Calandra Institute

A New Life with Bianca (Bordighera Press, 2015)Frank Polizzi
2015-12-07 18:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Frank Polizzi will provide an overview of his new book of sonnets, A New Life with Bianca, highlighting the important influences on this project. There will be a video with music that illuminates Michael McCurdy’s engravings, including the first line of each sonnet. Then Frank will read sonnets #2 & 3 in English, followed by Chiara Curtoni, who will read her Italian translations, and Nino Provenzano, who will read his Sicilian translations. Afterwards there will be a Q & A with the author and translators. Books will be available at a discounted price.

Mark Chiusano reads from Marine Park: Stories (Penguin Books, 2014)
2015-12-02 18:00 - 19:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Marine Park—in the far reaches of Brooklyn, virtually train-less and tourist-free—finds its literary chronicler in Mark Chiusano. Chiusano’s stories delve into family, boyhood, sports, drugs, love, and all the quirks of growing up in a tight-knit community on the edge of the city. In the tradition of Junot Díaz’s Drown, Stuart Dybek’s The Coast of Chicago, and Russell Banks’s Trailerpark, this is a poignant and piercing collectionannouncing the arrival of a distinct new voice in American fiction.
Filled with life stories we can all relate to. . . . [Chiusano] makes it seem like you’re hearing these stories from an old friend at a bar, venting about his life, his regrets and his lost dreams, over a couple of drinks.—The Boston Herald

Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story
2015-11-18 18:30 - 20:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Preview screening of this documentary-drama on the life and work of Daniela Gioseffi, who became an author struggling to fight for civil rights in the Deep South during the fraught era of the Freedom Riders. More information and clips can be found at www.authorandactivist.com. Open to the public and free of charge.

Imagined Places and Fragile Landscapes: Italian American Presepi in New York CityJoseph Sciorra, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
2015-11-15 14:00 - 15:00 | Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, 310 Genesee Street Utica NY 13502
Reception and book signing follows in the Edward Wales Root Sculpture Court.
In New York and across the U.S., Italian Americans hold dear the cultural and religious traditions of their heritage, including the Nativity scene, or presepe. While the custom in Italy includes finely crafted miniature landscapes of Italian hill towns and figures of the Holy Family, modern presepi can also be elaborate homemade creations fashioned from unconventional materials, filled with personal narrative, and reflecting modern culture and influences.
Folklorist Dr. Joseph Sciorra has documented the elaborate and even fanciful presepi of New Yorkers and draws together his research on Italian American heritage in a brilliantly illustrated and evocative presentation. Following the lecture Dr. Sciorra will sign copies of his books, including the recently published Built with Faith: Italian American Imagination and Catholic Material Culture in New York City, available at the Museum Shop.
Free and Open to the Public
NOTA BENE: This event will NOT be held at the Calandra Institute. It will be held at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, 310 Genesee St, Utica, New York 13502.

"Meet the Archives:" Reframing Italian America: Historical Photographs and Immigrant Representations
2015-11-09 06:00 - 20:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
The Calandra Institute’s current exhibition Reframing Italian America brings to light 23 photographs from the Bernard Titowsky collection, images and artifacts of extraordinary value to the ongoing story of Italians in the United States. The collection is comprised of over 200 pieces; what about the numerous undisplayed items? Join us for this behind-the-scenes peek at the collection and get a close-up look at oversized artifacts like mounted photograph displays of California wineries, bound photo albums from now defunct macaroni factories, maps tracking Italians in New York City, and other never-before-seen holdings. This special event will be held in the gallery and, due to space limitations and the fragile nature of the photographs, is open to the first 12 people to RSVP by calling 212-642-2094.

