Luana Salvarani (born Reggio Emilia, 1971; PhD - Theory and tradition of texts; a degree in Music composition) found her first research path in Baroque literature and philology, providing several critical editions of Baroque texts (e.g.: Francesco Bracciolini, L’Elettione di Urbano papa VIII, 2006; Claudio Achillini, Prose e poesie, 2008; G.B. Marino, La Lira, 2012),
Her interests later shifted to History of education, and with Cristiano Casalini she provided critical texts and commentaries of several 16th- and 17th-century classics of education (Antonio Possevino SJ, Coltura degl’ingegni, 2008; Juan Huarte, Essame degl’ingegni, 2010; Michel de Montaigne, L’Educazione, 2010; Francesco Negri, Tragedia intitolata Libero Arbitrio, 2014). She also devoted several papers to Jesuit college theatre, later focusing on early Reformation educational history and theatre. The most recent publications on this subject are the book Nova Schola. Temi e problemi di pedagogia protestante nei primi testi della Riforma (2018) and the articles:
In flesh and bone. Bodily image and educational patterns in early Reformation theatre, «Paedagogica Historica», vol. 54, 1-2, 2018
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/AyBcsa4DNazc3Us6kd6U/full
"Wie einen feinen jungen Baum....": nature, the fallen man, and social order in Martin Luther's works on education (1524-1530), «Paedagogica Historica», vol. 56, I-II, 2020
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/k5EkGh4dFSEuP7KZRVi6/full
'Nur bey Leib’: pedagogies of the body in early Reformation Germany
«Jahrbuch für Historische Bildungsforschung», Schwerpunkt: Körper / Körperlichkeit – neue Perspektiven in der Historischen Bildungsforschung, 2021
Another research path focuses on the educational history of 19th century America, with a special attention on popular literature and novels for young readers. Sunday School Literature. Letture e formazione dei giovani americani all’epoca della Frontiera (2012) is the first book in Italian on the subject. Further studies on American education are summarized in her book Nascita di una nazione. Esperienze e modelli dell'educazione nell'America dell'Ottocento (2015; SIPED - Book on Education National Award, 2017). The most recent contribution on this subject is a book chapter:
“The State’s First Duty”: Public Education and the Liberal Conundrum in American Educational Reports from Germany, in "Transatlantic Encounters in History of Education. Translations and Trajectories from a German-American Perspective", Routledge Studies in Cultural History, 2020.
Principal Investigator in the peer-reviewed project "Seen from Afar". The project ended in April 2016 and its results were published in a book (Seen from Afar. Images of Europe in the Cultivation of American Identity, 2016) collecting essays of the European and American contributors of the project.
Translator from and into English, from and into French and from German for Edizioni Medusa. Routledge, Brepols and the journal Musica/Realtà.
Board member for the journals "Educazione. Giornale di Pedagogia Critica" and "History of Education and Children's Literature". Referee for the journals "Rivista di Storia dell'Educazione", "Annali di Storia dell'Educazione e delle Istituzioni Scolastiche", "Historia Scholastica", "Pedagogia oggi". Book reviewer for "International Journal of the Classical Tradition" (Springer), "History of Education" (Taylor & Francis), "American Studies in Scandinavia" (Syddansk Universitetsforlag), "American Educational History Journal" (Information Age Publishing), Global Intellectual History (Taylor & Francis).