Recent Events
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May 2, 2024 |
Join us at Dr. Sandra Palmer's presentation in the Nasti lecture series, "Great Masters of the Italian Baroque: Bernini & Caravaggio". The presentation will focus on two artists, Gian Lorenzo Bernini in sculpture and Caravaggio in painting, both revolutionizing art of the past. This event will take place from 5:30pm to 7pm at the Center for Italian Studies (E-4340 Melville Library, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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April 30, 2024 |
Join us in A Conversational Remembrance of Joseph A. Tursi (1928 – 2024). Let us remember the life and legacy of Dr. Joseph A. Tursi, who was a scholar, teacher, mentor, and friend to many. This event will take place from 5:30pm to 7pm at the Center for Italian Studies (E-4340 Melville Library, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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April 24, 2024 |
Join us in the Original Play Premiere of "Woman through the Window". The play, written by Anthony DiFranco and directed by Martin Knapp, centers on a multi-generational Italian American family grappling with issues of identity, love, and language. It stars an all-female cast: Lisa Meckes, Missy Roche, Deborah Rupy, Patricia Becker, and Kristin Ingegno. DiFranco, an award-winning fiction writer, filmmaker, and playwright, is the founder and artistic director of Debut Theater Company. He teaches courses on Italian American Studies at Stony Brook University. This event will take place at 7pm at the Wang Theater (Wang Center, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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April 23, 2024 |
Join us in the Book Presentation of "Crazy Fish Sing", alongside Suranga Katugampala, Simone Brioni, Loredana Polezzi, and Peter Bruno on Zoom. This event is open to SBU students, faculty, and staff only. This event will take place from 1pm to 2:30pm at the Center for Italian Studies (E-4340 Melville Library, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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April 19, 2024 |
Join us in "I'll Tell You a Story": A Symposium Celebrating Dr. Mary Jo Bona. This event is organized by the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and co-sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies and the D’Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies. This event will take place from 1pm to 4pm in The Humanities Institute (Humanities 1008, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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April 18, 2024 |
Join us in a new program in the Tromba Lecture Series - "Saving Italy's Brown Bears: Rethinking Wilderness in Europe." This program, presented by Professor Roger Thompson (SBU), will feature three prominent figures in the Brown Bear conservation movement discussing the current state of the Apennine bear, the so-called “Italian Grizzly.” This event will take place from 4pm to 6pm at the Center for Italian Studies (E-4340 Melville Library, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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April 11, 2024 |
Join us in a new program in the Nasti Lecture Series - Dr. Oronzo Brunetti, “Representing the Italian South: Rural Architecture and Photography in the 1920s/1930s." Dr. Oronzo Brunetti (University of Naples Federico II) will present on Carl Hubacher's photographs of Puglia, specifically the trulli: dry stone houses with cone-shaped roofs. Architect and professional photographer, Hubacher was one of the leading exponents of the Swiss Werkbund. From 1924 to 1933, he visited Puglia several times and took hundreds of photos that constitute a precious document on the local landscape and rural architecture in the inter-war period. This event will take place from 5:30pm to 7pm at the Center for Italian Studies (E-4340 Melville Library, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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March 25, 2024 |
Join us in "Whitman on Walls!" a performance by Compagnia de’ Colombari. Walt Whitman's renowned poem, "Song of Myself," is a celebration of freedom, inclusion, and democracy. Drawing on this iconic work, Compagnia de’ Colombari created a series of short films, which will be screened at SBU. Students, faculty, and local poets will also read work written in dialogue with Whitman's text. Founding Director Karin Coonrod and Compagnia staff will be present. This event is free and open to the entire SBU community. This event will take place at 1pm in Rooms 200-206 in the Alan S. deVries Center, Stony Brook University. Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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February 27, 2024 |
Join us in "Paolino Bianchi and Diego Diáz: Narrative of Christian Slaves in Seventeenth-Century Tunis and Algiers,” a lecture by Dr. Céline Dauverd. Dr. Dauverd is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Colorado Boulder and a 2023-24 Fellow of The Italian Academy at Columbia University. This event will take place from 1pm to 2:30pm at the Center for Italian Studies (E-4340 Melville Library, Stony Brook University). Please direct any inquiries to ctritalianstudies@stonybrook.edu or call us at (631) 632-7444. |
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February 22, 2024 |
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February 21, 2024 |
Join us in the screening of MAKA at Princeton with Dr. Simone Brioni. MAKA will be screened on February 21, 2024 at 5:30 pm in the Rocky-Mathey Theater, Princeton University, followed by a conversation with the film's director Elia Moutamid and writer Simone Brioni. For event details, please click here. |
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February 8, 2024 |
Join us for our Caffè Italiano: Spring Meet & Greet! Drop by the Center for Italian Studies on Thursday, February 8, between 1:00 and 3:00 PM, for a cup of our famous espresso and a selection of Italian cookies. Learn about our Spring event series, fellowship opportunities for graduate students, and meet the new Assistant to the Director Christine Griffiths, as well as Interim Director Dr. Andrea Fedi and long-time volunteer Josephine Fusco. Open to students, faculty, and staff. |
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Event Gallery (2022-2023)
Below is a gallery for all of the promotional material for the events hosted by the Center for Italian Studies.
Stories Help Us Survive
Made in Italy, Made for America
L'invenzione dell'amore
Mondo Nuovo
Confini: A Masterclass
Confini: A Masterclass
The Ovum Government Book Launch
Porpora
Paganini (si) ripete: A Performer's Afterlives
The Forbidden Dream: Niccolo Paganini and America - Flyer
The Forbidden Dream: Niccolo Paganini and America - Bio
Multilingualism, Translation, Diaspora: Challenges and Opportunities - Flyer
Multilingualism, Translation, Diaspora: Challenges and Opportunities - Bio
Representations of Religion in the New Media - Flyer
Representations of Religion in the New Media - Bio
Italy in Spain - Flyer
Italy in Spain - Bio
News & Events Archive
FEBRUARY 15, 8:00PM
Webinar
Textile and Text: Meaning-Making in the Languages of Woven Cloth
Presented by the Chicago Weaving School
SBU's Distinguished Professor, Mary Jo Bona, joins celebrated textile artist Cameron Taylor-Brown, award-winning novelist and teacher Adria Bernardi, and event host Natalie Boyett of the Chicago Weaving School for a wide-reaching virtual conversation.
To sign up, please click here.March 21, 6:15-8:15pm
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityConfini
A MasterclassPresented by Center for Italian Studies and the Alfonse M. D'Amato Chair in Italian Amerian and Italian Studies
Art Director and Thespian, Valentina Rizzi, along with authors Antonella Veracchi and Michela Tonelli, offers a workshop for teachers that focuses on the reading of Confini. CTLE credit from SBU is available ($25 cash fee due at event).
March 23, 4:30pm
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityBook Launch: The Ovum Government
Presented by Center for Italian Studies and the Department of Political Science
Join us for a conversation on the United States' strategies to preserve democracy while partaking in global and overseas affairs with author Dr. Vito De Simone, and Dr. Gallya Lahav of the Department of Political Science.
March 23, 5:00pm
JCC Harlem, NY
Screening of "Maka"
The North American Premiere of Maka (poster/trailer) will be held at the 10th Edition of the Socially Relevant Film Festival. The documentary, inspired by Genevieve Makaping's book, Reversing the Gaze (Rutgers UP, 2023), was written by SBU's own Simone Brioni and directed by Elia Moutamid.
To learn more, please check out this article from La Voce di New York.March 29, 5:30-7:30pm
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityPorpora
Presented by the Center for Italian Studies and the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Join us for a screening of the documentary, Porpora, followed by a Q&A session with Italian sociologist, writer and LGBTQ+ activist, Porpora Marcasciano, and Prof. Liz Montegary of the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
See program here.
