In commemoration of Dante Alighieri’s life and work, many projects were realized on the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death. One of them, which took place at the end of 2021, was a series of conversations, sponsored in part by the Italian Heritage and Culture Committee Inc., including this one with Alessandro Barbero, a professor of history at University of Eastern Piedmont and a famous figure from Italy’s numerous history programs on television. Barbero enjoys an unusual amount of fame in Italy, where it is fair to say that he is almost universally beloved on account of his uncanny ability to explain history in accessible language, as well as his general affability, which is on clear display in this video conversation with Calandra’s dean Anthony Julian Tamburri. Barbero is fluent in many languages, including English, the language of this conversation.
This month Alison Cornish, professor & chair of Italian studies at NYU, talks about Dante.
We attended the Charities of America celebration honoring Cav. Joan Migliori, from the Calandra Institute’s Director for Community and International Programs.
This month Alison Cornish, professor & chair of Italian studies at NYU, talks about Dante.
We attended the Charities of America celebration honoring Cav. Joan Migliori, from the Calandra Institute’s Director for Community and International Programs.
“He (Dante) Showed How Powerful Language (Our Language) Could Be”
Luigi Ballerini, UCLA, Emeritus
An invitation to reflect on Dante’s divine obsession with language, poetry and the making of meaning. Is there something we can learn from it that would re-tool our own ability to bridge the gap between saying and signifying?
Alessandro Barbero in conversation with Anthony Julian Tamburri
The author of numerous books and essays, Alessandro Barbero is both a novelist and scholar of Italian Medieval history and literature. As novelist, in 1996, he won Italy’s most prestigious literary prize, the Strega Award, for his novel, Bella vita e guerre altrui di Mr. Pyle, gentiluomo. His book, Dante (Laterza, 2020) was extremely well received; a copy in English is due out in 2022, Dante. A Life (Simon & Schuster). Barbero is the author of The Battle, an account of the Battle of Waterloo; The Day of the Barbarians, the story of the Battle of Adrianople; and Charlemagne—all published in Britain. He writes for Il Sole 24 Ore and La Stampa, is the editor of Storia d’Europa e del Mediterranean, and regularly appears on Italian television and radio. In 2005, the Republic of France awarded Barbero with the title of Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He lives in Italy, and Dante is his first book to be published in America.
Teaching and meeting the skills of undergraduate curriculum: Dante as a vehicle for good undergraduate readership. Prof. Russo explains how basic skills in the undergraduate curriculum, such as information literacy and critical thinking skills, are addressed while teaching the DivineComedy.
Professor and coordinator of the Italian program at St. John’s University, Russo is the author of a book on Dante Alighieri titled Dante’s Search for the Golden Age (FIlibrary SUNY, 2011). She has also published several scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals on Dante and has recently collaborated with UPenn’s online Dante encyclopedia. She holds a position on the Board of Advisers of the Italian Cultural Center at St. John’s University.
Sponsored by the Italian Heritage and Cultural Committee and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.
Nota bene: This October 27 event will also take place in person at the Institute. Attendance will be limited to the first fifteen people who register. Call the Institute at 212-642-2094 to register to attend in person.
As per CUNY rules, COVID-19 protocols will be followed by all in attendance. Anyone attending our events will have their temperature taken and will need to show proof of vaccination (e.g., NYS Excelsior Pass, Vaccination Card) and photo ID upon entering the facilities. There will be no exceptions.
“’The Joy You Have but Tasted’: Savoring the Commedia with Dante”
For the septicentennial of Dante’s Commedia, this talk celebrates Dante’s relationship with a figure often overlooked by readers yet whose role as perennial confidant the poet establishes and reiterates throughout the poem. The identity of this universal figure? You, the Reader.
Dr. Catherine Adoyo received her PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures from Harvard University with a dissertation on the textual architecture of Dante’s Commedia. Trained in music composition and piano performance, Dr. Adoyo is the author of Rain: A Song for All and None, a genre-bending work of literary fiction that draws compositional inspiration from Dante’s Poetics to reclaim the storytelling voices of oral tradition in the Great Lakes region of East Africa.
Register in advance to attend this Zoom event by clicking on this link.
Sponsored by the Italian Heritage and Cultural Committee and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.
