[4][5] Stivale was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey and attended Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduating in 1967.
[6] While a graduate student at Illinois, Stivale directed the Knox College Junior Year Program in Besançon, France (1976–77).
He directed the CIEE Junior Year Abroad Program at the University of Haute-Bretagne in Rennes, France (1981–1982).
In 1986, he moved to Louisiana and taught French at Tulane University until 1990, when he joined WSU as an associate professor.
[7] These three books received the Wayne State University Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award.