Paganini (si) ripete: A Performer's Afterlives
APRIL 12 - May 11th
It is easy to assume that the phrase “Paganini non ripete” (“Paganini does not repeat”), a well-worn retort used when one refuses to repeat what was just said, originates in legend rather than real life; yet the adage has origins in a 1825 performance given by Paganini at the Teatro Falcone, in Genoa. Following the performance Paganini was asked by Carlos Felice, king of Sardinia and duke of Savoy, to once again play one of the pieces that the sovereign particularly liked as an encore. However, Paganini improvised much of the concert and was unable to repeat the performance. The violinist’s response, “Paganini non ripete”, earned the violinist a two-year exile from the Kingdom of Sardinia and an even longer-lasting reputation for haughtiness.
Paganini si ripete inverts this classic slogan. The exhibit focuses on the ways in which Niccolò Paganini did repeat and was himself repeated: the various masks Paganini put on as devoted Catholic and as the subject of a Faustian rumor, as pedagogue and as madman afflicted with mercury poisoning, as musical icon with superhuman technical abilities and as family man. Paganini si ripete: A Performer’s Afterlives is a meditation on the violinist’s reception and the various Paganinis that have emerged from the inventive imaginations of audiences and fellow composers, both during Paganini’s lifetime and in the generations that have followed since then. Often musical, occasionally irreverent, and almost always informed by the aesthetics of Dark Romanticism inherited from early 18th-century poetics, Paganini’s afterlives testify to the survival of the enigmatic musician’s spellbinding power over modern audiences and the musical imagination.
This magnificent exhibition is public and open to everyone at the Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library at Stony Brook University, room E4340, the Center for Italian Studies from April 12, 2023 to May 11, 2023.
All images on poster board are courtesy of the New York Public Library, Joseph Muller collection.
Curated by Michael Bennett, Department of Music, Stony Brook University, and Dr. Matteo Brera, Exective Director, Center for Italian Studies.APRIL 12, 4:30PM
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityThe Forbidden Dream: Niccolo Paganini and America
A talk by musicologist, Danilo Prefumo, followed by a performance by three outstanding students in the Department of Music. The notes of Niccoló Paganini's Caprices and Romanzas will accompany the opening of the month-long exhibit on the performer's afterlives titled, Paganini (si) ripete: A Performer's Afterlives.APRIL 20, 1:15PM
Humanities Bldg, Room 1006
Stony Brook UniversityRepresentations of Religion in the New Media
Presented by the Center for Italian Studies and the Department of Philosophy
A public lecture by Dr. Alessandro Testa, Charles University in Prague, CEFRESAPRIL 20, 3:00PM
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityMultilingualism, Translation, Diaspora: Challenges and Opportunities
Presented by the A. D'Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, the Center for Italian Studies, the Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Communication (MIC), the Institute for Globalization Studies (GLI) and the Humanities Institute
Jo Angouri (Warwick University), Moira Inghilleri (UMass Amherst) and Loredana Polezzi (Stony Brook) will discuss the role played by language in shaping multiple forms of diasporic belonging and in creating inclusive communities.MAY 1, 2:30PM
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityItaly in Spain: Organizing an Exhibition on Guido Reni at the Prado Museum in 2023
Presented by the Center for Italian Studies with the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature and the Department of Art
This public lecture given by David García Cueto, Head of the Department of Italian and French Painting, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, focuses on the challenges and overall project of the colossal exhibition "Guido Reni" on view at the Prado Museum from March to July 2023.
On May 9, 2023, Dr. Matteo Brera and Dr. Loredana Polezzi, along with Dr. Annavaleria Guazzeri and Valentina Rizzi, will present a paper titled, Essere cittadini a New York: Educare alla cittadinanza attiva attraverso la mediazione artistica, during the Educazione Civica conference at the Liceo Classico Giulio Cesare di Roma. The presentation includes information regarding an upcoming project in collaboration with local schools.
Botticelli Week at the Center for Italian Studies
OCTOBER 3, 11:30 AM
The Center for Italian Studies, Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library, rm E4340
Stony Brook UniversityBotticelli's Secret
Presenter: Joseph Luzzi (Bard College)
Respondent: Sara Lipton (Stony Brook University)
Title: Botticelli’s Secret: The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance
Title of additional event: Opening of the Exhibition Botticelli in Hell, curated by José Gabriel Alegría (Stony Brook University)
An intimate associate of Florence’s unofficial rulers, the Medici, Sandro Botticelli was commissioned by a member of their family to execute a near-impossible project: to illustrate all 100 cantos of Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy. A powerful encounter between poet and artist, sacred and secular, earthly and evanescent, these drawings produced a wealth of stunning images but were never finished. The nineteenth-century rediscovery of Botticelli’s Dante drawings brought scholars to their knees: this work embodied everything the Renaissance had come to mean. Today, Botticelli’s Primavera adorns household objects of every kind. In his presentation, Joseph Luzzi will explore the mysteries surrounding Botticelli’s lost Dante drawings, and explain not only how and why Botticelli became iconic, but why we still need his work―and the spirit of the Renaissance―today.
Bio: Joseph Luzzi (PhD, Yale) is the Asher B. Edelman Professor of Literature and Faculty Member in Italian Studies at Bard College. His most recent book is Botticelli’s Secret: The Lost Drawings and the Rediscovery of the Renaissance (2022), which has been shortlisted for the Phi Beta Kappa Ralph Waldo Emerson Award and is also a New Yorker’s Best Books of 2022 selection and Guardian Book of the Day. In 2022 he received a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Award in support of his next book project, Brunelleschi’s Children: How a Renaissance Orphanage Saved 400,000 Lives and Reinvented Childhood.
OCTOBER 4, 1 PM
The Center for Italian Studies, Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library, rm E4340
Stony Brook UniversityTransforming Artistry
Presenter: Emanuele Lugli (Stanford University)
Respondent: Karen Lloyd (Stony Brook University)
Title: Transforming Artistry: Sandro Botticelli and the Painting of Hair
In Renaissance Florence, hair played a crucial role in delineating distinctions between humans and animals, men and women, and life and death. Artists, well-acquainted with fur due to its use in making brushes, actively engaged in debates regarding its significance. While many adhered to societal and religious norms, Sandro Botticelli reimagined hair as a potent and transformative force capable of forging lasting connections that had a profound impact on the creation of art.
Bio: Emanuele Lugli (Stanford University) is an art and cultural historian specializing in late medieval and early modern Italian painting, trade, and fashion. He has written a trilogy on the history of Italian measurements and recently published Knots: The Violence of Desire in Renaissance Florence, a study exploring the interplay between morality and eroticism during the lifetime of Sandro Botticelli. Additionally, Lugli is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines, including Vanity Fair, Slate, and The Guardian.
OCTOBER 5, 2:30 PM
Humanities Building, rm 1006
Stony Brook UniversityBotticelli in Hell
Presenter: José Gabriel Alegría (Stony Brook University)
Respondent: Loredana Polezzi (Stony Brook University)
Title: Botticelli in Hell: Drawing as an art form in Botticelli's illustrations for Dante’s Inferno.
Sandro Botticelli’s illustrations of the Divine Comedy give us unique insight into the Renaissance understanding of Dante’s text. These drawings were done with silverpoint (a kind of pencil yet made of silver) on parchment (specially prepared sheep skin), sometimes inked, and only four of them were partly colored. The Map of Hell (La mappa dell’Inferno) preserved at the Vatican Library was most likely a presentation piece for the Medici patron, which outlined the whole structure of the work in a single image and might be the most detailed map of hell ever done. The drawings appeared in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton in the early XIX century, and nowadays 85 of them are housed in Berlin (Kupferstichkabinett) and 7 at the Vatican (Vatican Apostolic Library). The cycle might originally have included 102 parchments, and about 10 of them have been lost today.
