Academic Events
Award-winning filmmaker Marco Tullio Giordana (center) with Professors James McMenamin (left) and Nicoletta Marini-Maio (right), Fall 2009.
Past Events
Spring 2023. Luigi Cepparrone (Associate Professor at the Università degli Studi di Bergamo) gave a lecture entitled The Construction of Morocco as Other in Nineteenth Century Italian Travel Literature: The Case of Edmondo De Amicis.
Spring 2022. Francesco Samarini, Visiting International Scholar at Dickinson College, gave a lecture entitled Out of Limbo on a Lambo: Dante and Italian Rap Music. Co-sponsored by Ciao Philadelphia, the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia and the Dickinson College Italian Department.
Spring 2022. James F. McMenamin, Associate Professor of Italian at Dickinson College, commemorating the 700th Anniversity of Dante's death, gave a lecture entitled Dante's 'Blind Prison': Confinement and Carcerality in the 'Inferno'. Co-sponsored by Ciao Philadelphia, the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia and the Dickinson College Italian Department.
Fall 2022. Ronald Jenkins, Senior Fellow at Yale Institute of Sacred Music, gave a lecture via Zoom entitled Dante Behind Bars: Finding Hope at the Gates of Hell. Co-sponsored by the Dickinson Italian Departmenet and the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia.
Fall 2022. The owner of Caputo Brothers Creamery, with the assitance of Dickinson alumna Brianna Geesaman '21, provided a hands-on mozzarella making workshop for the students.
Fall 2022. Brianna Geesaman '21 gave a presentation entitled From Learning Italian to Planning Culinary Tours to Italy on her experience at Dickinson and her career post-Dickinson, including her current job at Curata Travels in Pennsylvania.
Fall 2021. Massimo Montanari (Professor of History of Food and founder of the Master’s in History and Culture of Food at Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna) commemorating the 700th Anniversity of Dante's death, gave a lecture entitled History and Culture of Food: Dante and the Middle Ages. Co-sponsored by Ciao Philadelphia, the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia, the Dickinson College Italian Department, and the Food Studies Certificate Program.
Fall 2021. Kristina Olson (Associate Professor of Italian, George Mason University), commemorating the 700th Anniversity of Dante's death, gave a lecture entitled Dante in a Global World: Sandow Birk's 'Divine Comedy'. Co-sponsored by Ciao Philadelphia, the Italian Consulate of Philadelphia and the Dickinson College Italian Department.
Fall 2021. Delphine Dall'Agata '17 gave a presentation entitled From Italian 101 to the United Nations on her experience at Dickinson, her Fulbright in Italy and her career post-Dickinson, including her current job at the United Nations in Europe.
Spring 2020. Roberto Saviano, acclaimed Italian writer and anti-organized crime activist, gave a reading of his two books Gomorrah and Piranhas. Saviano was the 2019-2020 recipient of The Harold and Ethel L. Stellfox Visiting Scholars and Writers Program Award which generously funded his residency on campus.
Fall 2020. Dennis Looney (Director of the Office of Programs and Director of the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages at the Modern Language Association) gave a lecture via Zoom entitled A Conversation with Prof. Dennis Looney on the African American Reception of Dante Alighieri and the 'Divine Comedy'.
Fall 2019. Roberto Patella (Photographer based in Milan, Italy) exhibited 16 photographs in the Waidner-Spahr Library and gave a lecture entitled Finding Your Light: Artistic Creation as Archeological Excavation. Sponsored by the Dickinson Italian Department, Waidner-Spahr Library, the Central Pennsylvania Consortium, the Dickinson Department of Art & Art History, the Office of Global Study and Engagement, the Office of LGBTQ Services and the Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development.
Fall 2019. Eli Corso-Phinney '10 gave a presentation entitled From Bologna to the US Department of Commerce on his experience at Dickinson and his career post-Dickinson, including his current job at the US Department of Commerce in Washington DC.
Spring 2019. Andrea Manganaro (Associate Professor, University of Catania) gave a public lecture on the Sicilian writer Giovanni Verga. The lecture was translated into English by professor Pagano’s senior seminar students and will be published in the Annals of the Giovanni Verga Foundation. Sponsored by the Dickinson Italian Department.
Spring 2019. Nicoletta Marini-Maio (Associate Professor of Italian and Film Studies) and Ellen Nerenberg (Professor of Italian, Wesleyan University) gave a public lecture entitled “Winx Nation: Girl Power, ‘the Girl Who Can’ and Postfeminist Edutainment” with presentations by research collaborators Diana Dragani (International Visiting Scholar 2018-2019, Dickinson College), and Thera Dal Prà Iversen (Dickinson alumna, Class of 2017). Co-sponsored by the Italian Department, Film and Media Studies Program, and the Women's and Gender Resource Center.
