Proposed Papers, Sessions, and Roundtables

AAIS AATI 2020 Conference

University of Arizona

March 26-28, 2020

Complete List – Click Here

Teaching Italian History and Politics through Popular Culture

Description: Sociocultural production can be a valuable tool for teaching history and politics. Texts of all kinds are used not only as “authentic” language resources, but as a relatable lens through which students can better understand political theory, social movements, and historical events. In this session, we will learn how we can effectively use texts (i.e., literary texts, songs, film, graphic novels, art and other visual media) in English-taught and Italian-taught courses at all levels.

Organizer: Lorraine Denman, Italian Language Program Coordinator and Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh (denman@pitt.edu)

Federico Fellini: A Centennial Celebration

Federico Fellini is one of the most recognized names in the history of cinema. The year 2020 marks the 100^th anniversary of his birth. For the occasion, this panel invites submissions on any aspect of Fellini’s work from a national as well as transnational perspective that crosses over genres, techniques and style, themes, different media, and cultural values.

By Sunday, Dec. 1, please submit a 150-200 word abstract of the presentation, a brief biographical note, and requests of audio-visual equipment to Claudia Romanelli, The University of Alabama, at cromanelli@ua.edu.

Documenting the Italian Diaspora

Organizers: Diana Iuele-Colilli (Laurentian University), Christine Sansalone (Laurentian University)

This session will feature research on how the various aspects and outcomes of Italian emigration throughout the world have been and continue to be documented and represented. We invite proposals dealing with historical, literary, cinematographic and other instruments of cultural memory and production.

Please send a 200-word abstract to Diana Iuele-Colilli (diuele@laurentian.ca) and Christine Sansalone (csansalone@laurentian.ca) by December 1, 2019.

Neorealism As Multimedia

Neorealism as Multimedia seeks contributions that look at how neorealism intersected other arts (i.e., photography, painting, architecture, music, theatre) and cultural practices (i.e., visual reportage and publishing). We particularly welcome contributions that provide a historical or conceptual framework for grouping postwar Italy’s audiovisual experiences under a revised rubric of neorealism.

Organizers:

Interested panelists should submit a 150-200 word abstract, a 50-100 word bio, and a 4-5 entry bibliography to Charles Leavitt IV (cleavitt@nd.edu) and Giorgio Bertellini (giorgiob@umich.edu) by November, 18, 2019. Those who do so will be notified of the panel’s constitution by November 25, 2019.

Leggere Non Basta: La Letteratura Italiana In Classe

L’insegnamento della letteratura italiana non si limita alla conoscenza dei classici. Una lezione di letteratura non può prescindere dal contenuto e dalla lingua del testo letterario, così come non può far a meno di tenere in considerazione il contesto-classe. La definizione di nuove pratiche didattico-divulgative per l’insegnamento della letteratura tenta di rispondere all’esigenza di avere a disposizione contenuti fruibili dai nativi digitali che siano anche funzionali all’obiettivo didattico. Il panel intende discutere gli approcci innovativi in seno alla didattica della letteratura, proponendo casi di studio specifici o esperienze in classe. I colleghi interessati a partecipare sono invitati a inviare un abstract (max 150 parole) e una breve nota biografica, entro il 1° dicembre 2019, a marco.marino@santannainstitute.com.

SESSION ORGANIZERS

Marco Marino (Sant’Anna Institute), marco.marino@santannainstitute.com

Domenico Palumbo (Sant’Anna Institute), domenico.palumbo@santannainstitute.com

What Present For The Resistance?

The Italian Resistance against Nazi-Fascism has been the subject of disparate literary, cinematic, and theatrical representations, which have cemented the democratic values of the post-fascist state and encouraged manifold aesthetic and political readings. This panel seeks to reconsider the positioning of such representations in their context of production and reception. How has the understanding and storytelling of the Resistenza changed throughout the last 75 years? What position does the Resistenza occupy in present-day Italy? How do these narratives still influence our judgement of the historical phenomenon?

Please send a 150-200 word abstract, brief bio, and request for A/V to the session organizers by December 1^st, 2019.

Organizers:
Daniele Biffanti, Stanford University, dbiffant@stanford.edu
Franco Baldasso, Bard College, baldasso@bard.edu

Strategic Approaches For Fostering Integrated Language/Culture Curricula

Building on the recent ACTFL roundtable on the renewal of the Italian Program at UBC, this conversation will engage participants into considering what initiatives could help reverse the ongoing decline in enrollment in the Italian courses, transform the curriculum and broaden its focus through integrated interdisciplinary alliances with other programs and departments.

Strategies emerging from the consultation of existing literature will also be presented and used for an in-depth discussion and investigation. This inquiry into curriculum practice may provide the scholarly foundation necessary to address key curricular issues and guide faculty and administrators through curriculum renewal.

Organizer: Dr. Luisa Canuto

Affiliation: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Email address: Luisa.canuto@ubc.ca

Elsa Morante, “a great passion for reality”?

In a much-quoted essay, literary critic Cesare Garboli famously singled out Elsa Morante’s “great passion for reality”. But was reality the main concern of such a multi-faceted and unclassifiable writer? The panel seeks proposals exploring new approaches to Morante’s writing, from her essays to lesser known aspects of her novels, to the often controversial and troubled relationship with intellectuals and the politics of her own time. How do Morante’s disparate interests, from dreams, to Eastern philosophies to psychedelic poetry affect her writing and her interpretations of reality? Can we articulate her visions of reality in critical ways?

Please send a 150-200 word abstract, brief bio, and request for A/V to the session organizers by December 1^st, 2019.

Organizers: Franco Baldasso, Bard College, baldasso@bard.edu

Maria Anna Mariani, University of Chicago, maria.anna.mariani@gmail.com

Fascism And Violence In Italy

Despite the vast bibliography relating to Italian fascism, violence has played a relatively minor role in research. This panel will discuss new approaches to violence before and under the fascist regime, with reference to everyday life, effects and victims, and its framing by the judiciary, the police and the press.

John Foot, University of Bristol, j.foot@bristol.ac.uk

Exploring Identity/Identities: Naples Beyond Gomorra &Elena Ferrante

La presente sessione intende prendere in esame le più moderne correnti dei Neapolitan Studies, al fine di esplorare la complessità dell’identità partenopea, al di là degli stereotipi connessi all’attuale rappresentazione della cultura napoletana – così come veicolata oggi dai media – in bilico tra l’ineludibile retaggio/coscienza criminale (Gomorra) da un lato, e l’indelebile impronta del rione con il suo carico di perenne degrado e violenza morale e materiale (Elena Ferrante), dall’altro.

I colleghi interessati a partecipare sono invitati a inviare un abstract (max 150 parole) insieme ad una breve nota biografica, entro il 1° dicembre 2019, a marco.marino@santannainstitute.com e balzanow@wfu.edu

Post-Humanism?Thinking Beyond the Human in Italian Culture

This interdisciplinary panel explores the different ways in which Italian authors have thought beyond (the legacy of) humanism in order to raise questions about the role of humans in a potentially post-natural world. Topics include but are not limited to:

the boundaries between civilization and wilderness;
hybridity, metamorphosis, and subjectivity;
nature and technology;
post-human condition vs trans-human evolution;
speciesism, anti-speciesism, and human exceptionalism.

Please send a brief abstract (150-200 words, in English or Italian) with title and a short bio to Damiano Benvegnù (damiano.benvegnu@dartmouth.edu) and Matteo Gilebbi (matteo.gilebbi@dartmouth.edu) by December 1st 2019.

Italian Modernism: Thought And Form

This panel intervenes into the recent debate over the question of both the existence and characteristics of an Italian form of modernism. The panel’s aim is to reflect on the ways in which modernism transformed Italian cultural production both at the level of thought and of form. We are particularly interested in contributions that examine: 1) how new philosophical concepts connected to modernism (ie. Bergson, Nietzsche, Simmel, Mach, etc.) altered the Italian debate, challenging the traditions of thought that were then current on the peninsula (positivism, idealism, etc.); 2) the ways in which this new thought contributed to a revolution in literary form, even leading to new formal structures and genres (the autobiographical writing of “La Voce,” fragmentation, impressionism, the new novel, the essay novel, etc.).

Please send 250-300word abstracts in English or Italian and a short bio to Mimmo Cangiano (cangiano.mimmo@gmail.com) and to Michael Subialka (msubialka@ucdavis.edu). The organizers likewise welcome any questions (including about whether a proposal might fit the panel topic).

On The Margins: Italy And The Global South

Description:

The questione meridionale, understood in Gramscian terms, continues to be theorized and aestheticized today. This panel seeks to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue about how the concept of the “South” has taken shape in literature, works of art, films, songs, and the broader public sphere, from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Preference will be given to essays that explore this theme in relation to Global South Studies, migration studies, and South-South exchanges.

Interested panelists should send their abstract in English or Italian (250 words), a brief biography (100 words) to the panel organizers (cristina.carnemolla@duke.edu and gricco@umich.edu) by December 1st.

Transcending Borders And Boundaries: Early Modern Italian Intellectuals In A Global Context (1400-1700)

Global Renaissance Studies have revealed how the work of early modern Italian intellectuals has influenced, and been influenced by, diverse, and often rival, sociocultural contexts. This approach has challenged Italo-centric, Eurocentric, and orientalist tropes, while remaining faithful to the reality of early modern Italian authors, whose work was influenced by exchanges with interlocutors from different worlds. We propose a series of sessions on intra-European, Mediterranean, and trans-continental intellectual exchanges in early modern Italian culture, which will take into account literary, scientific, philosophical, and artistic issues.

Please send at 150-200 word abstract, brief bio, and A/V requests to the session organizers by December 1, 2019.

Giuseppe Bruno-Chomin, University of Pennsylvania, brunjo@sas.upenn.edu and Tommaso De Robertis, University of Pennsylvania, derob@sas.upenn.edu

Curzio Malaparte Reconsidered

Curzio Malaparte is today at the center of an international debate reappraising his work as a key figure of European modernity, rediscovering his books, cinema and theater. The scandals of Malaparte’s biography overshadowed the exceptional versatility of an author famous worldwide for his arresting Casa Malaparte in Capri as well as for his heretic accounts of WWII in bestsellers such as Kaputt and La pelle. Beginning with his controversial association with fascism and his reports from the war fronts, the panel seeks contributions analyzing Malaparte’s response to the collapse of European civilization and the failure of post-WWI revolutionary ideals.

Please send a 150-200 word abstract, brief bio, and request for A/V to the session organizers by December 1^st, 2019.

Organizers:
Franco Baldasso, Bard College, baldasso@bard.edu

Charles L. Leavitt, Notre-Dame, cleavitt@nd.edu

How Is The Italian Novel Doing? Perspectives On The Novels Of The New Millennium

In the last decade, a significant number of scholars – Raffaele Donnarumma, Carlo Tirinanzi De Medici, Paolo Giovannetti, etc. – have tried to offer systematized perspectives on contemporary Italian novel. Keeping in mind these critical studies, the panel’s goal is that of identifying some general trends that are specific to post-millennial Italian novels. The presentations may focus on a variety of aspects, including language, style, themes, narrative structures, literary models, etc. Prospective speakers must submit a 200-word abstract and a brief biography to Francesco Samarini (fsamarin@indiana.edu) by November 25, 2019.

Teaching Italian Food Culture

The session invites critical perspectives on the experience of teaching Italian food culture within an Italian studies framework, and/or in a transnational context. We welcome contributions that explore theoretical and methodological issues as well as reflections on successful pedagogical practices in dedicated food studies courses, within broader cultural studies, or language courses. Topics may include: innovative pedagogical approaches, creative intersections with other disciplines and multidisciplinary collaborations, food studies and writing pedagogy, experiential components in academic settings, food culture and education abroad, among others.

Please send a title, a 200-word abstract and a brief bio (max 100 words) to sibondavalli@vassar.eduby December 1, 2019.

Organizer:

Simona Bondavalli

Paragone Revisited: Artistic, Literary, And Pedagogical Competition And Rivalry Across The Ages

Paragone has long been studied in terms of Renaissance artistic rivalries, visual and poetic competition, sculptural and pictorial feuding, and modern artists battling the ancients. This session aims to compile new examples and iterations of the paragone in and among various disciplines, including but not limited to, pedagogy, art history, art criticism, literary studies, music, popular culture, and language across all periods. Papers that investigate the way competition has both spurred and hindered artistic, linguistic, literary, or pedagogical production throughout the ages and across a range of media are welcome.

Organizer: Pierette Kulpa, Ph.D., Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, kulpa@kutztown.edu

Urban Space And Cityscapes: Italian Perspectives In Fiction, Photography And Film

The fields of architecture and of urban studies are indebted to essential elements of literature and other arts: description and narrative. This session explores the interplay between fiction writers, photographers, and directors with architects and urban planners in contemporary Italy. How do literary and visual narratives “tell space” in ways that expand approaches to the ongoing crisis of knowing and representing urban space? Preference will be given to proposals that reflect on how a narrative viewpoint (in writing or in images) endorses alternative ways of seeing, describing, and constructing urban space, thus renewing our perception and understanding of the city.

Organizer: Letizia Modena, Vanderbilt University, Letizia.modena@vanderbilt.edu

Game-Based Learning: Strategies For Italian Courses

Organizer: Margherita Berti, University of Arizona, berti@email.arizona.edu

Research has shown that the use of games in the educational setting provides a context for meaningful communication while also increasing engagement and collaboration (Sykes & Reinhardt, 2014). This roundtable aims at exploring how games are leveraged in Italian language, culture, and literature courses, at all levels. Participants will be provided with practical examples and pedagogical strategies for the use of games in their own courses to make learning fun and relevant to students. Please send an abstract of 250 words, along with a brief biography and technology requests, to the roundtable organizer by December 1^st, 2019.

Aristotle in the Early Modern Italian Literature

Famously labelled as the “master of those who know” in Dante’s Comedy, Aristotle has been a constant presence in Italian literary culture, not only as a theoretical authority (in particular with his Poetics), but also in other forms and roles. This panel focuses on the influence and the ubiquity of Aristotle in the Italian literary tradition, with a special attention to the medieval and the early modern period.
Please send a 150-200 word abstract and a short bio to the session organizer by December 1st, 2019.

Organizer: Eva Del Soldato (University of Pennsylvania, evadel@sas.upenn.edu)

“I Have Been Her Kind.” How To Write A Woman’s Life: The Italian Prospective

Carolyn Hilbrun thought there are four ways to write a woman’s life: the woman may do it as autobiography or as fiction; a biographer may tell her story or she may write her own life “in advance of living it, unconsciously, and without recognizing or naming the process.” This panel examines strategies of self-representation in (auto)biographies and novels by Italian women authors from the XX century to the present. We are particularly interested in the relationship between first and third person perspectives: What does it mean for a woman to write the life of another woman? We welcome papers that engage with literary theory (contemporary Italian feminism and queer studies, psychoanalysis) and comparative perspectives.

Please send a 150-200 word abstract and brief bio to the session organizer by December 1, 2019.

Organizer: Mattia Mossali, The Graduate Center – City University of New York, mmossali1@gradcenter.cuny.edu

FAIRY TALES IN ITALY / FIABE IN ITALIA

Fairy tales are shape-shifting narratives that travel across time, space, and media. They are not specific to Italy, yet, works that find their root in Italy deeply affected the fairy-tale landscape, such as Gian Battista Basile’s Lo cunto de li cunti (1634-36). But what happened to fairy tales in Italy since the World Wide Web was introduced in 1991? This panel welcomes papers that address this and other, related questions. General topics of interest are, but are not limited to, fairy tales and translation, the publishing market, social media, feminism and feminist movements, LGBTQ2+ issues and advocates, migrations, transmediality, critical animal rights, eco-criticism, children’s entertainment, the Italian classroom.

Please send a 200-word abstract, a brief bio, and A/V request to the session’s organizer by December 1, 2019.

Organizer and Chair:

Viola Ardeni, Indiana University, Bloomington (vardeni@iu.edu)

ARE LANGUAGES LOSING GROUND? HOW TO NAVIGATE CHANGES AND ENDURE (ROUNDTABLE)

Chairs and organizers:

Chiara De Santi, Farmingdale State College SUNY, chiara.desanti@farmingdale.edu

Carmela Scala, Rutgers University, carmela.scala@rutgers.edu

Nowadays, in higher education, with more language majors being discontinued or merged with other disciplinary paths, and with many colleges and universities reducing the language requirements for graduation, it seems that many departments are losing ground. This roundtable will discuss how the diminishing importance of languages might impact faculty, the Department’s course offerings, and the student-faculty learning relationship. The aim of this session is to share experiences and outcomes; identify successful ways to communicate and ally one’s department with key stakeholders on campus; overcome cuts; and advocate for the language department to play a more critical role in Higher Education.

Moving Subjects: Bodies, Spaces, And Agency

Organizers: Giuliano Migliori, Ph.D. (The Ohio State University) and Alessia Martini, Ph.D. (The University of the South)

This session invites scholarship on the theme of moving and porous subjects, in particular on how the interplay between bodies, spaces, and agency redefines our literary, visual, and sociopolitical discourses in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. This discussion focuses on issues such as perception, sensing spaces, bodies and gender, borders and forms of resistance, and porosity. We welcome approaches across disciplines including theories of space and place, body studies, post-colonial, migration, and the Anthropocene.

Please, send an abstract (150-200 words, in English or Italian) with title and short bio to Giuliano Migliori (migliori.2@osu.edu) and Alessia Martini (almartin@sewanee.edu) by December 1^st 2019.

“Rambunctious Gardening”: Getting My Hands Dirty With Ecology.

Similarly to literary story lines, gardens are plots that unfold over space and time. This panel aims to blend academic and creative writing with an eye on promoting the public-facing humanities. We encourage contributions about personal experiences with gardens and gardening set within the framework of ecological theory. Areas of interest include the philosophical and ecological implications of gardening; engaging the earth; “the ethics of care”; multispecies interaction and ecosystems; “literary gardens”; consumption and productivity; artifice; conservation, restoration, and degradation; wild vs. tamed; organic vs. inorganic; slow food; sustainable nutrition and nourishment; and any topic in the field of gardening.

Organizer: Serena Ferrando, Assistant Professor of Environmental Humanities and Italian, Arizona State University, serena.ferrando@asu.edu

Queer Italy In A Transnational Frame

(Sponsored by the AAIS Queer Studies Caucus)

This panel seeks papers examining Italian queerness (in relation to politics, theory, identity, activism, etc.) within a transnational context. We invite proposals with a capacious understanding of the terms “queer,” Italy,” and “transnational” and seek multiple perspectives and provocations as we consider the intellectual, political, and creative histories by which they are informed and that they engender.

Organizer: John Champagne, Penn State Erie, the Behrend College

Those interested should send an abstract (250 words) and brief biographical statement to aaisqueerstudiescaucus@gmail.com by 1 December.

Queer Work In Progress

(Sponsored by the AAIS Queer Studies Caucus)

We invite submissions for short presentations on current research projects focusing on LGBT/queer criticism, theory and history. Each presentation should be 10 min long. It will provide an overview of the project, including its rationale and the research questions being posed. Presenters should aim to use the presentation as a means for generating active discussion of their research.

Organizer: Sergio Rigoletto, University of Oregon

Those interested should send an abstract (250 words) and brief biographical statement to srigolet@uoregon.edu by 1 December, 2020.

Inside The Walls: Nuns’ Literary Effort In Early Modern Italy

This session aims to investigate the role of the writings by nuns during early modern time. Living an enclosed life in convents, nuns were not only engaged in prayers and contemplative life, but also spent time reading, writing, and encouraging literary exchanges with women of other convents or secular female writers. Why some nuns were dedicated writers and what did they write about? What encouraged their literary activities? How some nuns were able to publish and their writings were not found to be greatly out of line of with their secular peers?

Organizer: Nicla Riverso, University of Washington, riverso@uw.edu (AAIS)

30)Roundtable: Are We There Yet? The “Next Generation” of Italian Graduate Studies

Since the launch of early-2010s MLA and AHA career diversity initiatives, these and other professional organizations have collaborated with universities and humanities funding agencies to re-imagine Graduate Studies missions and outcomes. How is Italian Studies responding to these initiatives? In which ways is Italian Studies a natural part of these field-wide conversations? In which ways is Italian Studies unique? What kinds of challenges and/or opportunities does this position present? Keeping in mind specific emphases on career diversity, public humanities, curricular innovation, and collaboration of various kinds, this panel invites interventions (max. 10 min.) from colleagues engaged in Masters or doctoral level innovation in Italian Studies.

Organizer:

Lina Insana, University of Pittsburgh, insana@pitt.edu, AAIS Member

Game-Based Learning: From Theory To Practice

In the past two decades, crowdfunding and renewed interest in non-digital games (board games, role-playing games, and instructional games) and videogames have created a diverse gaming production, which has become the subject of several studies and projects related to education. This session aims to explore and assess the impact that gamification and game-based learning can have for developing language proficiency, intercultural competence, or critical thinking in our Italian language and culture courses. We will share brief theoretical foundations and focus on practical activities and student work that are informed by gamification, game-based, and videogame-based F/L2 language acquisition principles.

Please send an abstract of 250 words, a brief biography and technology requests to the roundtable organizers by December 1, 2019.

Roundtable organizers:

Simone Bregni, Saint Louis University, simone.bregni@slu.edu
Brandon Essary, Elon University, bessary@elon.edu
Camilla Zamboni, Wesleyan University, czamboni@wesleyan.edu

SUBVERSIVE VOICES OF THE XXI CENTURY

What does it mean to be a subversive writer in 21st century Italy? Who are the writers, the poets, the literary critics, the journalists who, through their voices, lead us through the controversial folds of the Italian socio-cultural fabric, who tell us the story of Italy in a new way, often transversal and oblique?

The aim of this panel is to open a discussion on those writers who are often:
• Outside of the media and propaganda
• On the border between various languages, geographies, genders
• Inconvenient, Disobedient, Provocative, Visionary

The discussion is open to different expressive modes that challenge certain socio-cultural and behavioral systems and represent dissonant voices aimed at shaking consciences.

Please send your proposal of 250 words in English or Italian with a short bio to Anna Cellinese cellinese@princeton.edu by November 20.

Cultural Adaptations in Italian Literature, Cinema, and Performing Arts

As Linda Hutcheon claims, “adaptation has run amok” in the twenty-first century with the many media at our disposal. Beside novels, films, and TV shows, all sorts of electronic resources and virtual reality allow us to experiment and adapt new and old stories, themes, and characters from one medium to the other and back again. From Dante’s Divine Comedy and Boccaccio’s Decameron to Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet and Roberto Saviano’s Gomorra, cultural adaptations have flourished in Italian literature, cinema, music, theater, graphic novels, interactive and virtual platforms. We seek papers that explore mainstream as well as less known cultural adaptations of Italian characters and works across a broad range of media and genres.

Please send a 150-200 word abstract, brief bio, and A/V requests to the session organizers by December 1st, 2019.

Organizers:

Elena Bellina, University of Rochester (ebellina@esm.rochester.edu)

Letizia Bellocchio, University of Arizona (bellocchio@email.arizona.edu)

Memory of Captivity in 20^thand 21^st Century Italian Culture

Italy has coped with diverse forms of captivity. From Fascist political confinement, WWII internment, ideological abductions in the years of lead, asylums, rehabilitating marriage, ransom kidnappings by banditry and organized crime, to today’s temporary camps for migrants, the country has conveniently celebrated these captives or excluded them from its official memory or policies. This panel investigates how through life and self-writing, media coverage, and visual and literary adaptations of captivity, individual memories have been able to question Italy’s national memory and identity; to shape public opinion and the law; and to redefine the genre of testimony within the Italian tradition.

We seek papers that look at memories of captivity in a broad range of cultural production and from different historical and theoretical approaches. Please send a 150-200 word abstract, brief bio, and A/V requests to the session organizers by December 1st, 2019.

Organizers:

Elena Bellina, University of Rochester (ebellina@esm.rochester.edu)

Alessandra Montalbano, University of Alabama (amontalbano@ua.edu)

1950-2020: Cesare Pavese 70 Years Later. New Perspectives Of Studies

Cesare Pavese left an unforgettable mark on 20^th century Italian culture. His multifaceted intellectual personality took many shapes: as poet, translator, member of Einaudi publisher, novelist, he was a complete intellectual. His literary production was characterized by openness: he translated for the first time American authors whom influenced him; with Dialoghi con Leucò he reinterpreted the classical mythology; he was interested in cinema. 70 years after his death, what perspectives can be employed today to study him? How his openness can be interpreted, considering the intellectual context of the first half of the 20^th century and looking at the present time?

Prospective speakers must submit a 150-200 words abstract and a brief biography to Iuri Moscardi (imoscardi@gradcenter.cuny.edu) by November 30, 2019.

Sentiment, sensation and science in Italy between 18^thand 19^thcentury

Organizer: Paolo Pellecchia (The Graduate Center, CUNY)

The conjunction between Sensationism and science typical of the Enlightenment plays a pivotal role for intellectuals of 18th-century Europe, affecting both philosophical and aesthetic practices of 19th-century intellectuals. This panel seeks papers that explore the fruitful intersection of Sensationism, science and aesthetics in Italy between 18th and 19th century, in authors such as the brothers Verri, Beccaria, Muratori, Cesarotti, Leopardi and Manzoni. Possible topics: the role of science and analysis in literary reflections; the tension between sense and sensibility; Italian re-readings of the 18th-century concept of emotion; affect theory; Italian interpretations of Sensationism. Papers utilizing theoretical approaches are welcome.

Prospective speakers must submit a 150-200 words abstract and a brief biography to Paolo Pellecchia (ppellecchia@gradcenter.cuny.edu) by November 30, 2019.

Transnational Television, Italian Style

This panel is seeking contributions that analyze Italian series produced for a global audience, as well as transnational co-productions, with the goal of discussing Italian serial drama in its global positioning and in its nationalistic investments, identifying its national aesthetics and its political dependencies, its loci of assimilation and its forms of rebellion against dominant paradigms dictated by the North American industry. Papers analyzing Sky co-productions (The Young Pope and Il Miracolo), Netflix Originals (Suburra and Baby), and RAI co-productions (My Brilliant Friend, I Medici and The Name of the Rose) are welcome.

Organizer: Giancarlo Lombardi, The Graduate Center and College of Staten Island/CUNY, glombardi@gc.cuny.edu

After All Is Said And Done: Measuring Language Competence At The End Of Upper Year Courses

This roundtable seeks to present 1. Panelists’ best practices in intermediate to advanced Italian language courses; 2. How language learning is measured at the end of a program of study in Italian.

In their presentation, panelists should address the following questions:

Upon completing required language practice courses, to what extent can learners effectively communicate in Italian? What evidence of those achievements can you report? How are those achievements demonstrated/quantified? What practices have you found help learners better realize their personal, program, and course goals?

Submissions in both English and Italian are welcome.

Organizer: Teresa Lobalsamo, University of Toronto Mississauga, teresa.lobalsamo@utoronto.ca

Growing Intercultural Learners In World Language Courses

This panel offers a forum for discussion of the ongoing projects, best practices, and strategies that focus on implementing intentional intercultural learning perspectives in the on-campus, service-learning, and study abroad Italian curricula. Topics of particular interest include: designing intercultural goals and outcomes for Italian courses, integrating intercultural activities in language-immersive curricula, and aligning outcomes and activities with qualitative and quantitative assessment methods. Contributions should address both strengths and weaknesses of current approaches and the span of courses included in current projects. Papers addressing partnerships across campus(es) and/or within language and culture centers and institutes are also welcome.

Please send a 200-word abstract and brief bio to April Weintritt (weintritt.1@osu.edu) and Tatjana Babic Williams (tbabic@purdue.edu) by November 15, 2019.

Storie Di Periferia: Autrici E Mediatrici Culturali Nel Lungo Ottocento Italiano

Le donne italiane, anche quelle residenti al di fuori dei grandi centri urbani, hanno partecipato attivamente ai fermenti intellettuali, politici e sociali del lungo Ottocento attraverso un’intensa pratica della scrittura e l’attivazione di reti culturali transnazionali. La circolazione di testi e idee di respiro europeo, la frequentazione di forme letterarie eccentriche e le attività di singole figure ora neglette rappresentano un contributo imprescindibile alla comprensione della storia letteraria. Questo panel intende indagare il ruolo di tali autrici e mediatrici culturali, con particolare attenzione alle attività geograficamente dislocate rispetto ai centri di Milano e Roma.

Contatto: valeria.iaconis@uzh.ch

Anatomy of an Online Course: How to Create Successful Fully-Online Courses in Italian Language and Culture

This round table proposes to discuss how to create successful fully-online courses in Italian language and culture by tracing the entire process of course design and by providing examples of successful courses in film, culture, and language. Specifically, the round table proposes to address the course structure, the formulation of learning outcomes using Bloom’s Taxonomy, the creation of engaging learning materials, the sequencing and scaffolding of content, and the variety of assessment techniques used in order to maximize student engagement and outcomes.

Please send a brief email outlining what you would like to bring to the table to the session organizers by December 1st, 2019.

Organizers:

Chiara Dal Martello, Arizona State University, chiara.dm@asu.edu

Sandra Palaich, Arizona State University, sandra.palaich@asu.edu

The Importance Of Warm Up Activities To Promote Student Engagement And Facilitate Learning (Roundtable)

Chairs and organizers:

Carmela Scala, Rutgers University, carmela.scala@rutgers.edu

Chiara De Santi, Farmingdale State College SUNY, chiara.desanti@farmingdale.edu

One of the biggest challenges we face as language teachers is to find ways to keep our students engaged and motivated in the class as they often seem bored and distracted. Well organized and thought out warm up activities are a great incentive to get our students’ attention. Starting a class with a fun and engaging activity promotes participation, creates a relaxed environment and gets students thinking about the target language (while also bringing forward background knowledge) and ready to learn.