ILICA Annual Gala
2015-11-07 18:00 - 23:00 | Queens Museum, New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona NY
Annual Gala of the Italian Language Inter-Cultural Alliance. Contact: president@ilica.org, 718-262-2687

ILICA Annual Conference and Reception
2015-11-06 16:00 - 19:00 | John Jay College CUNY, Moot Court, 524 West 59th Street New York
This year’s conference topic is “Similarities and Synergies.” Co-sponspred by the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute and John Jay College. For more information, please contact: president@ilica.org; 718-262-2687.
Conference and reception will be held at John Jay College CUNY, 524 West 59th Street, Moot Court, Manhattan
Click here to read details about the Conference and Reception.

Symposium: Crisscrossing Cultural Borders--Reciprocal Influences among African Americans and Italian Americans
2015-10-28 14:15 - 16:30 | John Jay College CUNY, Moot Court, 524 West 59th Street New York
The speakers for this symposium will discuss the cross-cultural dialogues and debates that have taken place and continue to do so between African American and Italian American communities in the United States. Sponsored by John Jay College CUNY and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. Free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Janet Rubel 212-237-8500, jrubel@jjay.cuny.edu.

Immigrants against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America, by Kenyon Zimmer, University of Texas at Arlington
2015-10-26 06:00 - 19:30
From the 1880s through the 1940s, tens of thousands of first- and second-generation immigrants embraced the anarchist cause after arriving on American shores. In Immigrants against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America (University of Illinois Press, 2015), Kenyon Zimmer explores why these migrants turned to anarchism and how their adoption of its ideology shaped their identities, experiences, and actions. Zimmer focuses on Italians and Eastern European Jews in San Francisco, New York City, and Paterson, New Jersey. Tracing the movement’s changing fortunes from the pre–World War I era through the Spanish Civil War, Zimmer argues that anarchists severed all attachments to their nations of origin but also resisted assimilation into their host society. Their radical cosmopolitan outlook and identity embraced diversity, extending solidarity across national, ethnic, and racial divides.

Book Presentation: Tomorrow-Land--The 1964-65 World's Fair and the Transformation of America, by Joseph Tirella
2015-10-22 09:00 - 21:00
Queens College alumnus Joseph Tirella creates a portrait of Flushing Meadows and its fairgrounds that had little to do with the turmoil around it. The book examines how the World’s Fair was a flashpoint in the politics of the 1960s, as well as in pop culture, civils rights, and violent crime. Sponsored by the University of Calabria and the Calandra Institute. Free and open to the public. For more information, please call 212-642-2094.

"The Bridge" • Book Award
2015-10-20 18:00 - 20:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
The Casa delle Letterature of Rome Municipality and the American Initiative for Italian Culture, together with the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, proudly present the first edition of the book award, “The Bridge”. The winners for this first edition are: for fiction, Domenico Starnone for his novel, Lacci (Einaudi); for non-fiction, Quinto Antonelli for his study, Storia intima della grande guerra (Donzelli). Panelists include: Professor Francesca Parmeggiani, Fordham University, and Giorgio van Straten, Director, Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Moderators include: Maria Ida Gaeta and Anthony Julian Tamburri. Also present will be Anna Lawton, founder and director, New Academia Publishing.
The Book Award “The Bridge” is aimed to reinforce the mutual understanding between Italy and the USA by exposing the reading public to the best works of fiction and nonfiction recently released in the two countries. The Award is meant to be a “bridge” that connects two cultures.
“The Bridge” is structured in two sections, an American section and an Italian section, similar and opposite to each other. In the USA, new literary works by Italian writers, both of fiction and nonfiction, are judged by an American jury, consisting of university professors of Italian and other cultural experts; in Italy new books by American writers, both of fiction and nonfiction, are judged by an Italian jury consisting of university professors of American literature and other cultural experts.
The sponsors, organizers and administrators of the Award are: Casa delle Letterature of the Rome Municipality (founder and curator of the two sections, and sponsor of the fiction category for the American section); the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF, main sponsor of the nonfiction category for the American ), the American Embassy in Rome(main sponsor of both the fiction and nonfiction categories for the Italian section), and the American Initiative for Italian Culture (AIFIC, sponsor and administrator in the USA) and FUIS organization, Federazione Unitaria Scrittori Italiani. The Book Award “The Bridge” collaborates with the Embassy of Italy and Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, the American Academy in Rome, the Calandra Institute in New York, and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York.

Symposium: Italian Diaspora Studies and Internationalization: The Role of the University of Calabria and CUNY
2015-10-13 18:00 - 20:00
This symposium will revisit aspects of the Italian diaspora in North America in its numerous manifestations: anthropological, cultural, aesthetic, etc. The panel will also include a discussion on the internationalization of the university and the benefits to both the institution and its faculty and students. Speakers will include Dr. Gino Crisci, president of the University of Calabria and other members of UniCal’s faculty and administration, as well as scholars from the Calandra Institute and other CUNY colleges. Moderated by Calandra Dean Anthony Julian Tamburri. This event is free of charge and open to the public.

Raising the Italian and American Flags in Honor of Creativity: Celebrating 50 Years of Science and Technology
2015-10-09 16:00 - 17:30 | Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue New York NY
Raising the Italian and American Flags in Holonor of Italian Creativity: Celebrating 50 Years of Science and Technology; New York World’s Fair 1965-Expo Milano 2015
Location: The Mother Italy sculpture at Poses Park East 68th Street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenues, Manhattan
Uff. Joseph Sciame, president of the Italian Heritage and Culture Committee of New York, Inc., will officiate at the ceremony. Attending dignitaries will include Minister Natalia Quintavalle. For more information, please contact Joan Migliori 212-642-2094.

Italics: Special Episodes 2015
2015-10-08 09:00 - 21:00 | CUNY TV
Four special one-hour episodes will air on the following dates, in commemoration of Italian Heritage and Culture Month: October 8, 15, 22, and 29, at 9 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m. on CUNY TV

apneaPoetry reading in English and Italian by author Victoria Surliuga
2015-10-06 18:00 - 19:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Booksigning of Victoria Surliuga’s poetry volume apnea (Turin: disegnodiverso, 2015; Paola Gribaudo, publisher). Victoria Surliuga, Associate Professor of Italian at Texas Tech University, will read her poetry in English and Italian from the volume apnea. Artwork of Ezio Gribaudo illustrating the volume will be displayed.

Calabria guerriera e ribelle (Calabria, Warrior and Rebel)
2015-10-02 18:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Book presentation by author Giampiero Mele. Sponsored by Coni-Italian National Olympic Committee USA. Contact Mico Delianova Licastro 631-566-0257.

An Unlikely Union: The Love-Hate Story of New York's Irish and Italians, by Paul Moses, Brooklyn College, CUNY
2015-10-01 18:00 - 19:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Starting in the nineteenth century, Irish Americans and Italian Americans found themselves at odds: in the Catholic Church, on the waterfront, at construction sites, and in the streets. But after World War II the two communities made peace, via intermarriage on a large scale. In his book An Unlikely Union: The Love-Hate Story of New York’s Irish and Italians (New York University Press, 2015), veteran New York City journalist Paul Moses unfolds this story of how two of America’s largest ethnic groups learned to live with each other in the wake of decades of animosity. Illustrative examples include the love affair between radical labor organizers Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Carlo Tresca; hero detective Joseph Petrosino’s struggle to be accepted in the Irish-run NYPD; and Frank Sinatra’s competition with Bing Crosby to be the country’s top male vocalist. With this engaging history, Moses demonstrates that Americans are able to absorb and be transformed by social change and conflict.

Built with Faith: Italian American Imagination and Catholic Material Culture in New York City
2015-09-29 18:00 - 19:30 | Leonard Library, 81 Devoe Street, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Folklorist Dr. Joseph Sciorra of the Calandra Italian American Institute will present his recent book Built with Faith, a 35-year ethnographic study documenting how artistry and religious practices shape the city. Sponsored by Leonard Library. Contact David Camara 718-486-3365 (dcamara@bklynlibrary.org). Free and open to the public.
NOTA BENE: This event will NOT be held at the Calandra Institute. It will be at the Brooklyn Public Library in Williamsburg, 81 Devoe St.