Bio: José Gabriel Alegría is an artist and Art Historian from Perú, currently doing his PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University. His research focuses on the iconography of the three-faced Trinity between the 16th and 18th centuries from a transatlantic perspective, and more broadly in the comparative study of religions as related to art. He has recently been awarded a fellowship at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome with the Max Planck Institute to develop his dissertation.
"Traduttori e Traditori"
Adelaide Ristori's Literary and Linguistic Adventures and Misadventures
Wednesday, October 18th, 2023, 5:30 - 7 PMMelville Library E4340Adelaide Ristori (1822-1903) stands out as the preeminent tragic actress of the second half of the nineteenth century, earning accolades both in Italy and worldwide. Besides her compelling stage performances, she undertook political missions on behalf of Count Cavour, garnering admiration from notable figures such as Garibaldi, Queen Victoria, and the era’s most distinguished intellectuals and artists. Upon concluding her illustrious international career, she meticulously orchestrated the simultaneous publication of her memoirs in four distinct languages. This ambitious undertaking was not without its challenges, as it required dealing with various publishers and translators who tested the resilience and the resolve of Adelaide and her collaborators.Bio: Antonella Valoroso is a Senior Researcher and Consultant at the Romeyne Robert and Uguccione Sorbello Foundation. She has published on Ristori, Ariosto, Leopardi, De Filippo, Verdi, Donizetti, Futurism and 1960s avant-garde theater. In 2005 she edited the first modern edition of Ricordi e Studi artistici by Adelaide Ristori.
Remembering Pietro A. Yon
The Unico-Roy Dragotta Lecture Series
Wednesday, November 15th, 2023, 5:30 - 7 PMMelville Library E4340In memory of the 80th anniversary of Pietro Alessandro Yon’s death on Long Island, a panel of guests will speak about Yon and his music: Salvatore Basile, author and retired musician from St. Patrick’s Cathedral; Elisa Teglia, Italian organist who has recorded Yon’s music; and John Peragallo III, organ builder whose grandfather was associated with Yon. An SBU vocal ensemble will perform Yon’s “Gesù Bambino.” Anne-Marie Lucchese, Roberto and Palmina Mignone Fellow in Italian and Italian American Studies, will provide an overview of Yon’s life and moderate the panel.Friday, November 17th, 2023, 5:30 - 7 PMMelville Library E4340Elise Teglia will perform a diverse selection of Yon's organ pieces.Free and open to the public.
CIVIS Workshops
February 3 and 5
The latest session of CIVIS was held on Saturday, February 3, 2024 at the Center for Italian Studies and Monday, February 5, 2024 at P. S. 112 in Brooklyn, NY.
Presenters at both workshops included children's literature author Valentina Rizzi; rapper, author, and educator Amir lssaa; Three Village District teacher Daniela Casadei-Berwind; D'Amato Endowed Chair Dr. Loredana Polezzi; Interim Director of the Center for ltalian Studies Dr. Andrea Fedi.
Reviving the legacy of 'Christ in Concrete,' Pietro di Donato's besteller
Newsday, January 3, 2022
Stony Brook University colleagues Simone Brioni, left, and Loredana Polezzi are working to complete acquisition of artifacts from the life of Pietro di Donato, whose 1939 bestseller about the immigrant experience still resonates in the lives of their students.
Read the full Newsday Article here.
Remembering Dr. Mario B. Mignone
Among the developments that resulted as we confronted the COVID-19 pandemic has been our having to postpone the formal memorial conference that was planned to honor the legacy and appropriately recognize Dr. Mignone's achievements as Distinguished Service Professor at the University and Director of the Center for Italian Studies which he founded in 1985. As we want to be sure that all of Mario's friends and colleagues have the possibility to participate in person, this memorial event is being planned to take place in November 2022.
In the meantime, to recognize the anniversary of his passing and to reflect with you on how he continues to be fondly recalled and thought of, we have posted the remarks that were spoken at his funeral service by his son in law, Daniel Salzman, and his daughter, Elizabeth Mignone Jakic. We've also included compositions written by his grandchildren, Luca Jakic and Isabella Armato, as submissions in an OSIA Italian Heritage Essay Contest which particularly reference and extol the life and achievements of their "nonno". Read more.
Events Spring 2022
Center for Italian Studies Annual Essay Contest for Secondary School Students.Due Date: Monday, May, 9th, 2022
Italian y - Gruppo di Lettura
We are happy to announce the start of the Spring 2022 Reading group. The group will meet once a month in Melville E-4340 to discuss recent Italian books. To start, in preparation for the author’s visit on April 6, we will be discussing “La Straniera” by Claudia Durastanti .
The first meeting is on March 21st, Monday, at 5:00 pm— Center for Italian Studies; Melville E-4340, Stony Brook University. Books can be purchased, in Italian or English, on Amazon or any other bookstore. Prof. Loredana Polezzi will moderate the discussion.Complete the following form to be added to our reading group list
Valigie Narranti
Prof. Loredana Polezzi and graduate fellow Antonio Fideleo, interviewed by Valentina Rizzi, discuss the importance of the icono-text and its potential as a teaching tool in Italian language classes.
Click here to watch the interview
FEBRUARY 28, MONDAY, 5:00 P.M.Melville Library E4340
In Presence Event.Homage to Monica Vitti: L’avventura di una vita.
A tribute to the life and career of Italian film icon, Monica Vitti (1931-2022) presented by Professors Loredana Polezzi and Giuseppe Gazzola (Stony Brook University)
Click here to download the program
MARCH 1, TUESDAY, 1:15 P.M.Melville Library E4340
In Presence Event.Relief by Design .
Carolina Mangone (Princeton University)
Co-organized with the Department of Art (Stony Brook).
Click here to download the program
MARCH 3, THURSDAY, 6:00 P.M.
In Presence EventCarrara Marble in Renaissance Spain: Catholic Hegemony, Universal Monarch, and Genoese Network
Gregoire Extermann (University of Madrid)
Co-organized with the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature.
Click here to download the program
MARCH 9, WEDNESDAY, 2:40 P.M.
On line event - RICHARD NASTI LECTURE SERIES EVENTThe Art of Excellent Products by Riccardo Illy
Details for joining this zoom meeting will follow
Click here to download the program
Click here to watch the lecture
APRIL 6, WEDNESDAY. 6:00 P.M.
In Presence EventLa straniera by Claudia Durastanti
Award winning Italian author Claudia Durastanti will discuss her novel (2019), which has
just been published in English as Strangers I Know (2022). The book, shortlisted for the prestigious Premio Strega, narrates a largely autobiographical coming-of-age story set between Italy, New York and London.Click here to download the program
APRIL 7 - 4:45 P.M.
In Presence EventFrom Renaissance letters to Digital Communities: Research and Methods in Digital Humanities
The talk and conversation will provide an introduction to actual textual problems and work-in progress projects in digital humanities. The event is structured around a sent of basic questions, such as: What are the digital humanities ? How is the digital changing the way we read and interpret literary and historical texts? What do we mean when we talk about digital projects? And how do we “make” them?
Co-organized with the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature.
Click here to download the program
APRIL 11, MONDAY, 5:00 P.M.
In Presence Event - ITALIAN CINE CLUBAdolescent liminal heroes in a magic neorealism frame
The first in the series of film screenings of Alice Rorwacher movies, introduced and discussed by Graduate Fellow, Antonio Fideleo.