Fall 2018. Amir Issaa (Italian Rapper and Author) led a workshop for our Italian 232 course and lead a public discussion/conversation about his work and life story. Sponsored by the Central PA Consortium and the Dickinson Italian Department.
Fall 2018. Dr. Flavio Giovanni Conti (Independent Scholar) and Prof. Alan R. Perry (Italian Studies, Gettysburg College) presented on Itailan Prisoners of War in Pennsylvania, 1944-45. Sponsored by the Central PA Consortium and the Dickinson Italian Department.
Fall 2018. Prof. Matteo Salvadore (Associate Professor of History, American University of Sharjah) lectured via Skype on the history of Ethiopia for Italian 323 From Diaspora to Empire: Italian Colonialism in the Greater Middle East.
Fall 2018. Angela Hertz '99 gave a presentation entitled Viva l'italiano! on her experience at Dickinson and her career post-Dickinson, including her current job as the founder and executive director of La Scuola d'Italia Galileo Galilei in Pittsburgh.
Spring 2018. Alina Marazzi, Italian filmmaker. Presented and discussed her film We Want Roses too (2007). Co-sponsored with Film Studies.
Spring 2018. An Evening at the Opera. In order to deepen students' understanding of the relationship between literature and music, the entire class of the Ideas of Italy course attended the performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem at Hershey Theater in Hershey, PA.
Spring 2017. James F. McMenamin, Associate Professor of Italian at Dickinson College, gave a lecture entitled Petrarch's Adamantine Chains: The Anniversary Series of 'Love' and the Song of 'Glory'. Co-sponsored by the Dickinson Italian Department and the Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program.
Fall 2017. Alan Perry, Professor and Chair of Italian at Gettysburg College, gave a guest lecture to introduce a special event of the Italian Film Series, the screening of the historic masterpiece Don Camillo (1952). The title of Prof. Perry's lecture was "Guareschi's Dismay: The Making of Duvivier's Don Camillo."
Fall 2017. Lisa Sabetta '02 discussed her experiences at Dickinson and in Bologna and her career post-Dickinson, including her current job at Prada, in New York. Lisa's lecture was entitled "A Dickinson Devil Wears Prada."
Spring 2017. Delphine Dall’Agata ‘17, Thera Dal Prà Iversen ‘17, Natalie McNeill ‘17, Honors Italian Students and Recipients of the William G. and Elke F. Durden International Initiative Fund. Selected to present their research conducted in Italy at the Global Education Symposium.
Spring 2017. Thera Dal Prà Iversen ’17, Honors Italian Student. Presented and discussed her Italian honors thesis entitled Retracing Naples at the ROWGS (Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality by Students) Symposium.
Spring 2017. Carlo Lavagna, Italian filmmaker. Presented and discussed his film “Arianna” (2015). Co-sponsored with Film Studies.
Fall 2016. Neal McTighe '00 discussed his experiences while studying at Dickinson and in Bologna that led to his career as an entrepreneur, as the Founder & CEO of American Pasta Sauce Company and of Nellino's Sauce - the first U.S.-grown, U.S.-crafted biodynamic tomato sauce. Neal's lecture was entitled "Containing my Passion: How I Used My Italian After Dickinson."
Fall 2016. Fred Kuwornu, Italian filmmaker. Presented and discussed his film Blaxploitalian (2016). Co-Sponsored with CPC, Film Studies, Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity, and American Studies.
Spring 2016. Amara Lakhous, author, journalist, and anthropologist read from his novel entitled Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio (2006).
Spring 2016. Mario Moroni, poet and associate professor of Italian at Binghamton University (State University of New York) performs a poetry recital entitled "Recitare le ceneri."
Fall 2015. Edoardo Dal Santo. A lecture entitled “My Career in the Italian Food Business."
Fall 2015. Susanna Nicchiarelli, Italian filmmaker. Presented and discussed her film Cosmonauta (2009). Co-sponsored with Film Studies.
Spring 2015. Fred Kuwornu (Filmmaker) and Giovanna Faleschini (Associate Professor of Italian from Franklin & Marshall) introduce and discuss the documentary film “18 Ius Soli: The Strange Case of Citizenship in Modern Italy.”
Fall 2014. Edoardo Dal Santo. A lecture entitled “My Career in the Italian Food Business."
Spring 2014. Alessandra Montalbano, PhD from New York University. A lecture entitled “In the Hands of the ‘Ndrangheta: Italian Ransom Kidnapping,” about the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta and the darkest pages of Italy’s recent past in the context of our Senior Seminar (IT400).
