Past Events

2019

  • Have Fairy Tales Always Been Posthuman? Italian Fairy Tales, From Metamorphosis to Cybernetics.” Pablo a Marca (Doctoral student in Italian Studies, Brown University).

    Abstract: In fairy tales, metamorphosis is a common trope that can entail the transformation of humans into animals and vice-versa, thus questioning the ontological categorization of the two. In recent times, posthumanism has started to reflect on this differentiation, showing how the boundaries between humans and animals are blurred, therefore advancing a type of thinking that can be described as post-anthropocentric. This paper compares metamorphosis with cybernetics in Italo Calvino’s “Body-without-Soul,” and argues that magic in this fairy tale can be seen as a way of already imagining a post-anthropocentric world.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages
  • “From Words to Covers: Metamorphoses of Italian Fiction in America (1945-1965).” Giulia Pellizzato (Visiting Scholar in Italian Studies, Brown University).

    Abstract: The years following World War Two saw an unprecedented growth in translations from Italian into English, half of which were published in America. Some books met resounding success, and even came to epitomize Italy, as the case of The little world of Don Camillo shows. While venturing into their new cultural context, literary works went through different sorts of alteration, involving the text, its exterior appearance, and its meaning. This presentation will focus on the interaction between these three levels, in relation to the coeval horizon of expectations of the general public in the United States.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages
  • Oct
    11

    “Dante and the Cinema.”

    Massimo Ciavolella, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, Director of the Center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA.

    Abstract: Dante’s fortune in cinematic adaptations goes back to the early years of the “sixth art” (later to become the seventh) as Ricciotto Canudo baptized the cinema, in 1911, the same year in which the blockbuster adaptation of Inferno was released. Ciavolella will provide an excursus on this long history, focusing in particular on the 1908 and 1909-10 Francesca da Rimini, Inferno (1911), The Drums of Love by D.W. Griffith (1928), and a recent darkly satirical animated retelling of the Inferno for hand-drawn paper puppets and miniature sets by Birk-Mulroney (2007).

    Arts, Performance, History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, MCM
  • Abstract: The analysis of the documents in the Archive of Giovanni Battista Giorgini (Forte dei Marmi, 1898 - Florence, 1971) offers unprecedented research opportunities related to the development of artistic craftsmanship and the importance of trade in international relations during the twentieth century. The scion of an ancient and aristocratic family from Lucca, Giorgini was the first to perceive the economic value of Italian craftsmanship on the international market, especially in the US. Between 1944 and 1946, he managed a Gift Shop for the Allied troops in the centre of Florence. In 1947 the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago hosted an exhibition he curated. Entitled Italy at work, it showcased the best of Italian craftsmanship (glass, ceramics, textiles, leather). On February 12th, 1951, Giorgini organized in Florence the First Italian High Fashion Show for American buyers. The second edition of the show, in July 1951, marked the decisive consecration of Italian fashion in the US.

  • “Italian Innovators: The Adventure of Academic Podcasting.” Luca Cottini, Associate Professor of Italian Studies, Villanova University.

    Abstract: Italian Innovators is an academic podcast, presenting figures of great modern Italians in the fields of music, design, fashion, education, and technology. The podcast, based on Dr. Cottini’s volume The Art of Objects (UTP 2018), aims at elaborating a new sort of academic discourse, open to a more general audience, and aimed at connecting the spheres of industry and culture. The talk will present some of the contents of the show and will examine the advantages and challenges of converting an academic book into a podcast format.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Identity, Culture, Inclusion, International, Global Engagement, MCM, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Social Sciences
  • Please come to the discussion of a paper by Daniel Rietze, PhD Candidate, Italian Studies, Brown University: “Typing Her Way up to God: Amelia Della Pergola’s Literary-Religious Conversion”. PDF of paper is available upon request to [email protected]

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Philosophy, Religious Studies
  • Niall Atkinson, Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago researches the soundscapes of Renaissance Florence and the role of the acoustic environment in the meaning of built space and the construction of social communities. Atkinson’s talk is part of The Sensory series, which brings scholars to Brown to discuss how art and architecture play with the full range of our senses.

    Arts, Performance, HIAA Annual Lecture Series, History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities
  • Please come to the discussion of a paper by Morris Karp, PhD Candidate, Italian Studies, Brown University: “Leopardi and the Renaissance”. PDF is available upon request to [email protected]

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities
  • Please join us for the discussion of a paper by Emilio Sala, Associate Professor of Musicology and the History of Music, University of Milano, Italy: “Fellini, Rota, La Dolce Vita, and the Deja-Entendu Effect”.  A PDF of the paper is available upon request to [email protected]

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities
  • Gelato will be served every day 1 hour before the screenings -

    Thursday, March 14th at 7 PM

    Cops

    Directed by Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline. USA, 1922, 20’, English intertitles

    A wonderful example of Buster Keaton’s film artistry. A carefully orchestrated series of gags in which he plays an innocent who tries to impress his girl by becoming more than he is, and winds up inextricably caught in a police parade that breaks up to pursue him.

    Restored in 2016 by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Cohen Film Collection at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory. Restoration supported by Matthew and Natalie Bernstein.

    Distributed in the US by Cohen Film Collection.

    http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/cops/

    http://www.cohenfilmcollection.net/films/cops

    Sherlock Jr.

    Directed by Buster Keaton. USA, 1924, 45’, English intertitles

    Buster plays a movie projectionist who daydreams himself into the movies he is showing and merges with the figures and the backgrounds on the screen. While dreaming he is Conan Doyle’s master detective, he snoops out brilliant discoveries.

    Restored in 2015 by Cineteca di Bologna and Cohen Film Collection at L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory.

    Distributed in the US by Cohen Film Collection.

    http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/sherlock-jr/

    http://www.cohenfilmcollection.net/films/sherlock-jr

    Accompanied live by Donald Sosin(piano) and Joanna Seaton (vocals and percussion)

    Introduction to Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna (June 2019) by Guy Borlée(Cineteca of Bologna)

    Friday, March 15th at  7PM

    La fortuna di essere donna (Lucky to Be a Woman)

    Directed by Alessandro Blasetti. Italy, 1955, 96’, Italian version with English subtitles

    The world of cinema is depicted in a shrewd point of view: a field of old beauties looking for fresh bodies, cynical agents and dishonest producers, lurking photographers – forerunners of the paparazzi of La dolce vita – looking for shameless girls ready to compromise anything for the price of 30,000 lire a day. Sophia Loren is one of them, albeit more adept at managing her stock of sex-appeal by staying on the defensive. At her side is a photographer, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who is aware of his seductive power as a low-end Don Juan, capable of offering aspiring divas false visions as successful film actresses or models. 

    Restored and distributed by Istituto Luce-Cinecittà, with permission from Movietime

    http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/la-fortuna-di-essere-donna/

    Saturday, March 16th at 7 PM

    L’albero degli zoccoli (The Tree of Wooden Clogs)

    Directed by Ermanno Olmi. Italy, 1978, 186’, Italian version (dialect from Bergamo) with English subtitles

    This painterly and sensual immersion in late nineteenth-century Italian farm life lovingly focuses on four families working for one landowner on an isolated estate in the province of Bergamo. Olmi adapted neorealist techniques to tell his story, enlisting local people to live as their own ancestors had, speaking in their native dialect on locations. Through the cycle of seasons, of backbreaking labor, love and marriage, birth and death, faith and superstition, Olmi naturalistically evokes an existence very close to nature, celebrating its beauty, humor, and simplicity but also acknowledging the feudal cruelty that governs it. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1978.

    Restored by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in 2016 with funding provided by The Film Foundation, distributed in the US by Janus Films

    http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/lalbero-degli-zoccoli/

    http://www.janusfilms.com/films/1833

    Sunday, March 17th at 5 PM

    Hyènes (Hyenas)

    Directed by Djibril Diop Mambety. Senegal, 1992, 110’, Wolof version with English subtitles

    After being kicked out of her African village three decades earlier for getting pregnant out of wedlock, Linguere Ramatou has returned home. While Linguere has done well for herself, her home village has fallen on hard economic times. Intent on punishing Draman Drameh, the man who fathered her child but refused to own up to the act, Linguere makes a proposal: she will help the town financially, if the locals agree to execute Draman.

    Restored in 2018 by Thelma Film with the support of Cinémathèque suisse at Éclair Cinéma.

    Distributed in the US by Metrograph

    http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/hyenes/

    Sunday, March 17th at 7 PM

    Suspiria

    Directed by Dario Argento. Italy, 1977, 97’, English dubbed version

    Jessica Harper stars in this frightening tale of a young student who uncovers dark and horrific secrets within the walls of a famous German dance academy. What spirals out from that simple premise is one of the most powerful and hallucinatory nightmares ever captured! The film comes to you in an exclusive new 4K restoration from the original uncut, uncensored 35mm Italian camera negative with the original 4.0 English surround sound mix, for the first time ever! Synapse Films has created the ultimate special edition of this horror classic with the supervision of the film’s Director of Photography, Luciano Tovoli.

    Restored in 2017 by Synapse Films, distributed in the US by Criterion Pictures.

    http://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/en/film/suspiria/

    https://synapse-films.com/blu-ray/suspiria-two-disc-blu-ray-special-edition/

    BAI, MCM
  • Please join us for the discussion of a paper by Emanuela Patti, Senior research Fellow, Royal Holloway University, London: “Opera aperta. Italian Arts and the Digital”. PDF is of paper is available upon request: [email protected]

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities
  • Please come to a lunchtime talk by Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg, Director, Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, Professor of Italian Studies and Comparative Literature, Brown University: “Grounds for Reclamation”.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities

2018

  • In this presentation, we will hear introductory remarks about Digital Humanities with specific examples about DH as practiced at Brown. No previous experience necessary!  Please come and engage with Allison Levy, Digital Scholarship Editor at Brown, and Professor Massimo Riva of Italian Studies to learn about Digital Humanities.

    Please mark your calendars and plan on joining us for the final Center for Language Studies’ professional development workshop of fall 2018:  “Digital Humanities + Brown Digital Publications Initiative”. 

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Libraries, Research
  • Please come to a discussion of a paper by Dennis Looney, Professor of Italian, University of Pittsburgh: ​Ariosto and the Art of Writing “in più d’una lingua e in più d’un stile”. Paper is available upon request.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Libraries
  • In this hands-on workshop we will collectively engage in practical activities and explore on our feet how the theater arts can foster community building and personal connections within our classrooms. Facilitators will then present some documentation on their experience with arts integration and encourage participants  to share ideas and think about possible applications within their own teaching contexts. 

    Presenters:

    Patricia Sobral, Distinguished Senior Lecturer, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies

    Anna Santucci, PhD, Italian Studies and MA, Theater Arts & Performance Studies

    Education, Teaching, Instruction, History, Cultural Studies, Languages
  • Please come to the discussion of a paper by Eleonora Carboni, PhD Candidate, Italian Studies, Brown University: “Narratives of Promiscuity and Incest in the Roman borgate: the case of Borgata Gordani”. PDF is available upon request.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Philosophy, Religious Studies
  • Five Short Films from the Diaspora
    Nov
    8

    Please join us for pizza and five important and amazing short films.

    Arts, Performance, History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, International, Global Engagement
  • Oct
    26
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Dante and Cinema

    190 Hope Street

    Please come to the discussion of a paper by Massimo Ciavolella, Franklin D. Murphy Chair in Italian Renaissance Studies and Director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, UCLA: Dante and Cinema. Paper is available upon request.

    Part of New Interdisciplinary Directions in Italian Studies Lecture Series - Co-Sponsored by the Charles Colver Lectureship

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Identity, Culture, Inclusion
  • L. Shepard - poster
    Oct
    16

    The Program in Medieval Studies cordially invites you to join us for a lecture by Laurie Shepard from Boston College. Prof. Shepard will talk on “Women Troubadours and the Preservation of their Poetry in Southern French and Northern Italian Manuscripts.” The lecture will be held on Thursday, Oct. 16. from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM in the Annmary Brown Memorial, room 108.

    Laurie Shepard is an Associate Professor of Italian in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts). Her research focuses on medieval literature, and she has published on Medieval Latin epistolography (Courting Power: Persuasion and Politics in the Early Thirteenth Century, Garland, 1999), and lyric poetry, including an edition the trobairitz  (Bruckner, M., Shepard L. and White, S. Songs of the Women Troubadours, Garland, 1995; paperback, Taylor & Francis 2000). Her current research also includes Renaissance comedy, and she is working on a website that will reconstruct the communities that produced, performed and published comedies in the early decades of the sixteenth century in Italy.

    As always, this event is free and open to the public and a lite reception will follow. We hope to see you there!

    Academic Calendar, University Dates & Events, History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Libraries
  • Copyright
    Oct
    16
    3:00pm - 4:00pm

    Copyright When Teaching Languages

    Rockefeller Libray, Digital Scholarship Lab

    Learn about rules, guidelines and caveats relating to copyright from Karen Bouchard, Scholarly Resources Librarian and Sarah Evelyn, Head Instructional Design, Research and Outreach Services. First in a series of library workshops relating to the teaching and learning of languages.

    Following a brief overview of the basics of copyright, exclusive rights, and fair use, we’ll look at what’s in the public domain, and what materials are available via Creative Commons licenses. We’ll also review a list of questions you can ask yourself about the use of a copyrighted work and how to answer them. Part of the session will cover issues related specifically to image use and copyright.

    Presentation by
    Karen Bouchard
, Scholarly Resources Librarian

    Sarah Evelyn
m Head, Instructional Design 
Research and Outreach Services

    Sponsored by Brown’s Center for Language Studies

  • Please come to the discussion of a paper by Mauro Canali, Professor of Contemporary History, University of Camerino: “Il fascismo raccontato dai corrispondenti americani 1919-1945”. Paper is available upon request.

     

    Part of New Interdisciplinary Directions in Italian Studies Lecture Series - Co-Sponsored by the Charles Colver Lectureship

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Identity, Culture, Inclusion, International, Global Engagement
  • Sep
    28
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    190 Hope Street

    Please come to the discussion of a paper by Lindsay Caplan, Post-Doc in History of Art and Architecture, Brown University: “Ambienti against Autonomy: Arte Programmata’s Artistic Environments, 1964-67”. PDF of paper available upon request.

    Arts, Performance, History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities
  • Sep
    14
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    190 Hope Street

    Please come to the discussion of a chapter of forthcoming book by Allison Levy, Digital Scholarship Editor, Brown University: “House of Secrets - The Many Lives of a Florentine Palazzo”. PDF of chapter available upon request.

    History, Cultural Studies, Languages, Humanities, Libraries, Social Sciences
  • Sep
    7
    12:00pm - 3:00pm

    Office of International Programs Open House

    J. Walter Wilson Building

    Stop by the Office of International Programs and learn about the many different study abroad opportunities available to undergraduates. It’s never too early to plan!

    Advising, Mentorship, International, Global Engagement
  • Today at Today at 5:30 PM Cinema Ritrovato on Tour presents: BLOW-UP Di BLOW UP - Blow-up of Blow-Up. Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece is fifty-years-old. This documentary reconstructs, through interviews, the director’s journey in swinging London during the making of his film in 1966…
    and at 6:30pm The Easy Life - Il Sorpasso The ultimate Italian road comedy, Il sorpasso stars the unlikely pair of Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant as, respectively, a waggish, freewheeling womanizer and the straitlaced law student he takes on a madcap trip from Rome to Tuscany. An unpredictable journey that careers from slapstick to tragedy…
    Indulge in Gelato 4:45pm - all original flavors from the ​mythical Gelatauro in​ Bologna. For the 2018 edition of Gelato Ritrovato at Brown University, Il Gelatauro of Bologna, Italy will be serving four flavors of gelato specifically selected for the films featured this year. As always, Il Gelatauro’s owner Giovanni Figliomeni will recreate recipes from the 1911 gelato manual of Giuseppe Grifoni, who once ran a gelato shop in Bologna frequented by the poet Giosue Carducci. As SOLEIL Ô (Sun O), directed by Med Hondo, Mauritania, 1970, is centered upon issues regarding colonialism in West Africa, two Grifoni recipes with ingredients associated with colonial imports, chocolate and coffee, are combined to make a sorbet. A second, bespoke flavor honoring Mauritania itself utilizes Grifoni’s techniques but pays homage to the pastoralist traditions of this arid country, peppered with oases of date palms: goat’s milk yoghurt with dates. For L’ONESTÀ DEL PECCATO (The Honesty of Sin), directed by Augusto Genina, Italy, 1918, Gianni Figliomeni brings to life after 107 years Grifoni’s flavor “Torrone Eden” with sweet and bitter almonds for the anguishing trials of the film’s protagonist Maria Jacobini. And finally for BLOW-UP, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy, 1966, but filmed in London, Il Gelatauro offers one of Grifoni’s special flavors from the section entitled, “Gelati nuovi ricercatissimi di assoluta composizione dell’autore” (New, highly sought-after flavors entirely of the author’s invention). Grifoni’s “Gelato di Gladstone” couples strawberries with cream for this flavor named after a British prime minister of the 19th century, appropriate for a deadly intrigue involving a photographer and lovers in a London park.
  • Mar
    17
    7:00pm - 9:00pm

    Today at 7PM The Cinema Ritrovato on Tour presents: BLOW-UP

    Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center
    Today at 7PM - Cinema Ritrovato on Tour presents: BLOW-UP - A countercultural masterpiece about the act of seeing and the art of image making, Blow-Up takes the form of a psychological mystery, starring David Hemmings as a fashion photographer who unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park…
    The 2018 program includes a recently restored 1960s cult film by Michelangelo Antonioni, a compelling drama of migration by Mauritanian director Med Hondo, a long-​lost silent blockbuster from 1918, with live music, and a classic Italian comedy by director Dino Risi. It also includes a documentary about the making of Antonioni’s Blow Up, all accompanied by original flavors from the ​mythical Gelatauro in​ Bologna.
    Indulge in Gelato at 6:15pm - for BLOW-UP,Il Gelatauro offers one of Grifoni’s special flavors from the section entitled, “Gelati nuovi ricercatissimi di assoluta composizione dell’autore” (New, highly sought-after flavors entirely of the author’s invention). Grifoni’s “Gelato di Gladstone” couples strawberries with cream for this flavor named after a British prime minister of the 19th century, appropriate for a deadly intrigue involving a photographer and lovers in a London park.
  • Mar
    16
    7:00pm - 9:30pm

    Cinema Ritrovato on Tour 2018 presents L’ONESTÀ DEL PECCATO (The Honesty of Sin)

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium, Room110
    Today at 7PM The Cinema Ritrovato on Tour presents: L’onestà del peccato (with live music!) stages a story set within the rarefied atmosphere of high society and based around violent conflicts. Actress Maria Jacobini plays the role of a daughter, wife, lover and mother, a woman courageous enough to become an instrument of death… The 2018 program includes a recently restored 1960s cult film by Michelangelo Antonioni, a compelling drama of migration by Mauritanian director Med Hondo, a long-​lost silent blockbuster from 1918, with live music, and a classic Italian comedy by director Dino Risi. It also includes a documentary about the making of Antonioni’s Blow Up, all accompanied by original flavors from the ​mythical Gelatauro in​ Bologna.
    Indulge in Gelato at 6:15pm - For L’ONESTÀ DEL PECCATO (The Honesty of Sin), Gianni Figliomeni brings to life after 107 years Grifoni’s flavor “Torrone Eden” with sweet and bitter almonds for the anguishing trials of the film’s protagonist Maria Jacobini.
  • Mar
    15
    7:00pm - 10:00pm

    CINEMA RITROVATO ON TOUR AT BROWN UNIVERSITY

    Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center
    IL CINEMA RITROVATO ON TOUR AT BROWN UNIVERSITY RETURNS MARCH 15-18, 2018
    A FESTIVAL OF RARE AND RESTORED FILMS FROM THE CINETECA OF BOLOGNA, ITALY TO BROWN UNIVERSITY
    As part of the ongoing collaboration between Brown University and the Cineteca of Bologna, the Italian Studies Department announces the fourth edition of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour (2018). Recently restored masterpieces by Michelangelo Antonioni, Luciano Emmer, Augusto Genina and Marco Ferreri. Highlights coming soon!
    Each summer, the Cineteca of Bologna, one of Europe’s most renowned centers for film restoration—seat of the Charlie Chaplin’s and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film archives—presents an eight-day film festival featuring restored films, early silent cinema, and director portraits. During the festival, titled Il Cinema Ritrovato (Rediscovered Cinema), more than 400 titles are presented in six cinemas and on a giant screen at a free outdoor screening in the fifteenth century Piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, which turns into a 2,000-seat open air movie theater for the entire summer (Sotto le Stelle del Cinema). Il Cinema Ritrovato has been defined as “pure heaven for cinéphiles.”
  • Feb
    23
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    Italian Studies Building
    Please come to Italian Studies, 190 Hope Street, Room102 for a discussion of a paper by Anna Santucci, PhD candidate in Italian Studies: “Performing Cultures - Teaching and Learning through Embodied Encounters”. For a pre-circulated paper send a request by e-mail to: [email protected]
  • Feb
    8
    7:00pm - 9:00pm

    The Last Survivor: Fascism and the Holocaust Without Witnesses

    Rhode Island Hall, Room 108
    Italian Studies present: Alexander Stille; journalist, author, and faculty member at Columbia School of Journalism, who focuses on modern and contemporary Italy and Europe. His many books include Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism (1991) which won the Los Angeles Times Book Award for best work of history (1992). His most recent book, The Force of Things: A Marriage in War and Peace won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Blake Dodd Prize for best work of non-fiction in 2014.
    Public lecture open to all: The Last Survivor: Fascism and the Holocaust Without Witnesses

2016

  • What is Venice worth? To whom does this urban treasure belong? Internationally renowned art historian Salvatore Settis urgently poses these questions, igniting a new debate about the Pearl of the Adriatic and cultural patrimony at large. Venetians are increasingly abandoning their hometown—there’s now only one resident for every 140 visitors—and Venice’s fragile fate has become emblematic of the future of historic cities everywhere as it capitulates to tourists and those who profit from them. In If Venice Dies, a fiery blend of history and cultural analysis, Settis argues that “hit-and-run” visitors are turning landmark urban settings into shopping malls and theme parks. He warns that Western civilization’s prime achievements face impending ruin from mass tourism and global cultural homogenization. This is a passionate plea to secure the soul of Venice, written with consummate authority, wide-ranging erudition and élan.
    Salvatore Settis is Emeritus Professor of the History of Classical Art and Archaeology at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa.
    Co-sponsored by Brown University’s Departments of Italian Studies and History of Art and Architecture, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, and Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research.
  • This conference is supported by Brown University and the Dante Society and sponsored by the C. V. Starr Foundation Lectureship. Registration is not required and there is no fee for attending. In the last several decades, much important work in Dante studies has focused on intertexuality and on “reading Dante with Dante.” These approaches have not, however, treated the lived experience of Dante’s texts, their performative context. Dante’s writings were addressed to audiences that heard texts as often as they read them, and transmitted them by memorization as well as with the pen. Civic and religious rituals – the Mass and the Office, banquets and festal processions, marriage rites, church councils, royal entries, peace treaties, and the ceremonies of the law courts, universities, and trade guilds – filled the calendar, occasions on which spectacle, word, and gesture were joined. These contexts variously inform Dante’s works: the whole Convivio is conceived as a banquet of wisdom, as is, in a sense, the Paradiso. The Comedy as a whole appropriates catholic liturgy to enact an exodus from a corrupt Florence to “a city just and hale,” but the native city itself and its strife-torn history never cease to act as significant frames of reference for the poem. Many of these aspects of the poet’s work remain unread, and this conference, gathering both senior and junior scholars working in a range of interdisciplinary approaches intends to remedy this omission and open new dimensions to understanding Dante.
  • Apr
    21
    Please join Italian Studies for a screening of the new film-documentary on Antonio Gramsci and his political exile in Ustica. The film is sub-titled in English. Between 1926 and 1927, the Italian intellectual and Communist political figure Antonio Gramsci spent 44 days imprisoned on the island of Ustica, off the northern coast of Sicily. Together with his fellow prisoners, he founded a school. This unique institution was open to all, welcoming people of all ages and social backgrounds, even the illiterate. Ustica still remembers this revolutionary school. Ustica, remote and neglected, still waits patiently at the harbor, hoping that the boat from the mainland will come. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director, screen writers, producers. We will serve pizza at 6pm, before the screening at 6:30pm. This event is co-sponsored by Anthropology, Joukowsky Institute, MCM, Pembroke Center, Cogut Center for the Humanities, and Middle East Studies.
  • Apr
    15
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    Italian Studies Building
    Please come to a discussion of a paper by David Young Kim, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania, on April 15, noon-1:30 pm. His paper, “Giorgio Vasari on the Fragility and Durability of Art” is available upon request: [email protected]
  • ADAPTATION: TRANSFORMING REPRESENTATION – RE-PRESENTING TRANSFORMATION
    Keynote speaker: Millicent Marcus (Yale University)
    Guest Artist: Federico Favot (writer, producer, transmedia storyteller)
    Re-narrations, re-interpretations and adaptations of inherited texts and stories are crucial mechanisms through which human beings receive and create meaning. The upcoming edition of the Chiasmi conference will investigate the multifaceted theme of adaptation and intertextuality in relation to Italian culture. It is the aim of the conference to explore the problematic yet generative notion that any encounter with a text, in the broadest sense of the word, is an act of appropriation; to discuss what gets lost and found in transformations across media and in re-presentations that cross linguistic, geographical, temporal, and cultural borders; to examine the productiveness of interstices and to voice the knowledge therein produced.

  • Mar
    18
    7:00pm - 9:00pm

    Fellini’s ROMA restored at Cinema Ritrovato

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
    In his third ‘false’ documentary, following “Fellini. A Director’s Notebook” and “The Clowns” (1970), Fellini frees himself of every restraint of narrative linearity, preferring the mysterious and allusive charm of fragmentary evocation: ‘What is Rome? What do I think of when I hear the word Rome? I’ve often asked myself this. And I know more or less. I think of a large reddish face rather like [Alberto] Sordi’s, [Franco] Fabrizi’s, or Ms. [Anna] Magnani’s. An expression slightly weighted down and preoccupied by gastro-sexual needs. I think of a dark brown, sludgy land; a broad swaddled sky, as a backdrop, with purples, blacks and silvers; mournful colours. But by and large it’s a comforting face. Comforting because Rome allows you every type of speculation in a vertical sense. Rome is a horizontal city, made of water and land, stretched out – and therefore the perfect platform for flights of fancy. …Rome is a mother, and she is the ideal mother because she’s indifferent. She’s a mother with too many children and so she can’t focus her attentions on you, she doesn’t ask anything of you, she has no expectations…” Free and open to the public. Gelato Ritrovato by Il Gelatauro di Bologna served 6:15-6:45pm.
  • Mar
    18
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    Barus & Holley, Room 190
    Please come to a lecture by Michael Wyatt, Independent Scholar, editor of The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Renaissance (CUP, 2014), “Spectacle and Polis: Puppets, Alternative Theater, and the Idea of Italy”
    Barus & Holley Seminar Room 190.
  • Mar
    17
    7:00pm - 10:00pm