Corpo Celeste - Cl ick here for the trailer
APRIL 18, MONDAY, 5:00 P.M.
In Presence Event - ITALIAN CINE CLUBAdolescent liminal heroes in a magic neorealism frame
The seond in the series of film screenings of Alice Rorwacher movies, introduced and discussed by Graduate Fellow, Antonio Fideleo.
Le Meraviglie - Click here fot the trailer
APRIL 19, TUESDAY, 5:00 P.M.
In Presence Event - DR. JOSEPH TROMBA LECTURE SERIESThe ColumbusAffair: Imperatives for an Italian American Agenda by Prof. Tamburri
Professor Anthony Tamburri (CUNY/Calandra Institute) in conversation with Professor Giuseppe Gazzola.
Click here to download the program
APRIL 25, MONDAY, 5:00 P.M.
In Presence Event - ITALIAN CINE CLUB
Adolescent liminal heroes in a magic neorealism frameThe third in the series of film screenings of Alice Rorwacher movies, introduced and discussed by Graduate Fellow, Antonio Fideleo.
Lazzaro Felice - Click here fot the trailer
April 29 - 12:30 - 2:30 p.m.On Line Event
Writing Brick by Brick: Remembering Pietro Di Donato
Join us online to commemorate Pietro Di Donato and his work, 30 years after his death, and to celebrate the launch of the short film ‘Six Objects: Notes toward a film on Pietro Di Donato’
Clik here to wach the Short film
Click here to download the program.
MAY 2, MONDAY, 5:00 P.M.
In Presence Event - ITALIAN CINE CLUBAdolescent liminal heroes in a magic neorealism frame
The last in the series of film screenings of Alice Rorwacher movies, introduced and discussed by Graduate Fellow, Antonio Fideleo.
Omelia Contadina - Click here fot the trailer
MAY 29, FRIDAY, 12:30 - 2:30 PM
Online EventWriting Brick by Brick: Remembering Pietro Di Donato
Event celebrating Pietro di Donato, author of the 1939 Bestseller , Christ in Concrete, in commemorationof the 30th Anniversary of his death. Organized by Loredana Polezzi (D’Amato Chair in Italian American and Italian Studies) and Simone Brioni (Department of English).
Clik here to wach the Short Film
Clik here to download the program
EVENT POSTPONED
Fund Raiser Event at Harmony Vineyard, St. James.A Fund Raiser for the Center for Italian Studies is being planned at Harmony Vineyards, St. James, incollaboration with Stony Brook University’s Alumni Association. The Center’s Director, Giuseppe Gazzola, will present a talk on Italian wines entitled, Ecology of Aging .
Videos Available
The Art of Excellent Products
Riccardo Illy at The Center for Italian StudiesClick here to watch the Spring 2022 Richard Nasti Lecture
Valigie Narranti
Prof. Loredana Polezzi and graduate fellow Antonio Fideleo, interviewed by Valentina Rizzi, discuss the importance of the icono-text and its potential as a teaching tool in Italian language classes.Click here to watch the interview
Events Fall 2022September 18, 10:00am-1:00pm
Stony Brook University Campus
Robert D. Cess Concorso d'Eleganza XVIEach year, the Center for Italian Studies presents the Robert D. Cess Concorso d'Eleganza Annual Celebration of Italian Vehicle Excellence and Beauty. The show is a display of "art forms on wheels" as a means of illustrating one form of Italian culture. Various Italian vehicle groups will be represented. The show is free and open to the public and will take place on the campus lawn adjacent to the Physics Building, across from the Athletic Arena on John Toll Drive.
Owners of Italian vehicles interested in participating can contact Josephine Fusco at Josephine.fusco@stonybrook.edu or call 631-632-7444.
At the following links you can find the map and a feature of last year's concorso on the Donna Drake Show.
SEPTEMBER 20, 1:15PM-3:30PM
Melville Library E4340
Tracing the Threads of Migration
Female Narratives of the Italian DiasporaA conversation with artists B. Amore, Luci Callipari Marcuzzo, and author Mary Jo Bona
Hosted by Loredana Polezzi, D'Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies
Click here to download the program.
SEPTEMBER 21, 1:00PM-2:20PM
Zoom registration required
Transnational Modern Languages: A Handbook
A faculty book discussion hosted by Loredana Polezzi, D'Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies
Polezzi, Stony Brook University scholars and guests from the US and UK, including the volume's editors, discuss this core book in the "Transnational Modern Languages" series from Liverpool University Press.The event is supported in collaboration with the Center for Multilingualism and Intercultural Studies, the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, the Institute for Globalization Studies, and HISB.
Click here to download the program.
OCTOBER 4 & 5, TIMES VARY
Stony Brook University
This Is What I Live For: Afro-Italian Hip-Hop Conversation with Amir Issaa
October 4, 1:15pm-2:30pm, Wang Theater
Showcase: An Evening with Amir Issaa
October 4, 6:00pm-8:00pm, SAC Ballroom B
A conversation with Amir Issaa
October 5, 1:00pm-2:00pm, Melville E4340
Organized by the D’Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, the Humanities Institute, the Department of English, the Department of Music, and the Center for Globalization Studies. In collaboration with Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at Montclair State University.
Click here to download the program.OCTOBER 19, 1:00PM
Melville E4340
Summer in Italy Information Session
Please join Professor Giuseppe Gazzola and the International Academic Programs staff for a presentation of the Summer in Italy study abroad program.
Click here to download the program.
OCTOBER 20, 4:30PM
Melville E4340
Gradiva Publications Ceremony
Please join us for the ceremony to announce and recognize the winner of this year's Gradiva's International Poetry Contest. Conducted by Professor Luigi Fontanella, Editor of Gradiva Publications, the celebration will include bilingual poetry readings, a musical interlude, and a reception. All are invited.
Click here for the program.
NOVEMBER 2, 6:00PM
Melville E4340
Dacia Maraini
Stories Help Us SurviveStony Brook University and The Center for Italian Studies welcome renowned author Dacia Maraini on the occasion of the release of Sguardo a Oriente and Caro Pier Paolo.
Dacia Maraini reflects on her literary journey, and her encounters across cultures in conversation with Professor Giuseppe Gazzola (Stony Brook University).
Click here for our event flyer and here for Dacia's biography.
Event co-sponsors: Institute for Globalization Studies, Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality studies, Department of Languages and Cultural Studies, A. D'Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies
NOVEMBER 11-12, TIMES VARY
Wang Center; The Center for Italian Studies
Made in Italy, Made for America
Honoring Mario B. Mignone (1940-2019)The Center for Italian Studies is pleased to announce that it is hosting a memorial conference in honor of its founder, Mario Mignone, at Stony Brook University. The program has been organized to include presentations by his family, friends, colleagues, scholars, University associates, and government officials who are looking forward to remembering him and recalling his life's achievements.
Click here for our event flyer and here for the program.
Clicking here will bring you to our main conference webpage.Co-sponsors:
A. D'Amato Endowed Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies; Department of Languages and Cultural Studies (Stony Brook University); Malgeri Italian Culture Endowment; John F. Lauro P.A. Fund; Italian Studies Endowment (Center for Italian Studies)NOVEMBER 15, 6:30PM
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook University
L'invenzione dell'amoreThe Center for Italian Studies invites you to dive into the heart and beauty of picture books with thespian and art director Valentina Rizzi and Italian actor Massimo Zordan.
CTLE credit from Stony Brook University is available: $25 cash fee (due at event).
Please see our linked event flyer and bios for more information.