Annual CUNY Faculty and Staff Reception for Italian Heritage and Culture Month
2015-09-28 18:00 - 19:00
CUNY-wide, co-sponsored by ILICA Italian Language Inter Cultural Alliance. Featuring an ILICA Conversation: “How Do Cultural Differences Play into Global Networking?” For more information, please contact DChirico@york.cuny.edu, 718-262-2687.

Mary Jo Bona reads from I Stop Waiting for You (Bordighera Press, 2014)Louisa Calio reads from Journey to the Heart Waters (Legas, 2014)George Guida reads from The Sleeping Gulf (Bordighera Press, 2015)
2015-09-17 18:00 - 19:30
This event features three poets coming together to read from their latest works. Maria Mazziotti Gillan has called Mary Jo Bona’s I Stop Waiting for You “an immensely moving meditation on grief for the twin brother who dies from AIDS,” continuing, “[T]he ghosts of her other dead and lost populate this book as well. Those losses are balanced out by her poems that explore her Italian-American heritage and her love poems.” Of Journey to the Heart Waters, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., writes: “Louisa Calio’s poetry is a veritable chiaroscuro of images in black and white, woven together with a profound passion for the lyrical.” Elisabetta Marino calls Calio “a real healer,” adding, “This is a journey among cultures, America, Italy and Africa.” Writing about The Sleeping Gulf, Pui Ying Wong said, “Generous, always engaging, Guida’s poems open Italy and the world to us,” and Maria Terrone adds, “Imagine Jonathan Swift with an Italian American sensibility—that’s George Guida.”

"An Evening in Lazio": Celebrating the Calandra Institute with Dean Tamburri
2015-09-16 19:00 - 21:00 | Piccolo Fiore Ristorante, 230 E. 44th Street New York
Lazio is a region of central Italy bordered by the Tyrrhenian Sea, traversed by the waters of the Tiber River, and characterized by mountains and verdant hills that slope down to the coast. It is the cradle of occidental civilization and Christian culture, a historic place of lakes and legends, of thermal spas and ancient roads. Its capital is Rome, Italy’s largest and most beloved city.
LOCATION: Piccolo Fiore Ristorante, 230 E. 44th Street, Manhattan
HOST: PROFESSOR ANTHONY TAMBURRI
REGINA DECICCO will perform stand-up comedy.
PRIX FIXE FIVE-COURSE DINNER MENU
$100 per person
$200 limited seating at the Dean’s table
* Each ticket includes dinner, one glass of wine, tax, and gratuity.
* Payment can be made by credit card via PayPal, or check made out to
Friends of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute Foundation.
RSVP: (212) 642-2094 * calandra@qc.edu * www.qcpages.qc.edu/calandra

Symposium: L'oro di Napoli: All that glitters is gold!
2015-06-04 18:00 - 20:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
“L’oro di Napoli: All That Glitters Is Gold!”
Rich in art, literature, and culture, Naples is often associated only with the negative attributes of a large city. This symposium is dedicated to Naples and its many splendors. Guest of honor is the Honorable Luigi de Magistris, Mayor of Naples. Joining him will be scholar and priest Gennaro Matino (also from that city) as well as Fred Gardaphé, Stan Pugliese, Robert Viscusi, and others.
Gennaro Matino will talk about the concept of “Naples=New York”; Fred Gardaphé will examine Naples and its representations via the father-son relationship of writer Joseph Palaleo and painter William Papaleo; Robert Viscusi will discuss Neapolitan poetry in the United States; and Stan Pugliese will share his latest research on the city of Naples.
The event will be moderated by Anthony Julian Tamburri, Dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.
Thursday, June 4, 6:00 PM
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
25 West 43rd Street, 17th Fl
New York, NY 10036
Tel: 212.642.2094