    Newly Restored Rocco and His Brothers (1960) at Cinema Ritrovato

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
    The saga of a Southern Italian family transplanted in a Northern city, starring Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Annie Girardot and Renato Salvadori. This magnificent restoration of Luchino Visconti’s Neo-Realist melodrama of migration, was presented last year at the 2015 Cannes film festival. “Rocco and His Brothers is one of the most sumptuous black-and-white pictures I’ve ever seen: the images, shot by the great Giuseppe Rotunno, are pearly, elegant and lustrous — it’s like a simultaneous continuation and development of neorealism. Thanks to Gucci and The Film Foundation and our friends at the Cineteca di Bologna, Luchino Visconti’s masterpiece can be experienced once again in all its fearsome beauty and power.” — Martin Scorsese, Founder and Chair, The Film Foundation. Gelato Ritrovato by Il Gelatauro di Bologna served 6:15-6:45pm. Free and open to the public.
  • Mar
    17
    2:30pm - 4:00pm

    Gelato Making Workshops in Brown Dining’s Bakeshop

    Sharpe Refectory (The Ratty)
    Gelato Making Workshops in the Brown Dining’s Bakeshop (lower level of Sharpe Refectory, 144 Thayer Street)
    Dates: Tuesday, March 15; Wednesday, March 16; and Thursday, March 17 • 2 Time Slots available: 1-2:30 and 2:30-4PM
    Use link to RSVP today! Limited spots available!
    In conjunction with Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, Il Gelatauro – one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy – brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The NY Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
    The London Observer named it “Best in Europe.” Major figures of the food world have visited and written about Il Gelatauro, including Alice Waters, David Lebovitz and Mario Batali’s right hand man Zach Allen (an alum of Johnson & Wales).
    Now, Il Gelatauro is back to the United States. As part of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at Brown, Il Gelatauro will be delighting our audience for the second consecutive year! Courtesy of Il Gelatauro’s owner and chef, Gianni Figliomeni, you will have the opportunity to taste one of the best gelato in the world!
    The relationship between Il Gelatauro and Il Cinema Ritrovato started in Bologna where, for the past 5 years, Gianni Figliomeni has been creating delicious and meticulously researched recipes responding to the theme of the summer film festival. During Il Gelato Ritrovato, an event created for Il Cinema Ritrovato, Gianni rediscovers recipes based on the gelato textbook by Giuseppe Grifone, published in 1912.
  • Mar
    17
    1:00pm - 2:30pm

    Gelato Making Workshops in Brown Dining’s Bakeshop

    Sharpe Refectory (The Ratty)
    Gelato Making Workshops in the Brown Dining’s Bakeshop (lower level of Sharpe Refectory, 144 Thayer Street)
    Dates: Tuesday, March 15; Wednesday, March 16; and Thursday, March 17 • 2 Time Slots available: 1-2:30 and 2:30-4PM
    Use link to RSVP today! Limited spots available!
    In conjunction with Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, Il Gelatauro – one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy – brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The NY Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
    The London Observer named it “Best in Europe.” Major figures of the food world have visited and written about Il Gelatauro, including Alice Waters, David Lebovitz and Mario Batali’s right hand man Zach Allen (an alum of Johnson & Wales).
    Now, Il Gelatauro is back to the United States. As part of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at Brown, Il Gelatauro will be delighting our audience for the second consecutive year! Courtesy of Il Gelatauro’s owner and chef, Gianni Figliomeni, you will have the opportunity to taste one of the best gelato in the world!
    The relationship between Il Gelatauro and Il Cinema Ritrovato started in Bologna where, for the past 5 years, Gianni Figliomeni has been creating delicious and meticulously researched recipes responding to the theme of the summer film festival. During Il Gelato Ritrovato, an event created for Il Cinema Ritrovato, Gianni rediscovers recipes based on the gelato textbook by Giuseppe Grifone, published in 1912.
  • Mar
    16
    7:00pm - 9:00pm

    Assunta Spina - early silent cinema

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
    Assunta Spina (1915) - Directed by Gustavo Serena.
    1914 saw the emergence of a new type of female protagonist: populist, realistic, rooted in the experience of daily life. The film that brought this important enrichment to the expressive range of early silent cinema is “Assunta Spina.” “Assunta Spina” owes it success to the energy and conviction with which Francesca Bertini absorbed the story and made its expressive and strategic goals into her own: “In Assunta Spina I knew how to be completely modern and I introduced realism into the cinema… I wanted to leave the fatal, elegant, bejeweled creatures behind me, and I opted for truth instead, uniting my soul with that of Assunta.”
    Recorded original musical accompaniment is inspired by Neapolitan tradition. Arrangements are by Francois Laurent (guitar) and Guido Sodo (mandolin, mandoloncello and voice.) Gelato served before screening.
  • Mar
    16
    2:30pm - 4:00pm

