A well-attended book launch was held at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura on May 31 to celebrate the English translation of Maria Teresa Cometto’s new book Emma and the Angel of Central Park (2023 Bordighera Press). The book tells the amazing true story of Emma Stebbins and her path toward designing the famous Angel of the Waters statue for the park’s Bethesda Fountain. The statue is monumental achievement for a woman sculptor in any era, and it was all the more so in 1868. Cometto’s book is a delightful and informative read. The book is available here and here, among other booksellers.
January 11, 2023, marked the eightieth anniversary of the murder of activist Carlo Tresca. Tresca was gunned down on the corner of Fifth and 15th St. in 1943 at age sixty-three. To remember this brutal end of a valiant life, Dr. Joseph Sciorra and Stephen Cerulli of the Calandra Institute organized a gathering of Tresca fans on the site of the assassination. Dr. Sciorra welcomed those present and put the event in some historical context, which Cerulli expanded on. They then opened the event up for others to speak, and a handful did so. Calandra’s Dean Anthony J. Tamburri closed the remarks, and the event concluded with the placing of red carnations, Tresca’s favorite flower, on the pavement near where he died.
On October 23rd, 2022, at the 86th Annual Italian Charities of America Dinner Dance these Italian American honorees were celebrated for their outstanding work and achievements.
On Saturday November 5, 2022, the Institute convened a panel of scholars to discuss the half-century-old legacy of the Mario Puzo novel and the series of films by Francis Ford Coppola. Some topics covered in the presentations included “The Don’s Tuxedo: Fashion and Costume in The Godfather,” by Rebecca Bauman, “No Girls Allowed: Homosociality and the Man Caves of Identity,” by Dr. Donna Chirico, and “From Scratch: Foodways as a Politic of Representation,” by Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, among other paper topics. Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri served as host and moderator. Stay tuned to this space for upcoming videos of the presentations.
Friday afternoon, September 16, 2022, a group of eminent members of the Italian American community came together at the Calandra Institute for the purpose of discussing the state of Italian American studies and the University as well as to underscore the importance of Italian American participation in humanistic philanthropy—namely, supporting the humanities, social sciences, and the arts.
