Calandra Conference 2022 Eco Italie: Material Landscapes and Environmental Imaginaries

The theme for the 2022 edition of the Calandra Institute’s annual conference will be Eco Italie: Material Landscapes and Environmental Imaginaries. The conference will take place in person at the Institute on April 28–30, 2022.

Italians operating under diverse historical conditions within the national borders and beyond have participated in varied roles and perspectives in transforming the global environment. Building on the growing scholarship analyzing Italian histories and cultures from the perspective of the environmental humanities this interdisciplinary conference encompasses a wide range of topics concerning the environment, broadly understood, from backyard gardening practices to industrial farming, from Fascist-era agricultural projects to the dumping of toxic waste by perpetrators of organized crime. At the forefront of this scholarly encounter is the dire global climate crisis and the science, activism, and everyday cultural shifts involved in alleviating a future catastrophe.
Attendance at the conference is open to all and free of charge. Please register by calling 212-642-2094; space is limited. Proof of vaccination and ID are required upon entry. Masks are encouraged but not required. We will continue to assess the latest data and public health guidance and to act in compliance with CUNY protocols.
The conference will be live streamed. You may watch the conference via live stream link here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84632506433?pwd=NHVpM0RFZ1dRa0YrUTljWmNKWEtVQT09
For more information, email calandra@qc.cuny.edu or call 212-642-2094.

 

Dr. Joseph Sciorra Wins Studs Terkel Award

Photograph of Joseph Sciorra
Joseph Sciorra

As part of the Working-Class Studies Association Awards for work produced in 2020, this year’s Studs Terkel Award for Single Published Articles or Series, Broadcast Media, Multimedia, and Film in Media and Journalism goes to “Protesta Per Sacco & Vanzetti,” by the Calandra Institute’s Director of Academic and Public Programs Joseph Sciorra. A judge writes that the piece includes “extensive research into the songs related to the men’s arrest, trial and executions,” a case they compare with the death of George Floyd. “The balm for xenophobia is knowledge, but the challenge is to bring people to that table. I’m there.” Also, a judge writes that Sciorra has “preserved a vital record of American anarchist history, giving credit to the working-class reproductions of this period’s emotive sounds and sensations of this historical moment.” The essay’s “focus on Italian language items provides an explicit example of working-class experience across languages, cultures, and people.”

Tribute to Robert Viscusi Published

Bordighera Press has just published this volume of essays, a Festschrift for beloved colleague and friend of the Calandra Institute Robert Viscusi (1941–2020). In it scholars deal with an array of Bob’s contributions to the worlds of letters and of academia.

This volume is available everywhere now for purchase. You may buy it at IAMBooks or at Barnes & Noble, among other booksellers. You may purchase the book directly from Bordighera Press by writing to info@bordigherapress.org.

Connecting Despite the Pandemic: Calandra Conversations

With the COVID-19 pandemic, venues that devote resources to public programming, like the Calandra Institute, have had to switch things up a bit. These more casual Zoom conversations offer a new and flexible means by which we have been able to continue with some of our scheduled events that could not take place in person as well as add other fun and informative online events. Click here to see all the conversations to date, and check back often, because we are only doing more.

Italics: Mark Rotella

Host Anthony Tamburri interviews Mark Rotella, the author of Amore: The Story of Italian American Song and Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria, as Rotella describes how his search for his own Italian American identity led to the writing of both books.

Rotella’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Salon, Washington Post, and the Village Voice, among others.

Book Presentation of Future: il domani narrato dalle voci di oggi

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.

New Episode of Italics: Who Are the “Real” Italians?

Our latest episode of Italics is up now. Click here to watch.

In the studio with us this month are Dr. Stefano Albertini, clinical professor of Italian in New York University’s Department of Italian and director of its Casa Italiana, and Rossella Rago, host of the popular web TV series “Cooking with Nonna.” We will discuss today the notion of what constitutes “Real” and Non-“Real” Italians, a discussion that is long overdue, some might say.

Italics is hosted by Anthony Julian Tamburri, Dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College/CUNY and Distinguished Professor of European Languages and Literatures.

Italics is now in its third decade serving the Italian-American community and those interested in Italian-American history and culture. Italics is co-produced in collaboration with the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.

Watch more at http://tv.cuny.edu/show/italics

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