Exhibition Opening and Catalog Launch for Reframing Italian America: Historical Photographs and Immigrant Representations
2015-05-28 18:00 - 19:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Reframing Italian America brings to light twenty-three historical photographs from the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute’s Bernard Titowsky Collection, an assemblage of over two hundred items. The scenes depicted here are of Italian immigrant life in the United States from approximately the first three decades of the twentieth century. A significant number of these prints are mounted on now-faded gray paperboard and captioned with meticulous and ornate calligraphy, presumably part of a previous exhibition. The reframing of these images is an opportunity to discover, interpret, and enjoy these fragile and obscure visual documents. These portraits of long-gone individuals, many of them anonymous to history, offer a glimpse of how Italian immigrants refashioned themselves in the process of transforming America.
A catalog with forty-one photographs as well as essay contributions from Dominique Padurano, Joseph Sciorra, and John Turturro will be available for purchase.
On view May 28, 2015–January 8, 2016
Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm

Daughters, Dads, and the Path through Grief: Tales from Italian America
2015-05-20 18:00 - 20:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
The father-daughter relationship can be central to both the father and the daughter, yet there is a dearth of psychological research that attests to its significance as a multifaceted and consequential relationship. In the Italian-American community, there has been even less emphasis on the impact that fathers can have on the psychological development of Italian-American daughters.
Addressing this absence in the psychology literature from their new book, Daughters, Dads, and the Path through Grief: Tales from Italian America, Donna DiCello, Psy.D., and Lorraine Mangione, Ph.D., will discuss fathers and daughters from the early years to the death of the father and beyond, in the context of Italian-American culture. Based on interviews with fifty Italian-American women, it is a book that brings to life the complexity and value of daughters and dads, illustrating how intricate these strong attachments can be. Through interwoven narratives we are shown that while certainly not perfect and not always easy, this relationship can provide a foundation for love, work, creativity, spirituality, and family relationships.

Giuseppe Musolino: A Drama in Acts, by Giuseppe Morabito
2015-05-14 18:00 - 20:00 | John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Association, 899 10th Avenue, #623 New York
Directed by Evan T. Cummings
Translated by Francesco Meola and Evan T. Cummings
Starring Francesco Meola and others TBA.
Thursday, May 14, 2015, 6 p.m.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Association
899 10th Avenue, #623, New York, NY
A very special world premiere of a play discovered by Evan T. Cummings in his attic. Cummings’s great-grandfather Giuseppe Morabito wrote the play. Morabito was a reporter and writer from Calabria, who often traveled between the US and Italy, and it seems he was one of the reporters for the trial of legendary folk hero Brigante Musolino. The play is presented in a double bill with Il Figlio dell’Abisso, another play written by Morabito.
Giuseppe Morabito (1882-1925) was a journalist for Mense di Liegi, la Nation belge di Bruxelles, Il Giornale d’Italia, l’Agenzia Stefani, Il Messaggero, L’Illustrazione Italiana. He was the founder of the League Italian-Belgique and was friends with several personalities such as Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Antonio Salandra, Luigi Luzzatti, and Gabriele D’Annunzio.
EVAN T. CUMMINGS (New York City) Raised in Rochester, NY and now based in New York City, Evan has worked in various locations throughout the northeast including Epiphany Theater in Saratoga Springs, Geva Theatre in Rochester, and the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia where he directed the recent World Premiere of The Man Stanley. NYC associations include The Culture Project, The Lark, The Private Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company, and Ego Actus.
Produced in association with the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.
NOTA BENE: This performance will take place at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Alumni Association.
For further information, go to the In Scena web site.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: The Artist and His Politics, 1909-1944
2015-05-13 18:00 - 20:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: The Artist and His Politics, 1909-1944 explores the politics of the leader of the Futurist art movement. Emerging in Italy in 1909, Futurism sought to propel Italy into the modern world and is famously known for wanting to destroy museums and libraries in order to speed this transition. Futurism, however, also had an even darker political side. It glorified war and was closely tied to the Fascist Regime. Ernest Ialongo traces the political evolution of this one-time radical to the fervent Fascist he ultimately became.
Ernest Ialongo’s monograph on F.T. Marinetti addresses a fundamental question: How did the creator of a transformative art movement in the early twentieth-century become a leading figure in the Italian Fascist Regime, whose commitment was such that he remained loyal to the fascist cause until his death? In a carefully orchestrated argument, Ialongo masterfully addresses this question by considering the full complexity of Marinetti’s ideological formation. (Mark Antliff, Professor of Art History and Visual Studies, Duke University).
Discussing the book will be author Dr. Ernest Ialongo, Assistant Professor of History, Hostos Community College, CUNY, and Dr. Emily Braun, Distinguished Professor of 20th-Century European and American Art, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY. Dr. Félix Matos Rodríguez, President, Queens College, CUNY, will offer concluding remarks.
RSVP recommended
Telephone: (212) 642-2094 or email: calandra@qc.edu

