Calandra Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri sat down for a Zoom conversation with Consul General Francesco Genuardi, a dear friend of the Institute's, about Covid-19 and its many ramifications here and in Italy. Please click here to watch the conversation.

On April 24 Calandra's Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri had a conversation with Italy’s ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Armando Varricchio, about the plan for the gradual reopening of Italy. Click here to see the video.

A Call for Articles for an Edited Book Devotion, Artistry, and the Cult of St. Joseph Edited by Leonard Norman Primiano and Joseph Sciorra Abstracts due: July 1, 2020 Papers due: January 1, 2021 Interest in and devotion to the husband of the Virgin Mary and foster-father of Jesus—Joseph the Carpenter—has been present among Christians since the earliest centuries of the Common Era. Joseph has been deemed the patron saint of workers, sickness, and even a happy death. In places like Sicily as well as among Italian Americans devotion to St. Joseph is marked by elaborate altars (tavole) assembled on his feast day of March 19th with cornucopian displays of gastronomical delights. We are seeking scholarly articles from a variety of disciplinary perspectives for an edited, peer-reviewed anthology on the global veneration of St. Joseph. The proposed book seeks to explore the historical and contemporary devotion, as well as intimate and institutional interactions with this wonder worker. Special emphasis will be placed on how devotees of St. Joseph have artistically and creatively expressed their familiar connection to a beloved, but still excitingly mysterious, holy figure. Our plan is to submit the manuscript in the new year to a university publisher. We are looking for scholarly articles of original, unpublished research that encompass different disciplinary fields (e.g., biblical studies, religious studies, art history, cinema studies, literary criticism, anthropology, folklore and folklife) and that address a wide range of possible topics. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS An abstract up to 500 words and a brief curriculum vitae are due by July 1, 2020. If accepted, authors should plan to send completed articles (approximately 6,000 words) by January 1, 2021. Abstracts, final papers, and other inquiries should be emailed to Leonard Norman Primiano (primiano@cabrini.edu), and Joseph Sciorra (joseph.sciorra@qc.cuny.edu). Click here to read the entire Call for Papers document, including information on deadlines and rules for submission.

We are currently seeking contributions for an edited volume of the journal Italian American Review (IAR) on any aspect related to monuments, memorials, and Italian migrations. We seek articles that address a wide range of Italian migratory experiences including emigration, immigrations, internal migrations, and colonial subjects. We understand migrations to involve the voluntary or forced movement of peoples, objects, and ideas. We are interested in articles about physical objects that mark migration and/or objects that themselves have migrated and that engage with contemporary discussions of transnationalism, diaspora, and/or colonialism. We are also interested in essays that unpack the social-politics of the people involved in any one monument or marker. Click here to read the entire Call for Papers document, including information on deadlines and rules for submission.

On February 4, 2020, at the Calandra Institute was a presentation of Future: il domani narrato dalle voci di oggi, edited by Igiaba Scego. The evening featured Calandra's dean Anthony Julian Tamburri giving opening comments and serving as moderator; Candice Whitney, who gave a general presentation of the book; Camilla Hawthorne, who spoke on “The Significance of Future and ‘African Italy'”; and Marie Moise and Angelica Pesarini, who gave readings from the work.