NOVEMBER 17, 6:30PM
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook UniversityMondo Nuovo
An autobiography featuring the personal life of author Giovanna Miceli-Jeffries in conversation with Dr. Matteo Brera.
Please click here to see our event flyer.
DECEMBER 3, 10:00AM
Presented by AATI-Long Island
"The Italian Experience Throughout Edutainment: Edu-Musicals and In-School Performances"
Join AATI-Long Island in collaboration with Incanto Productions for this very special event! "The Italian Experience Through Edutainment: Edu-Musicals and In-School Performances" combines learning and theater to this one day event to teach kids about Italian culture. There will be performances, workshops, and many other hands-on activities you don't want to miss!
DECEMBER 5, 4:00PM
The Center for Italian Studies
Stony Brook University2022 Holiday Party
The Center for Italian Studies invites you to join us for a toast to the festive season with sandwiches and panettone (and pandoro!).
Our RSVP link is now closed, but please contact Alicia Meuschke (alicia.ryan@stonybrook.edu) if you have any questions.
DECEMBER 9, 6:30PM
Presented by AATI-Long Island
"Festa natalizia"
AATI Long Island would like to extend an invitation to Festa Natalizia, a holiday celebration filled with food, music, and raffle prizes! The party will be held on the 9th of December and the cost is $50 per person.
2021 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
NOVEMBER 12,
8:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Stony Brook University
Citizenship and Nationality: A Diachronic Perspective.
Organized by the Center for Italian Studies, Dr. Ludovica Rossi Purini, and Dr. Loredana Polezzi, D’Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies.
2021 online Conference
DANTE SERIES 1321-2021
The Center for Italian Studies is celebrating Dante's 700th anniversary with a series of lectures .
- Professor Simone Marchesi ( Princeton University) will begin the celebration with a lecture:
Imagining Dante: Iconography and Hermeneutics in Inferno V
- Prof. Jason Houston (Gonzaga University) will explore the figures of the counselors of fraud in Bolgia 8:
Hold Your Tongue: Dante between Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro
- Prof. Bernardo Picciché (Virginia Commonwealth University) with our students, the history and the mystery of Cato in Dante's Purgatory and how he resolved it. Join us in this literary intrigue. :
Catone in Dante' s Purgatory, No Longer a Mystery
- Prof. Claudia Di Fonzo (University of Trento) will discuss, in our fourth online event, the connection between laws and political causes of human corruption, within T he Divine Comedy:
Laws there are, but who sets hand to them?
- Prof. Lino Pertile (Harvard University) will present the fifth online lecture on Dante's Anniversary.
Midway in the Journey of Our Life
- Prof. Andrea Celli (University of Connecticut) will present the last online lecture on Dante's Anniversary:
The Rose of Paradise
2021 Events
SPRING 2021
SEPTEMBER 17
Friday, 2:00 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Crafting Her Persona: A Closer Look at Bronzino’s Iconic Portrait of Eleonora di Toledo and Her Son Giovanni.
Bruce Edelstein (NYU, Florence) will speak on the portrait of Eleonora di Toledo by Bronzino exhibited at the Uffizi Gallery.
Offered in collaboration with the Department of Hispanic Languages & Literatures.
SEPTEMBER 20
Monday, 5:30 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Italian Cine Club - Hollywood Dreams Italy
Roman Holiday (W. Wayler, 1953)
Presents: Prof. G. Gazzola
Click here for more information
SEPTEMBER 2
Sunday, 10am - 1pm
Stony Brook University
Robert D. Cess Concorso d’Eleganza XV Annual Celebration of Italian Vehicle Excellence and Beauty
A display of “art on wheels” as a means of illustrating one form of Italian culture. Display vehicles will rally at Stony Brook University campus.
Participation and viewing are free and open to the public.
Click here for more information
Click here to watch the recorded event
SEPTEMBER 28
Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.
Zoom Presentation
DANTE SERIES 1321-2021
The Gems of Dante's Divine Comedy
Zoom Presentation by Ann Pizzorusso, geologist and Italian Renaissance scholar, on Gems of the Divine Comedy: An analysis of the epoch poem from a gemological standpoint. Using passages from the Divine Comedy, the author will show how Dante used the attributes of gems to describe the characteristics of humans, souls and saints.
Click here to join the lecture
OCTOBER 4
Monday, 5:30 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Italian Cine Club - Hollywood Dreams Italy
It Started in Naples (S. Shavelson, 1960)
Presents: Prof. G. Gazzola
Click here for more information
OCTOBER 7
Thursday, 4:00 p.m.
Center for Italian Studies
The Joseph Tromba Series Events:
The Cradle Was Green, by William Franza,
father of local resident, August Franza. The story of a family’s emigration from Italy to New York City in 1900 that provides a personal picture of a time which must be recalled and remembered, especially with questions of immigration very much on everyone's mind these days.
OCTOBER 4
Monday, 5:30 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Italian Cine Club - Hollywood Dreams Italy
Godfather (F.F. Coppola, 1973)
Presents: Prof. L. Polezzi
Click here for more information
OCTOBER 21
4:00 p.m.
Center for Italian Studeis
Raccontare la poesia (1970-2020) Saggi ricordi testimonianze critiche.
Presentation by Professor Luigi Fontanella (Stony Brook University) of his book:
Welcoming remarks by Center’s Director, Giuseppe Gazzola. Introduction and commentary by Anthony Julian Tamburri (CUNY/Queens College).
Click here to watch the recorded event
OCTOBER 26
4:00 p.m.
Center for Italian Studies
DANTE SERIES 1321-2021
Poetics of Judgment: Dante and the Foundations of Humanism.
Presentation by Professor Peter Carravetta, (Stony Brook University)
An analysis of how Dante’s notion of free will (libero arbitrio) is the basis for his conception of a just society made up of empowered subjects.
Click here to join the lecture
NOVEMBER 1
Monday, 5:30 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Italian Cine Club - Hollywood Dreams Italy
Enchanted April (M. Newel, 1991)
Presents: Josephine Fusco
Click here for more information
NOVEMBER 9
Thursday, 3pm
Zoom Event
The Joseph Tromba Series:
Bitter Chicory to Sweet Espresso, Survival and Deliverance from WW II in the Naples, Italy Area, 1940-49
with Author/Professor Emeritus, Carmine Vittoria (Northeastern University). Abstract: As per critics, this book is one of the few that exemplifies Italian heritage and culture in World War II.
Offered in collaboration with the Long Island State Veterans Home.
Click her to download the program
NOVEMBER 11
8:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Zoom Event
International Conference:
Citizenship and Nationality: A Diachronic Perspective.
Organized by the Center for Italian Studies, Dr. Ludovica Rossi Purini, and Prof. Loredana Polezzi, D’Amato Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies.
Click here to join the conferece
Click here to dowload the programNOVEMBER 15
Monday, 5:30 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Italian Cine Club - Hollywood Dreams Italy
I Am Love (L. Guadagnino, 2009)
Presents: Prof. G. Gazzola
Click here for more information
NOVEMBER 17
Maaza Mengiste
An Evening Conversation on History, Memory and Fiction - In Conversation with Dr. Simone Brioni & Prof. Loredana Polezzi.
Click here to watch the recorded event
NOVEMBER 20
Richard Nasti Lecture Series Event
Valentina Giannella, Italian Journalist and Author of We are All Greta: A worldwide best selling book that aims to explain climate change and the relevant scientific facts to children that also help parents answer their children’s questions about the challenges we’re all facing to save our planet. In the author’s own words: “ The title of the book was inspired by a young Chinese girl who was holding a sign during the Global Climate Strike in Hong Kong that read: My name is Greta. I realized that Greta Thunberg has not only the power to raise awareness on such a vital matter, but also to create a sense of identity amongst young people all over the world.”
