Category: News

Call for Artwork: New Practices in Italian American and Italian Diasporic Contemporary Art

Posted on by Andrew Checchia
The Gallery at Calandra
March 2026 to Summer 2026
Curated by Rosa Berland
The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, located in Midtown Manhattan, invites submissions for a curated exhibition opening in March 2026 at the Calandra Gallery. The exhibition will highlight contemporary practices grounded in traditional and material-based media. Curated by art historian Rosa Berland, this exhibition will explore Italian American and Italian diasporic artistic practices with special attention to the heritage of craft and atelier technique. By bringing together a range of current approaches to artmaking, the exhibit presentation will situate this work within the extended history of Italian diasporic artists and teachers whose contributions have shaped the development of American art.
Eligibility and Media
Submissions are welcome in the following categories
– Works on paper
– Photography
– Painting
– Prints
– Small sculpture
– Textiles and fiber-based works
– Small artist books or sketchbooks
Submission Guidelines
Artists may submit up to six works for consideration.
Please include
– Link to a cloud-based folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, or similar) containing high-quality images; please name the images with your name and the title
– A list with title, date, medium, and dimensions for each work
– A brief artist bio or statement
– Contact information including name, email, and phone number
Submission Deadline
February 10, 2026
Details and Delivery Requirement
By March 13, selected artists must mail or deliver artwork, in person or via a representative. Installation details will be provided upon acceptance. There are no restrictions or commissions on the sale of work, however all work must remain on view throughout the run of the exhibition. Artwork should be installation ready, and/or permission must be given to install hardware or mounts.
How to Submit
Send materials to [email protected]
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Rosa Berland is a historian of modern and contemporary art with a special interest in the artistic production of diasporic America. In addition to past work at The Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and The Frick Collection, she has published extensively on modern art and serves as the Honorary Director of the Edward E. Boccia Artist Trust and teaches art history at Molloy University, Rockville Centre, New York.
The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute (Queens College, CUNY) has been dedicated for more than thirty years to fostering a greater understanding of the Italian American experience through research, education, and public programs and to serving as a vital resource for scholars, students, and the community.

Announcing the 2026 Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar

Posted on by Andrew Checchia
Study Italian Diaspora Culture in Rome through a Unique Summer Program in June 2026
The Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar (IDSSS) is a three-week summer program that takes place at Roma Tre University. It is designed to introduce participants (doctoral students and professors) to cultural studies of the Italian diaspora from a variety of academic perspectives and to foster the development of individual projects responding to the materials covered in the series of seminars in literature, film, and the social sciences. All participants will be encouraged to engage in a special research project.
The Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar is open to graduate students (doctorate; advanced MA students may be considered) and professors from colleges and universities worldwide. This is a collaborative program between the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute (Queens College of The City University of New York) and the Roma Tre University. Professors from these two institutions and others will comprise the teaching faculty for the entire three weeks. This is the tenth year of the Seminar.
The Seminar will accept up to twenty participants for the 2026 summer program. The dates for 2026 are June 15–July 03, 2026.
As of now, there are still some spots available, so please apply soon.
Fellowships of $1,500 per participant are available upon acceptance. Application forms can be found here.
Fellows will spend three weeks in a four-star hotel; the seminar classes will be held at Roma Tre University. Cost of room, board (breakfast and lunch), and tuition is $3,500. Graduate credit pending. Air and ground travel are additional. Click here for last summer’s brochure, which will give you an idea of the program.
Application Deadline: February 27, 2026

