enjoy hiking in the mountains, going to museums and the theater, and reading detective fiction. Favorite travel experiences include hiking the Partisans’ Freedom Trail in Abruzzo, Italy; watching the sunrise on my birthday at Angkor Wat in Cambodia; seeing La Bohème at Australia’s Sydney Opera House; and riding in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey. Like many Italian Americans, I enjoy good food, good conversation, and a good drink.