    Gelato Making Workshops in Brown Dining’s Bakeshop

    Sharpe Refectory (The Ratty)
    Gelato Making Workshops in the Brown Dining’s Bakeshop (lower level of Sharpe Refectory, 144 Thayer Street)
    Dates: Tuesday, March 15; Wednesday, March 16; and Thursday, March 17 • 2 Time Slots available: 1-2:30 and 2:30-4PM
    Use link to RSVP today! Limited spots available!
    In conjunction with Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, Il Gelatauro – one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy – brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The NY Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
    The London Observer named it “Best in Europe.” Major figures of the food world have visited and written about Il Gelatauro, including Alice Waters, David Lebovitz and Mario Batali’s right hand man Zach Allen (an alum of Johnson & Wales).
    Now, Il Gelatauro is back to the United States. As part of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at Brown, Il Gelatauro will be delighting our audience for the second consecutive year! Courtesy of Il Gelatauro’s owner and chef, Gianni Figliomeni, you will have the opportunity to taste one of the best gelato in the world!
    The relationship between Il Gelatauro and Il Cinema Ritrovato started in Bologna where, for the past 5 years, Gianni Figliomeni has been creating delicious and meticulously researched recipes responding to the theme of the summer film festival. During Il Gelato Ritrovato, an event created for Il Cinema Ritrovato, Gianni rediscovers recipes based on the gelato textbook by Giuseppe Grifone, published in 1912.
  • Mar
    16
    1:00pm - 2:30pm

    Gelato Making Workshops in Brown Dining’s Bakeshop

    Sharpe Refectory (The Ratty)
    Gelato Making Workshops in the Brown Dining’s Bakeshop (lower level of Sharpe Refectory, 144 Thayer Street)
    Dates: Tuesday, March 15; Wednesday, March 16; and Thursday, March 17 • 2 Time Slots available: 1-2:30 and 2:30-4PM
    Use link to RSVP today! Limited spots available!
    In conjunction with Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, Il Gelatauro – one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy – brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The NY Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
    The London Observer named it “Best in Europe.” Major figures of the food world have visited and written about Il Gelatauro, including Alice Waters, David Lebovitz and Mario Batali’s right hand man Zach Allen (an alum of Johnson & Wales).
    Now, Il Gelatauro is back to the United States. As part of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at Brown, Il Gelatauro will be delighting our audience for the second consecutive year! Courtesy of Il Gelatauro’s owner and chef, Gianni Figliomeni, you will have the opportunity to taste one of the best gelato in the world!
    The relationship between Il Gelatauro and Il Cinema Ritrovato started in Bologna where, for the past 5 years, Gianni Figliomeni has been creating delicious and meticulously researched recipes responding to the theme of the summer film festival. During Il Gelato Ritrovato, an event created for Il Cinema Ritrovato, Gianni rediscovers recipes based on the gelato textbook by Giuseppe Grifone, published in 1912.
  • Mar
    15
    7:00pm - 9:00pm

    3 Recently Restored Chaplin Shorts with Live Music!

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
    ​Introduction to Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour 2016: Guy Borlée (Cineteca of Bologna) and Massimo Riva (Brown University). “Chaplin at Mutual: 1916-2016,” Philip Rosen (Brown University) in conversation with Donald Sosin and Paul Phillips. Screening: The Count (1916); The Pawnshop (1916); The Adventurer (1917.) Three recently restored Chaplin shorts from the Mutual period accompanied live by Donald Sosin and the Brown University orchestra, directed by Paul Phillips (original score and orchestration by Donald Sosin.)
    In addition: FREE GELATO SAMPLES!!! OUTSIDE OF MARTINOS AUDITORIUM. Il Gelatauro –one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy– brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
  • Mar
    15
    7:00pm - 9:00pm

    Restored Silent Chaplin Films and Brown Orchestra Live at Cinema Ritrovato

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
    Martinos Auditorium - Granoff Centers for the Arts
    ​Introduction to Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour 2016: Guy Borlée (Cineteca of Bologna) and Massimo Riva (Brown University)
    “Chaplin at Mutual: 1916-2016,” Philip Rosen (Brown University) in conversation with Donald Sosin and Paul Phillips.
    Screening: The Count (1916); The Pawnshop (1916); The Adventurer (1917.)
    ​Three recently restored Chaplin shorts from the Mutual period accompanied live by Donald Sosin and the Brown University orchestra, directed by Paul Phillips (original score and orchestration by Donald Sosin.) Gelato Ritrovato served 6:15 - 6:45pm.
  • Mar
    15
    7:00pm - 8:00pm

    3rd Annual Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival of Rare and Restored Films

    Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium
    A FESTIVAL OF RARE AND RESTORED FILMS FROM THE CINETECA OF BOLOGNA, ITALY TO BROWN UNIVERSITY
    Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour returns to Brown! March 15-18, 2016, Granoff Center for the Arts.
    Each summer, the Cineteca of Bologna, one of Europe’s most renowned centers for film restoration—seat of the Charlie Chaplin’s and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s film archives—presents an eight-day film festival featuring restored films, early silent cinema, and director portraits. During the festival, titled Il Cinema Ritrovato (Rediscovered Cinema), more than 400 titles are presented in six cinemas and on a giant screen at a free outdoor screening in the fifteenth century Piazza Maggiore, in Bologna, which turns into a 2,000-seat open air movie theater for the entire summer (Sotto le Stelle del Cinema). Il Cinema Ritrovato has been defined as “pure heaven for cinéphiles.” The 30th edition will take place from Saturday June 25th to Saturday July 2nd , 2016.
    Thanks to a renewed collaboration between Brown University and the Cineteca of Bologna, the Italian Studies Department presents a selection of these wonderful films on the Brown campus. The festival, now in its third edition, is curated by Massimo Riva (Italian Studies, Brown University) and Guy Borlée (Coordinator of the festival for Cineteca di Bologna), with the collaboration of Antonella Sisto (Post-Doctoral Fellow in Italian Studies at Brown University).
    We are also bringing back the very popular Gelato Ritrovato with Gelato workshops at the Ratty and free samples every night before the screenings. See website for details of films and gelato events.
  • Mar
    15
    2:30pm - 4:00pm