Spring 2014. Giuseppe Sofo, University of Avignone. A lecture entitled "Translating Wor(l)ds: Re-reading the Misreading".
Spring 2014. The Sopranos Marathon. Campus Screening of Series 6 (Part II), open classes, lectures, and delicious Italian food.
Spring 2014. Giancarlo Lombardi, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at CUNY. A lecture entitled “The Sopranos and The Ethics of Quality Television” in the context of The Sopranos Marathon (a screening of Series 6, Part II).
Spring 2014. Letizia Modena, Associate Professor of Italian at Vanderbilt University. A lecture entitled "History's Ghost through the Streets of Rome: Carrie Mae Weems Italian Photographs".
Spring 2014. David Kertzer, Paul Dupee University Professor of Social Science and Professor of Anthropology and Italian Studies at Brown University. A presentation on Prof. Kertzer's latest book entitled The Pope and Mussolini which took place at Franklin and Marshall (organized by Franklin and Marshall and Dickinson College).
Spring 2014. Robert T. Valgenti, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Lebanon Valley College. A lecture entitled “Territorio: Thinking, Eating, and Metabolizing our Notion of Place” in the context of our Italian Food and Wine course.
Fall 2013. Marina Spada, Italian filmmaker. Presented and discussed her film “My Tomorrow” (2011). Co-sponsored with Film Studies.
Spring 2013. Elena Past, Associate Professor of Italian at Wayne University. Seminar on Italian “giallo” held via Skype.
Spring 2013. Cristina Gragnani. Assistant Professor of Italian at Temple University. A lecture entitled “Before Sibilla: The Hidden World of Late Nineteenth Century Italian Women Writers”.
Spring 2013. Steve White, Professor of European History at Mount St. Mary’s College. A lecture on the Italian statesman Alcide De Gasperi and the Founding of the Italian Republic.
Spring 2013. Dennis Looney, Professor of Italian at University of Pittsburgh. A lecture on his book Freedom Readers concerning the reception of Dante's Comedy by African American writers.
Fall 2012. Gianfranco Pasquino, Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna and Dickinson Center in Bologna. A roundtable discussion entitled "Italy After Berlusconi".
Fall 2012. Ellen Nerenberg, Hollis Professor of Romance Languages & Literatures (Italian Studies) and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University. Lecture entitled “Assassine” on the media treatment of recent Italian criminal cases.
Fall 2012. Ernesto Livorni. Poet and Professor of Italian at the University of Madison, Wisconsin presented his poetry at the Dickinson International poetry festival (Semana Poética).
Spring 2012. Giuseppe Gazzola, Assistant Professor of Italian at Stony Brook University. A lecture entitled “Marinetti's (French) Anxiety of Influence”.
Spring 2011. James F. McMenamin, Assistant Professor of Italian at Dickinson College gave a public lecture entitled The Rhetoric of 'Adolescenzia' in the 'Divine Comedy' for the Dickinson College Medieval and Early Modern Studies Program Spring Colloquium.
Fall 2011. Barbara Zakzek, Professor of Italian at Clemson Univesrity and Rosetta D’Angelo, Professor of Italian at Ramapo College of New Jersey presented their book Resisting Bodies. Narrative of Italian Partisan Women.
Spring 2011. Paola Severgnini and Giuseppe Strada, Italian directors of the SITE program, visited Dickinson to discuss the international coordination of the SITE, which is led by Dickinson.
Fall 2010. F. Regina Psaki, The Giustina Family Professor of Italian Language and Literature at University of Oregon. A lecture entitled “Giving Them the Bird in Boccaccio’s Decameron”.
Fall 2010. Mario Moroni, poet and associate professor of Italian at Binghamton University (State University of New York) presented his poetry at the Dickinson International poetry festival (Semana Poética).
Spring 2009. Marco Baliani and Maria Maglietta (three-day residency), authors, actors, and theater director. Staged Body of State, an Italian piece on the Aldo Moro affair, and held seminars and meetings on theater in education and his experimental work “Black Pinocchio” in Kenya (Africa) with Italian, French, and Africana Studies classes. Sponsored by Central Pennsylvania Consortium.
Spring 2009. Alan Perry, Associate professor of Italian at Gettysburg College. A lecture entitled “Italian Women in the Resistance.” Sponsored by Central Pennsylvania Consortium.
Spring 2009. Danielle Goonan, Fulbright Scholar and Dickinson Alumna. A lecture entitled “Hip-Hop in Bologna: A Scholarly View.”
Fall 2009. Marco Tullio Giordana, award-winning Italian filmmaker who presented his work to the students of Dickinson College. Sponsored by Central Pennsylvania Consortium.
Fall 2008. