Italians in the Americas 24-26 April 2008 sponsored by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute Queens College The City University of New York 25 West 43rd Street Manhattan v PROGRAM Thursday, April 24, 2008 6:00-9:00 PM, 17th Floor Welcome James Muyskens President, Queens College Anthony Julian Tamburri Dean, Calandra Institute Keynote Lecture “Beyond the Immigrant Paradigm: Identities and the Future of Italian American Studies” Podcast available Fred L. Gardaphè Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies Reception v Friday, April 25, 2008, 18th Floor 8:30-9:45 Contested Identities in Italian America Chair: Maria Grace LaRusso, Calandra Institute Joseph LoGiudice, New York University • “The Construction of a Dual Identity: A Social Work Perspective of Rejection and Acceptance of the Gay & Italian-American Selves” Michael Carosone, New York, NY • “Disgracing the Family?: A History/Non-History of Queer Italian Americans” Angela D. Danzi and Marilyn Blumenthal, Farmingdale State College • “Family Disconnection: The Causes and Consequences of Estrangement and its Relationship to Ethnicity” 10-11:15 Working Aesthetics Chair: Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute Javier Grossutti, The Italian Academy of Columbia University • “Beyond the ‘Pick and Shovel’ Laborers: Italian Mosaic and Terrazzo Workers in New York City” Christine Francis Zinni, SUNY Brockport • “Writings in Stone and Textile” Anna Maria Carlevaris, Concordia University • “Italian Artists in the North America: Proposal for a History without Borders” 11:30-12:45 “Italians” in the “Americas” Chair: Robert Viscusi, Brooklyn College/CUNY Vincenzo Pascale, CUNY • “Writing of Visions: Dreams of Visions” David Aliano, College of Mount Saint Vincent • “Responses to Fascism from the Italian Community in Argentina (1922-1945)” Stefano Luconi, University of Rome “Tor Vergata” • “The Political Mobilization of Italian Immigrants to Argentina and the United States: A Comparison” Vincenzo Milione, Calandra Italian American Institute & Maddalena Tirabassi, Centro Altreitalie, Fondazione Giovanni Agnellli • “Inventory of the Italian Diaspora in the Americas” 12:45-2:15 LUNCH 2:15-3:30 Reflections in Psychology Chair: Donna Chirico, York College/CUNY Organizer: Elizabeth G. Messina, Lenox Hill Hospital Donna H. DiCello, University of Hartford • “Contra genio: The Experience of the Italian American Female Psychologist” Elizabeth G. Messina, Lenox Hill Hospital, Dept. of Psychology • “Stereotyping of Italian Americans, 1-Reflections on the History of Racism in Psychology toward Italian Americans” Antonio Terracciano, National Institute on Aging • “Stereotyping of Italian Americans, 2-Historical Perspectives on the Stereotypes of Northern and Southern Italians” 3:45-5:00 Re-imagining/Re-presenting Chair: Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute Marion S. Jacobson, Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences • “Italian Dance Hall Culture: Italian Americans, Accordions, and a Pluralistic Vision of Ethnicity in Manhattan, 1938-1961” Simona Frasca, Università di Roma “La Sapienza” & Università di Napoli “Frederico II” • “Representations of the Italian American Community through its Music” Jacqueline Maggio-May, Florida Atlantic University • “’Americans All!’: “Re-Imaging Ethnicity, Italians in America, 1939-1945” 5:15-6:30 Is There an Italian/American Body Politic? Chair: Anthony Julian Tamburri, Calandra Institute Organizer: Ottorino Cappelli, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” Rodrigo Paino, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” • “The Italian Vote Abroad: Electing from Afar” Ottorino Cappelli, Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” • “The Black Hole: Italian/American Studies and Political Science” Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College, Emeritus • “Italian-American Politics: A Worm’s Eye View” Respondent: Doug Muzzio, Baruch College v Saturday, April 26, 2008, 18th Floor 8:30-9:45 Personal Readings of Key Cultural Texts Chair: Anthony Julian Tamburri, Calandra Institute Rosanna Micelotta-Battigelli, Sudbury, Canada • “It all Started With My Mother Tongue: The Impact of Language on my Identity as a Teacher and Writer” Frances Gendimenco Kaufmann, Academic Library & Research Solutions • “Unlocking My Italian-American History: Reading Pietro Di Donato and Richard Gambino” John Calabro, Quattro Books • “The Children of Immigrants; Who Speaks for Them?” 10-11:15 First Encounters, First Conflicts Chair: Donna Chirico, York College/CUNY Teresa Fava Thomas, Fitchburg State College • “Arresting the Padrone Problem in America 1881-1901: Italian Diplomats, Immigration Restrictionists and the Italian Bureau of Ellis Island” Peter Oliva, Calgary, Canada • “Constructing Emilio Picariello: Small-town Conception and Big City Media in Canada’s Notorious 1922 Murder Trial” Geoffrey G. Drutchas, Taylor, Michigan • “Italians in the Americas: An Artist’s Story, Tommaso Juglaris” 11:30-12:45 Mapping and Visualizing Italians Chair: Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute Esther Romeyn, University of Florida • “I Misteri di New York: Urban Mysteries and Miseries of Italian Immigrants” Joan Saverino, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania • “Paradoxical Pasts: Diverse Interpretations of a Local Landscape” Jacqueline Reich, Stony Brook University • “Maciste in America: Transcultural Inscriptions of Muscular Masculinity” 12:45-2:15 LUNCH 2:15-3:30 Women as Authors, Women as Subjects Chair: Fred Gardaphè, Queens College/Calandra Institute Licia Canton, Accenti Magazine • “Literary Women: From Italian Daughters to Canadian Authors” Venera Fazio, Association of Italian Canadian Writers • “Reclaiming Our Magdalenes: The Case Histories, Angelina Napolitano and Filomena Losandro” Nancy Caronia, SUNY Brockport • “Omertà: Writing in Code; Reading Between the Lines” 3:45-5:00 Italian Americans after World War II Chair: Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute Francesca L’Orfano, Carleton University • “Identitià, Three Films: Straniera Come Donna (2002), Enigmatico (1995), and In bocca al lupo (1995)” Danielle Battisti, University of Buffalo • “The Edward Corsi Affair and Postwar Italian Immigration” James Pasto, Boston University • “Immigrants are not ‘Us’: Conflicts between First- and Second-generation Italian Americans and New Italian Immigrants in Boston’s North End during the 1960s and 1970s” 5:15-6:30 Imagining Italians Chair: Steven J. Belluscio, Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY Jana Vizmuller-Zocco, York University • “Italianità on Facebook: Towards a Cognitive Ethnicity” Patrizia La Trecchia, University of South Florida • “Being and Becoming: Notes on Subjects and Narratives in Transition” Daniela Gioseffi, ItalianAmericanPoets.com • “Why the Stereotyping of Italian Americans Works, Is Exploited and Persists” v CONFERENCE COMMITTEE Steven J. Belluscio Carmine Pizzirusso Donna Chirico Joseph Sciorra Maria Grace LaRusso Anthony Julian Tamburri Vincenzo Milione Peter Vellon v All activities of the conference are free and open to the public! RSVP at 212.642.2094