Francesca Ciancimino Howell

Today, as for much of my life, my work continues as a writer, actor and teacher/college instructor. I have also been privileged to work as a chaplain, sometimes called a spiritual companion or caregiver.  In my earlier career, I was an environmental campaigner, as well as a performer and workshop leader across the world. 

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Resilience for communities and also for individuals is an important theme that has run through my vocational and avocational work, worldwide. My writing, including the women's fiction novel and short stories I am completing, weave in themes dear to my heart of magic, mysticism, sense of place, community, resilience and healing. They also draw from my perennial love of Nature, animals of all species, eco-chaplaincy, and activism. 

 

As an international author, my published work spans a broad spectrum. The Italian edition of my first book, Making Magic with Gaia, became a bestseller on Italy's mind-body-spirit lists for a while in 2008 -- a thrill, indeed! Finding the academic and scholarly concept of "materiality" sparked my writing verve, as it speaks to what I believe: that intelligent, powerful energy permeates all -- that that which we may think is "dead" or solid, inactive material, is not.  Place-based materiality and embodied experiences of Nature, seeing Nature as an agent -- not a subject -- figure prominently in my research and writing. Central for me is the interconnectedness of all, the "interanimation" of life, as some scholars write it. This permeates my life and work. It is exciting to see new ways meeting old ways in how we regard life and the Divine flowing throughout the Universe. 

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My doctoral and postdoctoral work in religious studies and environmental philosophy blended materiality, animism, festival and ritual studies, community resilience along with research on lived religious traditions. The subsequent PhD dissertation (The Open University, UK) focused on sense of place and power of place, testing how those manifest in human societies, healing and supporting communities and individuals. The lens in those studies was community festivals in Italy, a topic I explore in depth in my 2018/2020 monograph from Bloomsbury Academic discussed on the home page. Please see my page on www.academia.edu for more on those writings.

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On the teaching side: over my career, I've taught a myriad of courses, literally from elementary school to doctoral candidates. In the academic year 2023-2024, I'll be continuing my role as an instructor in Naropa University's MA in Ecopsychology. (www.naropa.edu) In addition to teaching at Naropa off and on for over twenty years, also some years at the University of Colorado Boulder, I have worked at the elementary and secondary level as well as in adult learning. Those experiences spanned Colorado, to NY City, Washington, DC, Santiago, Chile, and all over Europe.

I have also taught both Italian and Spanish, as well as English. I've spoken on my research and work at a wide span of universities and conferences, ranging from the London School of Economics to The Colorado School of Mines, and many more in between.

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My professional work as a chaplain and spiritual companion has been in hospitals, a women's shelter and hospice care. This fulfilling work allowed me to serve extremely varied demographics, cultures, ages and stages of illness. It is a blessing to have been led to offer the work of service to the world, and a privilege to serve some of the poorest and most desperately ill. I have led numerous ceremonies, performed a variety of weddings, and many other important rites of passage.

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Theatre and foreign language have been enduring loves of mine since childhood -- my mother began to teach me French as a small child, and my father Italian. Subsequently I studied Italian and French as an undergrad. Then to my delight, I had the chance to later learn Spanish while teaching and acting in South America.  Spanish has continued to be important in my work, professional and volunteer. While acting professionally in Colorado some years ago I made a number of TV commercials and "industrial films" in Spanish. More recently Spanish has been a key part of my toolkit as a chaplain and counselor.  In my years living in Italy I both performed and presented in Italian on stage and TV, as well as leading a myriad of workshops in Italian, including theatre workshops with adults and teens. 

 

A note of theatre interest: One of my high-profile professional performances "on the boards" in London was on the Fringe, "Covenant".  (British poet/playwright/musician John Gibbens and I successfully co-produced the show.) Below is a photo from that production, where among other roles written for me was Mary Magdalene. Michael Moriarty, my long-time mentor and acting coach, helped to direct and choreograph the piece while he was in NY.

 

For film, TV, or print media, I can supply the name of my agent in Denver, privately.

Please contact me directly, as it is separate from this site. 

I often perform on stage in the Boulder-Denver area; again please contact me privately for details.  

 

Although I've lived in various countries and grew up in New York's gorgeous Hudson Valley, Colorado is currently home base. 

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