    Gelato Making Workshops in Brown Dining’s Bakeshop

    Sharpe Refectory (The Ratty)
    Gelato Making Workshops in the Brown Dining’s Bakeshop (lower level of Sharpe Refectory, 144 Thayer Street)
    Dates: Tuesday, March 15; Wednesday, March 16; and Thursday, March 17 • 2 Time Slots available: 1-2:30 and 2:30-4PM
    Use link to RSVP today! Limited spots available!
    In conjunction with Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, Il Gelatauro – one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy – brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The NY Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
    The London Observer named it “Best in Europe.” Major figures of the food world have visited and written about Il Gelatauro, including Alice Waters, David Lebovitz and Mario Batali’s right hand man Zach Allen (an alum of Johnson & Wales).
    Now, Il Gelatauro is back to the United States. As part of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at Brown, Il Gelatauro will be delighting our audience for the second consecutive year! Courtesy of Il Gelatauro’s owner and chef, Gianni Figliomeni, you will have the opportunity to taste one of the best gelato in the world!
    The relationship between Il Gelatauro and Il Cinema Ritrovato started in Bologna where, for the past 5 years, Gianni Figliomeni has been creating delicious and meticulously researched recipes responding to the theme of the summer film festival. During Il Gelato Ritrovato, an event created for Il Cinema Ritrovato, Gianni rediscovers recipes based on the gelato textbook by Giuseppe Grifone, published in 1912.
  • Mar
    15
    1:00pm - 2:30pm

    Gelato Making Workshops in Brown Dining’s Bakeshop

    Sharpe Refectory (The Ratty)
    Gelato Making Workshops in the Brown Dining’s Bakeshop (lower level of Sharpe Refectory, 144 Thayer Street)
    Dates: Tuesday, March 15; Wednesday, March 16; and Thursday, March 17 • 2 Time Slots available: 1-2:30 and 2:30-4PM
    Use link to RSVP today! Limited spots available!
    In conjunction with Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour, Il Gelatauro – one of the best and most famous gelato shops in Bologna, Italy – brings his gelato to Brown University!
    The NY Times put Il Gelatauro’s gelato at number 9 on the list of 30 Things to Eat Before You Die.
    The London Observer named it “Best in Europe.” Major figures of the food world have visited and written about Il Gelatauro, including Alice Waters, David Lebovitz and Mario Batali’s right hand man Zach Allen (an alum of Johnson & Wales).
    Now, Il Gelatauro is back to the United States. As part of Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour at Brown, Il Gelatauro will be delighting our audience for the second consecutive year! Courtesy of Il Gelatauro’s owner and chef, Gianni Figliomeni, you will have the opportunity to taste one of the best gelato in the world!
    The relationship between Il Gelatauro and Il Cinema Ritrovato started in Bologna where, for the past 5 years, Gianni Figliomeni has been creating delicious and meticulously researched recipes responding to the theme of the summer film festival. During Il Gelato Ritrovato, an event created for Il Cinema Ritrovato, Gianni rediscovers recipes based on the gelato textbook by Giuseppe Grifone, published in 1912.
  • Mar
    11
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    Ittleson Quad
    Please come to the discussion of a paper by Morris Karp, Ph.D. Candidate, Italian Studies, Brown University, on March 11, noon-1:30 pm, at 190 Hope Street, Room 102. His paper, “That Which Happens Only Once: The Concept of History in Leopardi,” is available upon request from [email protected]
  • Mar
    9
    6:00pm - 8:00pm

    Free Pizza and Documentary Film Event

    Smith-Buonanno, Room 106
    The Story of the greatest (and most unlucky) juggler of all times: Alberto (aka: “Bertino”) Sforzi. The film is an elegy to a waning art form, and to the love of Bertino to Ghisi, his fifty-five year companion, and the owner of a one-of-a-kind circus, the Medrano. The evening offers a sneak preview of Freer than before. Introductions by Massimo Riva and Q&A with Adriano SFORZI. Free and open to the public.
  • Mar
    9
    4:00pm - 5:00pm

    Info Session: Brown Summer Program in Bologna, Italy

    Italian Studies Building
    Session at Italian Studies Dept, 190 Hope St., room 102
    *Award-winning director Adriano Sforzi will be at this session*
    Experience the 2016 Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival in Bologna, Italy while studying World cinema at the University of Bologna and the Bologna Cineteca, an important European film restoration center. Classes are taught in English by Brown faculty and local film scholars. Students attend numerous film screenings and learn how to write/shoot/edit a short film. Earns 1 Brown credit. Join us!
  • Feb
    26
    12:00pm - 1:30pm

    Italian Studies Colloquium

    Italian Studies Building
    Please come to the discussion in Italian of a paper by Andrea Guiso, Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Communication, University of Rome, La Sapienza, on February 26, noon-1:30 pm, at 190 Hope Street, Room 102. His paper, “La Prima Guerra mondiale: culla del fascismo? Una riconsiderazione in chiave storico-comparativa,” is available upon request to [email protected].
  • Feb
    11
    3:00pm - 4:00pm

    Brown in Italy Info Session

    J Walter Wilson, Room 440
    If you are interested in the Brown in Bologna, Italy program, plan to attend this info session in the Office of International Programs at 3:00pm in J. Walter Wilson 440. This info session will be conducted by Ian Shank, a senior and undergraduate peer advisor who studied abroad on this program.