Click here to watch recorded event
NOVEMBER 29
Monday, 5:30 pm
Center for Italian Studies
Italian Cine Club - Hollywood Dreams Italy
Call Me by Your Name (L. Guadagnino, 2017)
Presents: Prof. G. Gazzola
Click here for more information
FALL 2021
- RICHARD NASTI LECTURE - Gianfranco Cabiddu, in conversation with Prof. Loredana Polezzi :
Un viaggio tra musica e immagine con Gianfranco Cabiddu - A Musical and visual journey with Gianfranco Cabiddu.
- D'AMATO CHAIR - Prof. Anthony Tamburri (Caladra Italian American Institute) interviews Prof. Loredana Polezzi in the CUNY TV series Italics - Women's History Month:
Italian: Diaspora and Italian Communities Transnationally
- D'AMATO CHAIR - Italian writer Shirin Ramzanali Fazel in conversation with prof. Loredana Polezzi will talk about her latest book, Scrivere di Islam. Raccontare la diaspora , a meditation on our multireligious, multicultural, and multilingual reality.
Writing About Islam, Narrating a Diaspora
- D'AMATO CHAIR - Professor Loredana Polezzi, Alfonse D'Amato Chair in Italian and Italian Aemerican Studies, will be taking part in a large international conference on "Heritage and Our Sustainable Future: Research, Practice, Policy and Impact". She will be speaking about languages, multilingualism and translation in a session on:
Rethinking Capacity Strengthening for Sustainable Development.
2020 online Conference
Danza Macabra: Ancient Pestilences and
Contemporary Pandemics
Wednesday, 28 October, 2020 - 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Authors and Abstracts
Antonino URSO
Professor of Social Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Pontifical University St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. Cognitive behavioral psychologist. President, Italian Association of Group Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy. Editor-in-chief, Culture and Profession, the journal of Italian psychology.
“The Intimate Storm: Perception and Reactions of the Individuals and Societies to the Attack of the Pandemics.”
The advent of Covid-19 worldwide has led to consequences for people’s health, both physical and psychological, such as fear and anxiety. Together with the disease’s characteristics, such as its being airborne (i.e., perceived as imminent and invisible), further aspects such as uncertainty over the patients’ outcomes and the mandatory change of habits imposed by the governments to protect the population’s health, led many individuals to experience a generalized sense of fear. Comparisons with past historic pandemics teach a lot.
Franco CARDINI
Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences / Scuola Normale. He has taught at the Universities of Bari, Florence, Middlebury (Vermont), Ecole des Hautes Etudes et Sciences Sociales (Paris), Paris VIII - Vincennes-Saint Denis, among others. He is a fellow of the Berenson Foundation - Villa I Tatti, Harvard University.
“Political and Cultural Changes as an Effect of the Pestilences and Pandemics through the Centuries: Case Studies.”
Epidemics as well as all disasters affecting human beings or the environment invariably bring about social, cultural and political changes. This is a general rule that should never be forgotten in historical studies but must be applied by carefully assessing the genesis, contexts and outcomes of the phenomenon on a case-by-case basis. The emerging case studies in human history, limited to the European one that is better known and more documented, are the so-called "Plague of Athens" or "of Pericles" (5th century BC); the plague called "Antonine" that broke out in the Roman Empire under the reign of Caracalla; the so-called "Justinian's" plague (6th century AD), the Black Death of 1347-1351 - of course - and the plague of 1630.
Kristina M. OLSON
Associate Professor of Italian in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at George Mason University, where she has taught Italian language, literature and cinema since 2005. She is the author of Courtesy Lost: Dante, Boccaccio and the Literature of History (University of Toronto Press, 2014) and several articles on Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch. She is the co-editor of: Open City: Seven Writers in Postwar Rome (Steerforth Press, 1997); Boccaccio 1313-2013 (Longo Editore, 2015); and Approaches to Teaching Dante’s Divine Comedy (second edition) with the Modern Language Association (2020). She is the President of the American Boccaccio Association.
“Costor non saranno dalla morte vinti”: Boccaccio's Strategy of Invincibility in the Decameron"
At the beginning of the Ninth Day of the Decameron, the queen Emilia leads her fellow members of the brigata into a nearby forest, where they observe deer, stags, and other wild animals, who are at first not frightened by the presence of human beings. The animals' sense of invincibility is short-lived, however, for they soon take fright at the brigata's proximity. The storytellers then wreathe themselves with fronds and hold herbs and flowers in their hands, a sight which would inspire observers, as the Author tells us, to think that they will not be conquered by death -- or that they would welcome death with happiness. I trace the thematic of immortality across the novelle, concentrating in particular on how Boccaccio introduces metaphors related to the afterlife. In this way, the brigata develops a sense of invincibility: a narrative strategy for pandemic life.
Brandon ESSARY
Associate professor of Italian, Italian Studies coordinator, and associate chair of the world languages and cultures department at Elon University (North Carolina, USA). His research focuses on: transmediation, and particularly when Italian history and literature are transformed into video games; the intersections of narratology and ludology, traditional literary narratives and digital game narratives; and the representation of marriage in the Decameron.
“Giuochi e Sollazzi: Storytelling, Playing and Pandemics.”
At the outset of the Decameron, Boccaccio, through the voice of Queen Pampinea, defines and contrasts “giuochi” and “sollazzi.” Exemplary “giuochi” are indicated: “tavolieri e scacchieri” (Dec. I.Intro.110). “Sollazzi” and, in particular, that of “novellando,” is chosen by the queen because one person telling a story can bring pleasure to everyone listening. This presentation will analyze the distinction between “giuochi” and “sollazzi” from a ludological point of view. This interpretative lens will allow us to compare and contrast games and storytelling as voluntary activities with rules: within the context of the Decameron, as well as more broadly regarding societies that face pandemics or similar crises. Finally, attention will be paid to the notion of the “win state” and how it relates to the theory of the sacred and profane.
Luigi TROIANI
Professor of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, Pontifical University St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. Columnist of La Voce di New York.com and America Oggi. President of Iscop, The Higher Institute of Communication and Public Opinion, Rome. His 2020’s books: La diplomazia dell’arroganza (edizioni l’Ornitorinco), Il cimento dell’armonizzazione La Corte di Giustizia Ue e i sistemi costituzionali nazionali (editor), (edizioni L’Ornitorinco), La letteratura italiana di ispirazione socialista (co-editor), (Forum Italicum special issue, Sage).
“How the Epidemics and Pandemics affect the States’ Affairs and the International Relations: the Case of Covid-19.”
The states need stability and equilibrium to survive. The same can be said of the International System. In human history, one of the typical effect of the Pandemics has been the tendency to disrupt the states’ internal and international systems. The Covid-19 is not an exception. A model can be set to avoid that the disruption goes too further.
Delio MIOTTI
Professor of Demography and Economics at the Agrigento Agorà Mundi Center for Higher Education. Lecturer at the Master “Migration, Gender, Family Model and Inclusion Strategies” at the Sociology Department, University of Pavia. Co-author and Co-ordinator of the yearly Svimez annual Report on Southern Italy economics, and author of several essays on Development’s economics and demography. Head of Research at Svimez.
“The Economics of Pandemics: Useful Lessons from the Past.”
Historically, pandemics have marked critical discontinuities in history. They have had disruptive effects not only on the social relations within each single society, but also on the political and economic relations among societies previously connected. The Covid-19 pandemics has brought to new attention the long-period consequences of past pandemics. Analysing history might be useful in order to re-consider the effects exerted by public health emergencies on our economies and to better handle them. The XVII Century pest changed the Italian economic and political geography and the structure of the North-South relations in Europe. It may account as an interesting case study for the present decisions to be taken.