CALL FOR APPLICANTS: Editor of Italian American Review

Posted on by Andrew Checchia
The Italian American Review, a peer-reviewed, bi-annual journal devoted to the study of the histories and cultures of Italian Americans and the Italian diaspora, welcomes applications from qualified scholars for the position of editor of the journal for a three-year term commencing January 2027.
The IAR is interdisciplinary in nature and features articles about a wide variety of topics related to Italian American and Italian diasporic experiences, such as migration, politics, labor, race, gender, ethnicity, urban studies, literary criticism, and film studies, as well as various forms of cultural production (e.g., music, religious feasts). The journal does not accept creative work such as poetry, fiction, or memoir. The IAR also publishes book reviews, film and digital media reviews, exhibition reviews, and occasionally “Notes and Documents,” such as biographical sketches, obituaries, and reproductions of historical documents, etc.
The IAR is available online through EBSCO’s “America: History and Life” database and is listed in the MLA Directory of Periodicals and Italy’s ANVUR directory of scientific publications.
The editor of the IAR is responsible for overseeing the entirety of the editorial and pre-production processes and will be expected to:
– Sustain and build the IAR‘s high academic stature and integrity
– Proactively solicit articles from potential contributors
– Read and assess submissions for suitability of content, scholarly rigor, and quality of writing
– Facilitate the blind peer review and revision processes
– Handle publication decisions in a professional and timely manner
– Adhere to the highest ethical standards, preserving confidentiality in the peer review process
– Work closely with the Calandra Institute’s in-house editorial staff, IAR review editors, and production managers on readying text for publication
– Act as the communication link among contributors, review editors, staff, and editorial board.
Qualified candidates should be fluent in English and familiar with Italian and ready to work in a collaborative and collegial production environment. Candidates should be well-versed in Italian American and Italian diaspora studies and active in recent and current research in that—or a closely related—field. The successful candidate should be a highly motivated person, devoted to the promotion of every aspect of the journal’s success, championing it whenever possible in appropriate scholarly venues.
The successful applicant will assume editorial duties for the production of the Winter 2027 volume of the journal, transitioning into the position by Fall 2026. This is a three-year, non-compensated appointment. The Calandra Institute will provide logistical support, including line-editing, managing, and, if needed, office space. The publisher handles copy-editing, design, printing, mailing, and marketing of the journal.
Interested candidates should email a letter of interest and a current CV to: [email protected] (subject heading “IAR Editor”).
The application letter should discuss professional and scholarly experiences that make the candidate suited to and qualified for the position. It would be helpful to highlight and explain prior experience in an editorial capacity as well as vision and goals for the IAR. Related inquiries may be sent to the same email. Applications will be accepted until April 1, 2026, or until the position is filled. A committee of IAR advisory board members will review applications and select the successful candidate.

ANNOUNCING: Pietro “Pete” Panto Italian Diaspora Labor Dissertation Fellowship

Posted on by Andrew Checchia
This year marks the second of six funded years of the Panto Fellowship prize. The $1,000 fellowship is for graduate students who are writing their dissertation on any topic involving Italian emigrant and/or Italian ethnic labor and/or working-class life either in the United States or in the wider Italian diaspora.
Submissions may come from all relevant fields of study in migration and labor studies, including, but not limited to, history, literary studies, film studies, gender studies, and political science. The fellowship will run for six years with one award given each year. The fellowship award is $1,000 US per year.
The fellowship is named after dockworker and labor activist Pietro “Pete” Panto (1910–1939), who was murdered for leading rank-and-file stevedores in a struggle for safe and democratic working conditions on the Brooklyn waterfront, which had long been in the grip of mobsters and corrupt elements in the union.
Applications can be submitted here: https://bordigherapress.submittable.com/submit.
Deadline for submissions is May 1, 2026. The winner will be notified on Labor Day, September 7, 2026.
If you have any questions, please write to the Calandra Institute at the following email: [email protected]

Book Release: Expanding Diasporic Identity by Anthony Julian Tamburri

Posted on by Andrew Checchia

New book by the Dean of the Institute!

This study examines the changing dynamics of the “Italian” writer and how we, as cultural critics, need to re-think our definitions of the new Italian writer. In so doing, we must also re-consider the notion of the geo-cultural zones that we characterize as “Italian.” Namely, how do we categorize that writer who, having left Italy and now living beyond its geo-cartographic boundaries, writes in Italian? Similarly, who is that other writer who, originating from another country that is both culturally and linguistically different from Italy, writes in Italian? Finally, where within these two groups do we position the writer of Italian origin who also lives in another country and, different from the previous two types of writers, composes his/her work in the language of his/her host country?

Book Release: Gli americani italiani: cultura e società by Anthony Julian Tamburri

Posted on by Andrew Checchia

New book release in Italian by the Dean of the Institute!

Anthony Julian Tamburri is a leading figure in the field of Italian/American studies. Examining literary and cinematographic works from the perspective of cultural issues related to the concepts of memory, ethnicity, migration, and diaspora, Tamburri has argued for the need to broaden the concept of “Italian identity,” which in recent decades has extended far beyond traditional boundaries. Tamburri has thus initiated a dialogue that aims to launch an interactive process of shared practices and knowledge, which can benefit both “Italian” communities, including in their relations with other American ethnic communities, and the wider contexts in which we operate, including the Mediterranean and countries where the Italian diaspora is present: a textual and cultural journey that ‘will certainly not be easy, as it will confront us with a series of linguistic, cultural and […] ideological deviations’ and will force us to take a close look at stories that have long been removed from our collective imagination.

Explore a 3D Model of the Exhibition: Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States

Posted on by Andrew Checchia
Non-collaborating POWs built this presepio—an Italian nativity scene—near Schofield Barracks, Hawai’i, January 5, 1945. The Islamic architecture suggests a North African setting. Courtesy National Archives.