Built with Faith: Italian American Imagination and Catholic Material Culture in New York City
2015-05-07 18:00 - 20:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036

Annual Conference: Bambini, Ragazzi, Giovani: Children and Youth in Italy and the Italian Diaspora
2015-04-24 09:30 - 18:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
The Italian family has been a quintessential subject for scholarly research and creative work in Italy and among various diasporic communities, with matters relating to children and youth receiving significant exploration. In the United States, notable inquiries concerning youth issues include sociologist William Foote Whyte’s urban ethnography Street Corner Society (1943) and educator Leonard Covello’s The Social Background of the Italo-American School Child (1967). The twenty-first century brings new lines of inquiry as well as previously unexplored issues, such as changing family structures, Internet culture, and increased migratory movement.
Novels like Edmondo De Amicis’s Sull’oceano (1889) and Melania Mazzucco’s Vita (2003) examine the lives of children immigrating to the Americas, while the memoirs Nero di Puglia (1980) by Antonio Campobasso, and The Skin Between Us (2006) by Kym Ragusa, movingly discuss the childhoods of their biracial authors. Although scholars have discussed youth culture and its media depictions, e.g., Guidos and Jersey Shore, little work has been done on topics like consumer culture that targets children—from picture books to Disney films to video games—that use Italian-American and Italian ethnic characters.
Working from interdisciplinary and transnational and perspectives, this conference seeks to expand and update knowledge concerning historical and contemporary childhood and youth in Italy and among the diaspora and former colonial sites.
The conference will be streamed online at http://new.livestream.com/ItalicsTV/BambiniRagazziGiovani

Lecture: Editoria e lettura oggi in Italia
2015-04-21 18:00 - 20:00 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
“Editoria e lettura oggi in Italia ” discusses book culture in Italy today, analysing the overall state of the pubishing world in Italy and its relationship to a reading public that is offered more and more alternatives to traditional modes of reading on paper.
Marco Santoro taught for more than three decades at the Universitu of Rome, “Sapienza” where he also was head of the Department of “Scienze del libro e del documento” and where he also directed the PhD program in the same subject matter. Today he teaches at the University “Suor Orsola Benincasa” in Naples. In addition to his numerous books, Professor Santoro created and directs the unique portal Italinemo, a site where the major journals in Italian studies are catalogued and inventoried.
The lecture is in Italian.

Fran Claro presents The Macaroni's in the Basement
2015-04-16 18:00 - 19:30 | John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY, 25 W. 43rd Street, 17th Floor New York NY 10036
Aniella, Concetta, Giuseppina, and Maddelana are the quartet of immigrant women at the core of author and blogger Fran Claro’s book The Macaroni’s in the Basement (2014). This collection of stories and recipes focuses on four grandmothers and the lives they created in their Brooklyn neighborhood after World War II. The chapters are divided by the four seasons and recount how the women shaped their families and community through their Catholic beliefs and culinary expertise. They are the masters of ceremonies for annual holidays, rites of passage, and other family gatherings. Interspersed with photographs, the book offers fifty recipes that conjure Italian-American life from 1947 for the twentieth-first-century cook.