Carlo Maria LOLLI GHETTI
Professor of “Art Gallery Management” at Luiss Guido Carli University, Rome. Founder and General Manager of White Noise Gallery, Rome. Regular contributor to art catalogues and magazines, editor for Travel Retail Italy.
“Danse Macabre and the Perception of Death in Art. Will the Covid-19 be the turning point for contemporary art evolution?”
Art has always been asking questions about life and death and no other language has ever been able to better capture the zeitgeist. The Danse Macabre is one of the purest philosophical representations of death created after the plague pandemic that decimated Europe in 14th century. How will the idea of death be affected by the Covid-19? Will this global declaration of vulnerability be the center of contemporary art researches in the next years?
FALL 2020
- Professor Giuseppe Gazzola , director of the Center for Italian Studies, will discuss and comment the Inauguration Day at Fondazione Bruno Buozzi:
Mister President and Madame Vice President. Welcome!
- Grazia Gotti discusses and presents Gianni Rodari's illustrators for his centennial celebration:
Gianni Rodari a Colori
Click here to access the video >
- Professor Loredana Polezzi, Alfonso D'Amato Endowed Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, will participate at The German National Library virtual conference, dedicated to the Europe of languages and translation:
Translating Europe. Translation in times of Digital Revolution
Click here for more information >
- Professor Loredana Polezzi, Alfonso D'Amato Endowed Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, will participate in the presentation of:
Transnational Italian Studies within Transnational Modern Languages: A Book and Handbook Presentation
Click here for additional informations >
SUMMER 2020
- Forum Italicum, Special Issue (54/1): La letteratura italiana di ispirazione socialista >
- Le interviste di Forum Italicum >
SPRING 2020
2019 Conference
Quo vadis European Union?
The Spring 2019 Elections gave the European Union a new Parliament and Governance. Is a new European Union the Result?
November 14, 15, 16, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
Location: Wang Center, Stony Brook UniversityThe objective of this conference is to examine the effectiveness of the functioning of the European Union vis-à-vis its member states as well as the relationship with other power blocs in the world and the extent to which the external forces as well as changes within the political system of the member states have a bearing on the future of the Union. The program will include Presentations and Discussion by scholars and individuals with experience in the operation of the Union on such topics as:
- The institutional building with the European Union from the inception to the present.
- Has the expansion of the Union affected its effectiveness?
- The effect of populism and nationalism?
- To what extent has the concept of the Union evolved over time in the minds of citizens of the member states. ~
- The tension between larger and more powerful states and smaller states.
- Role and structure of a potential common defense system. Security?
- Can diplomacy suffice in dealing with external crisis?
- Trade, Labor, Migration; Global Warming, Diversity of Religious Systems,~Relations with the United States, Russia, and China
2018 ConferenceItaly & East Asia: Exchanges & Parallels
October, 11, 12 & 13 2018
Thursday, 4:00-6:00 PM
Friday and Saturday, 8:30 PM-5:30 PM
Location: Wang Center, Stony Brook UniversityCooperation and support of The China Center and the Confucius Institute
Many relationships exist between Italy and East Asia that have captured the attention of current English and Italian language scholarship. Through a wide ranging set of panels that will include presentations by international scholars from Asia, Canada, the United States and Western Europe, the conference will explore and assess what is at stake in the Italian-East Asian dialogue and expand existing research on issues relating to Italy and East Asia.
Conference Agenda
2017 Conference
EXPLAINING THE EMERGENCE OF POPULIST MOVEMENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON WESTERN DEMOCRACIES
The timely conference “Explaining the Populist Movements and Their Impact on Western Democracies,” hosted by Stony Brook University’s Center for Italian Studies on April 29, featured presentations that were informative, thought-provoking, well-researched and intellectually stimulating. Speakers connected well with the audience, and the conference created a forum for a rich exchange of ideas and for the creation of new knowledge.
Center Director Mario B. Mignone and Provost Michael Bernstein provided a warm welcome and gracious opening of the proceedings. This was followed by the morning session chaired by Frank Myers, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus from Stony Brook’s Department of Political Science.
The conference agenda included:Session I Presentations
Luigi Troiani, Angelicum, Pontificia Università, S.Tommaso d’Aquino, Rome, whose paper, “Zeitgeist, National-Populisms in Current International Politics,” defined National-Populisms and their content, using parallels with previous times, investigating their roots and reasons, and now their present assets to depict the risks involved for democracies and the uneasy effect they have on international politics.
Giorgio Benvenuto , Former Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party and Italian Labor Union Presidente Fondazione Pietro Nenni, whose paper, “Intermediate Bodies, the Antidote to Populism,” was delivered in Italian with English translation handouts. He identified the “Intermediate Bodies” as entities that represent various interests and values, such as labor unions, business and entrepreneurial associations, and voluntary organizations that traditionally have fostered consensus and social cohesion as well as an ordered development in the dialectic among themselves and the institutions of government. But with globalization, everything changes with more direct forms of democracy, as represented in populist movements that undermine the value of intermediate organizations as “social mediators.”
Federico Finchelstein, The New School for Social Research, in his advisement “How to Think About Populism
Globally” argued for a global understanding of populism and an analysis of its emergence from
a transnational perspective that includes the history of fascisms as well as the post-war
creation of populist regimes in Latin America.The lively exchange of the Q&A following this session carried into the lunchtime gathering at the Simons Café, where Chef Paolo Fontana and his staff prepared a gracious buffet of international flavorful dishes that represented the diversity of the participants and encouraged an anticipation of the Session II presentations chaired by Peter Carravetta, Alfonse M. D’Amato Professor of Italian and Italian American Studies in Stony Brook’s Department of European Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.
Session II Presentations
Stefano Vaccara , Editor-in-Chief of La Voce di New York, revealed how the journalistic insight from his position as UN European Correspondent
for Radio Radicale enabled his commentary, “America First, The Implication for the United Nations.” Through
several audio-visual clips of UN Security Council meetings, he presented how US announcements
of actions it will take on international problems has had the effect of showing support
for the UN when such pronouncements of “America First” might indicate otherwise.
Alessandro Del Ponte, PhD student, Stony Brook University Department of Political Science, in his presentation, “Nationalism
and Support for the EU,” examined how nationalism and such other factors as the sense of a European identity
in Western nations and the development of Eurosceptic parties work to fuel populist
politics and weaken support for the EU.Angelo Martelli, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, in his talk, “Structural Employment Changes and the Disappearing Middle-Class ,” investigated the joint effect of technology and labor market institutions on the evolution of European employment structures over the last three decades. He sought to establish through graphic illustrations how job polarization has affected the paths and intensity of political transformation across Europe.
Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica Senior Reporter, guided the presentations and discussion through Session III.
Session III Presentations
Helmut Norpoth, Professor, Stony Brook University Department of Political Science, in his talk, “Change Trumps Experience,” historically traced and justified his prediction that the electoral pendulum was poised to bring about a “change election” in US/2017 and how the strong populist wave of disapproval with government in Washington especially helped Donald Trump achieve victory.
Andrea Mammone, Royal Holloway, University of London, in his talk, “On the Rise of Europe’s Far Right,” reflected on the recent popularity of right-wing politics and groups that are considered the heirs of fascism — then speculated on the readiness and will of the “European elites,” including the center left, to respond to this development within the EU.
