The VII International Symposium “Italy in Transit” will be hosted by the Italian program at Florida Atlantic University, on February 10th and 11th, 2023. The Symposium is organized in collaboration with the FAU Study of the Americas Initiative of the College of Arts and Letters, the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, New York, the Sardinia Film Commission, under the patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in Miami.
The Symposium proposes lively interdisciplinary discussions on multiple facets of Italian identity that are in constant fluctuation thanks to internal forces, global influences, and the inexhaustible creativity of Italian people. Speakers belong to the academic, entrepreneurial, and artistic world. The audience includes students, scholars, and friends of the community, Italians and Italophiles.
The Symposium opens with a presentation on and by Marino Magliani, a Ligurian author who has been recently translated in many languages and for the first time now in the United States. The evening continues to focus on the region Liguria with interdisciplinary presentations involving math, literary geography, and entrepreneurship.
The audience will move to the FAU Blackbox, the set for “Scenes from an Italian Trattoria” (a play inspired by Tom Di Salvo) written, interpreted, and directed by local high school theater students. The cast meet-and-greet and reception with a taste of Liguria will follow.
The evening closes with the presentation of the Sardinian movie Il muto di Gallura by Matteo Fresi (with subtitles), a story of brigands and legends in the Sardinian past. The filmmaker will come from Sardinia to discuss the movie with the audience.
Saturday morning is centered on pedagogical experiences in Italian studies with presentations about the initial implementation of Italian K-PhD at Florida Atlantic University; interesting talks in second language by local high school students, students from Milan (Italy), and a report on the high Italian international school camp organized at FAU this summer. It continues with experiences at the University level with speakers from Indiana University, University of Toronto Mississauga, the Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento, and Lorenzo de’ Medici Institute in Florence; and with new relationship tied between FAU and European Erasmus projects.
The second part of the morning is dedicated to the “Mario Mignone Session on Italian American Studies” with presentations that deal with an Italian shifting identity either for migratory reasons or for cultural influences: the Italian American presepi (Joseph Sciorra, Calandra Institute), Padre Pio’s cult in the United States (Adam Forno, OSDIA and UNICO chaplain), Venetian emigration to Mexico (Lorella Di Gregorio, U of Miami), Stories of Food and Freedom (Patrizia LaTrecchia, USF) and Genealogical research (Laura Maniscalco, FAU).
After lunch, the symposium delves in the world of Italian Sports and Arts in Florida with entrepreneur Marco Bruzzi, who traversed the Atlantic Ocean in a sailing boat, photographer Julio Lezcano’s Neapolitan trip, and developer Jorge Camejo who will describe how Boca Raton’s Mizner Park was modeled after Piazza Navona. A final presentation by two FAU alumni on the Bush presidential family in Italy through the Italian Press will introduce the great event hosted at FAU: a conversation with Laura W. Bush and Barbara Pierce Bush moderated by Presidential Historian Timothy Naftali. (Ticketed event: purchase here)
The Symposium final act will be on Saturday evening with the screening of the movie Puccini e la Fanciulla by Paolo Benvenuti (with subtitles). The filmmaker will arrive from Tuscany to meet the audience.
The Symposium is organized by Ilaria Serra, Professor, Florida Atlantic University Italian Studies, and it is valid to earn points for Italian professional development of the teachers of the Broward, Palm Beach, and Tampa Bay School Districts.
The Program here: https://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/llcl/italian/symposium/