The Calandra Institute’s current exhibition Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States, curated by Laura E. Ruberto and Joseph Sciorra, can now be explored via a digital 3D model. View it here. To learn more about the exhibition click here, view the catalog, or read a brief description:

The exhibition presents creative work made by Italian soldiers who were imprisoned by the Allied forces during World War II, focusing on those held in the United States. These objects, often made from salvaged materials, ranged in size from a small inlaid ring to a large Catholic chapel with a 65-foot bell tower. There is no archive or collective depository about World War II Italian prisoners of war in Allied hands. To document this creative work, the exhibit pulls from research completed by co-curator Laura E. Ruberto (Berkeley City College), including historical photographs, rare remaining artifacts, oral testimonies, written accounts, family memories, and private collections. The exhibition, designed by Polly Franchini, brings together a selection of these objects, images, and stories to present this little-known history. Highlighting the artistry of incarcerated Italian servicemen (some of whom maintained allegiance to Fascism) is not meant to trivialize the atrocities of war or to minimize the resistance of those who fought at great sacrifice. Rather, it offers an opportunity to reflect on the myriad ways that identity and imagination are shaped materially during the adverse conditions of war.

The public can also view the gallery in person at the Calandra Institute’s Midtown Manhattan location. It will be on view from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, until November 26.

Italian Heritage and Culture Month 2024: Giovanni da Verrazzano 1524-2024

Posted on by Sian Gibby

This year’s theme for Italian Heritage and Culture Month is Giovanni da Verrazzano 1524-2024: 500 Years. We present here the Italian Heritage & Culture Committee, New York, Inc.’s documents anticipating the October celebrations: click here for Cav. Joseph Sciame’s Events Letter; here for the Events Form; here for a Press Release about this year’s celebration; and here for the Donations Request Form.

Call for Papers for Calandra’s 2025 Conference: The Bitter Bread of War: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from Italy and the Diaspora

Posted on by Sian Gibby

April 25–26, 2025

War has been foundational to the shaping of modern Italian history, memory, and culture—from the wars of the Risorgimento to colonial and Fascist wars of expansion up to and including the two world wars. Furthermore, in all these Italian war efforts, emigrant and diasporic communities have played significant roles whether through moral and material support, serving in the Italian military, or through their opposition to Italian wars. As such, scholars are increasingly turning their attention to the theme of war and its importance to our understanding of the history of Italy, the Italian diaspora, and former colonial subjects. This interdisciplinary conference is open to a wide range of topics concerning war from an Italian—broadly understood—perspective. As in the past, the Institute’s conference proposes an inclusive approach to Italy and Italian mobilities, including inhabitants of the nation-state, members of the diaspora, current immigrants in Italy and their descendants, and former colonial subjects.

Suggested paper topics include but are not limited to:

  • Italian military history
  • Italy’s reaction to other nations’ wars (e.g., Vietnam War, Russian-Ukraine War)
  • Anti-war movements and statements (e.g., Scorsese’s 1967 The Big Shave)
  • Colonial wars and anti-colonial responses
  • Domestic warfare, e.g., brigands, partisans, Years of Lead
  • Diasporic involvement with Italy’s military and wars
  • Italian immigrant and descendants’ participation in host country’s military
  • Displaced persons and refugees
  • Internment, e.g., POWs, US government’s enemy alien designation, Fascist concentration camps in Libya
  • Gendered approaches to war
  • Creative accounts and depictions, e.g., memoir, fiction, film, visual arts (e.g., Mengiste’s 2019 The Shadow King)
  • War as metaphor, e.g., class wars, war on organized crime, war on migrants
  • Memory, oral history, and historical revisioning, e.g., the foibe, Fosse Ardeatine, the Shoah

This is an in-person event without virtual presentations.

The official language of the conference is English. All presentations are limited to twenty minutes, including audio and visual illustrations. Thursday evening is dedicated to welcoming comments and reception; sessions and panels will take place all day Friday and Saturday.

NOTA BENE: There are no available funds for travel, accommodations, or meals. There is no conference registration fee. The conference does not make arrangements with local hotels, so participants are responsible for booking their own accommodations.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: SEPTEMBER 15, 2024. Abstracts for scholarly papers (up to 500 words, plus a note on technical requirements) and a brief, narrative biography should be emailed as attached documents by September 15, 2024, to [email protected], where other inquiries may also be addressed. We encourage the submission of organized panels (of no more than three presenters). Submission for a panel must be made by a single individual on behalf of the group and must include all the paper titles, abstract narratives, and individual biographies and emails.

Notice of acceptance or rejection will occur in early November 2024.

This year’s conference title comes from Arturo Giovannitti’s poem “Anniversary II.”