Jonathan Anzalone, Center for News Literacy, School of Journalism, Stony Brook University, in his presentation, “Is Fake News Another Name for Propaganda? The Role of Disinformation in the Rise of Populist Movements,” reminded us that voters in democratic countries have always been on guard against deceptive and exaggerated assertions of ambitious politicians. In 2016 forward, however, the effort to find reliable information on which to base one’s vote has become more challenging than ever before, thanks to the proliferation of “fake news” online and in social media. The presentation then examined the motives of the purveyors of fake news, the consumers’ appetite for bogus information that confirms their beliefs, and the role of disinformation in furthering populist movements in democratic nations.
In Closing
Closing remarks by Salvatore Rotella, Chancellor Emeritus Member of Advisory Board, Center for Italian Studies, commented that the presenters, community members and many students who attended the conference created an extraordinary forum in which people with different cultural and intellectual formation engaged in discussion in a way that is rare at academic events.For 30 years, the Center for Italian Studies has been building a strong cultural bridge between the University and the community. To make sure that the information and new ideas that emerged from the discussions will have a lasting effect, the video recording of the event may be accessed at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXAhyFSzOZ4LNpGlB_z0iMID8LDn7cv6MStony Brook’s Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Center for Italian Studies, Mario B. Mignone, Honored in the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament
May 16, 2017, Rome, Italy
Professor Mario B. Mignone, Director of the Center for Italian Studies, had the honor to celebrate the fiftieth year of publication of Forum Italicum, a journal of Italian Studies, of which he has been Editor for the past twenty-five years, before the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament in Rome. On this occasion a special issue of the Forum Italicum: Lucania within Us: Carlo Levi e Rocco Scotellaro, a volume of 722 pages, was presented by a panel that included, Mario Mignone along with the Hon. Stefano Dambruoso (Commissioner of the Chamber of Deputies), Vito De Filippo (Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of University Education and Research), Antonio Felice Uricchio (President of the University of Bari), and the guest editors of the volume: Giulia Dell'Aquila and Franco Vitelli (University of Bari), and Sebastiano Martelli (University of Salerno).
This anniversary celebration provided both a veritable homage to the fifty year history
of the journal, for its contributions to the knowledge and diffusion of Italian culture
and literature throughout the world and an opportunity especially to recognize its
annual special issue intended to deepen themes and authors of Italian literature studied
in the context of Italian culture, history, and society. The volume being recognized on this occasion: Lucania within us. Carlo Levi e Rocco Scotellaro (August 2016) presents the literary contributions of two important Italian writers who had a profound impact, through their writings and political and civic actions, on Italian society in postwar Italy. In focusing on these two writers in combination with the textual contributions of literary intellectuals, journalists, economists, sociologists, and anthropologists, attention is directed inescapably to studying Italy's “Southern Question” and uniquely the mosaic of the wide and deep complexity of the life of farmers rooted in secular traditions strongly attached to their natural habitat. The rich interdisciplinary perspective and the sense of openness derived from the fact that the two writers are translated into many languages, enable a more universal way of viewing the farmer’s world with values rooted in mother-earth.
The involvement of well known intellectuals and writers ( Goffredo Fofi, Nicola Lagioia, Sandra Petrignani, Alessandro Leogrande, Alfonso Guida), of famous photographers, directors, playwrights (Mario Carbone, Luigi Di Gianni, Maricla Boggio) and the contribution of scholarly authoritative supporters of many Italian and foreign universities, present a volume that depicts a way of life with values rooted in mother-earth that are universal. From such an interdisciplinary dimension that is historic, literary, linguistic-philological, socio-anthropological, artistic, musical, cinematic, La Lucania dentro di noi becomes a metaphorical representation of the spiritual and material state present throughout the world, today.
2016 Conference
Remembering Justice Antonin Scalia
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Presenters included scholars, legislators and judges along with former Supreme Court associates who clerked for Justice Scalia, who, all together, from different perspectives, reflected on Justice Scalia's life and legacy.
The conference closed on a unique note (literally) with a presentation of an excerpt from the opera Scalia and Ginsburg with commentary by its composer and librettist, Derrick Wang, and Stony Brook Opera Guild Director, David Lawton. The duet/excerpt was performed by Stony Brook Doctoral students, Jeremy Little and Catherine Sandstedt.
Video recordings of the presentations can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXAhyFSzOZ4LNGc69noJ29kSpMvLEKxCxDirector Mario B. Mignone Recognized by the Honorable Pietro Grasso in Rome
As part of Stony Brook's Study Abroad/Rome experience, which Dr. Mario Mignone directs each summer, participants in that program have the experience of visiting a session of the Italian Parliament.
This year, their visit to Parliament's Senate Chamber was especially recognized by the President of the Senate, the Honorable Pietro Grasso, who in his welcome to the Stony Brook group remarked enthusiastically on its inclusion of New York State Senator, the Honorable Kenneth P. LaValle. Senator LaValle formally served as a visiting lecturer in the Summer 2015 Rome Program.
This photograph records a memorable and exciting occasion for all who were part of the Rome/2015 Program.
Director Mario B. Mignone presents book on the Italian American Experience at the Camere dei Deputati in Rome
May 2014— Director Mario B. Mignone had the honor of presenting the book on the Italian American Experience at the Camere dei Deputati (Italian Parliament), Rome.
Sponsored and published by the Library of Congress, Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens: A visual History of the Italian American Experience from the Collections of the Library of Congress, the book was released in Italian by AnniversaryBooks with the title Trovare l'America.
The book presentation was presided by the Honorable Stefano Dambruoso with the participation of Deputy Fucsia Nissoli FitzGerald, Prof. Marcello Saija and publisher Paolo Battaglia.
Click this link to visit our Facebook page for more photos of the event!
Book Presentation of 'Explorers Emigrants Citizens' at the Consolato Generale d'Italia in New York
On Oct. 16. 2013, the Book Presentation of 'Explorers Emigrants Citizens' took place at the Consolato Generale d'Italia in New York.
The book is a visual history of the Italian Experience from the Collections of the Library of Congress, by Linda Barrett Osborne & Paolo Battaglia
The foreword was written by acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese, with introductions by Cener for Italian Studies Director Mario B. Mignone and Antonio Canovi.
2012
Rick Nasti Knighted by the Italian Republic
CONGRATULAZIONI to Rick Nasti for being knighted by the Italian Republic!From the Happenings newsletter:
"At a decoration ceremony held at the Italian Consulate in New York City on June 2, 2012, Mr. Richard Nasti received the prestigious Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Cavaliere (Knight). In bestowing the award on behalf of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, Consul General Natalia Quintavalle recounted some of the accomplishments of Mr. Nasti, specifically as they relate to Italy and Italian-American causes.
Mr. Nasti, who served as chair of the Stony Brook University Council for 14 years before moving to the University’s Foundation Board, has been instrumental in the success of Stony Brook’s Center for Italian Studies (CIS). The CIS, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, promotes and conducts scholarly research in Italian studies as well as serves as a cultural enrichment center for the community."
Click here to read the complete story in Happenings!
Center for Italian Studies Celebrates 25th Anniversary
The Center celebrated its 25th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. Pictures from the event (and many others!) can be found on our Facebook page.
The Center has also been featured in Happenings, Stony Brook's Online Newsletter:"The Center for Italian Studies celebrated its 25th anniversary with a festive celebration at Flowerfield in St. James on March 29. More than 230 attendees gathered to extend congratulations and support to the Center, and also honored Commendatore Peter S. Kalikow, President of H.J. Kalikow LLC, and New York State Senator Kenneth P. La Valle. Both men have addressed educational and cultural concerns, and have included Italian and Italian American Studies in their public service and philanthropic agendas.
Richard Nasti, Chair of the Center for Italian Studies Advisory Council, was the master of ceremonies for the evening, and announced that the occasion had raised $154,000 to support the programs and activities of the Center."