In this panel we welcome presentations that highlight the importance and effectiveness of warm up techniques.

Roundtable

The Last Forty years of Italian Pop Culture

In this roundtable, I am proposing a discussion to come to a (first) critical evaluation of the current impact of Italian Pop culture on an international stage. We can measure the popularity of Italian Pop by the following criteria: quantity and quality of translations; presence of Italian products in advertising and commercials; presence of Italian movies in movie-theaters and TV (traditional TV and streaming services); presence of Italian restaurants and delis in urban areas; presence of Italian products in stores (clothing, groceries, automobile dealership, etc.); weight of Italian singers and musicians in platforms such as Spotify, etc.

Organizer/Chair: Enrico Minardi, Enrico.Minardi@asu.edu

Session

The Last Forty years of Italian Pop Culture

Some of the most original pages from Gramsci’s Prison Notebookes, are dedicated to the subject of mass’s culture. Antonio Gramsci has in fact been the first one to realize the relevance of the cultural industry’s products as far as their ideological content, embedded world’s view, and expressive form are concerned. His interpretative model has afterwards influenced Umberto Eco who has successfully combined the Gramscian methodology with his own semiotic approach in some of his most important essays (regarding a manifold variety of cultural artifacts, belonging to categories as diverse as cinema, comics, advertising, and journalism). Along this very same line of research, I am looking for presenters covering all kind of artifacts and aspects of Italian mass culture throughout the last 40 years.

Organizer/Chair: Enrico Minardi, Enrico.Minardi@asu.edu

City and Nation in Contemporary Italian Culture

For Antonio Bassolino, the introduction of direct mayoral election in 1993 and the newfound freedom of Italy’s cities to promote and brand themselves independent of the nation-state encourages a reconceptualization of Italy as a ‘Republic of Cities’.

This panel explores the role played by cultural practice and production in articulating, negotiating and reshaping understandings of the relationship between city and nation in contemporary Italy. Papers focused on Italy’s larger cities are particularly welcome, as are explorations of the relationship between distinct urban and national identities in the cultural imaginary.

Organiser: Prof. Ruth Glynn

Affiliation: University of Bristol, UK

Email: r.s.glynn@bristol.ac.uk

Renaissance And The Obscene

According to a popular but inaccurate etymology, the word obscene originates from the classical Greek theatre practice of representation, and refers to that which was kept “off-stage” due to its controversial content. Varro, by contrast, defined the word obscaenum as “anything shameful” which “ought not to be said openly except on the scaena, scene.” This panel invites contributions which explore the literary, theatrical, and artistic representation of the “obscene” in the Renaissance. What constituted an obscenity in the early modern period? How did authors conceive the limits of its representation? What does this say about the boundaries of Renaissance fictionality?

Prospective speakers must send a 150-200 words abstract, brief bio, and A/V request to Alberto Luca Zuliani (azulian1@jhu.edu) by December 1, 2019.

Telling Lives: Biographies Of Women In Renaissance Italy

Biography is constitutionally a hybrid genre, neither fully history nor fully literature. Renaissance biographies often includes political undertones or elements that recall the novella or hagiographical writings. Despite their possible lack of trustworthiness, Renaissance biographies of women provide a survey of the social and literary issues related to women in Renaissance literature, helping us understand and define the societal trends and the paradoxes inherent in the querelle des femmes. This panel seeks papers that investigate that role female biographies played in the Early-Modern debate on women, how they shaped cultural attitudes and revealed often conflicting social expectations about women.

Prospective speakers should submit a 150-200-word abstract and a brief biography to Beatrice

Variolo (bvariolo@stthomas.edu) by December 1st, 2019.

Food, Wine, and Mother Earth in Italian Literature & Cinema

Food is our first comfort, our first reward. Hunger is our first frustration.

-Bunny Crumpacker, The Sex Life of Food

This panel explores the manifold representations of food and food culture(s) in Italian literature and cinema. As Flandrin and Montanari assert in Food: A Cultural History from Antiquity to the Present (1999), food plays a critical role in society, particularly from a cultural perspective. Food serves not only to nourish the body and the mind, but also to probe questions of gender, race, and social milieu. Paper topics may include, but are not limited to:

Food and pleasure
History understood through food
Food and regional identity
Food as narrative device
‘Mother earth’ and food production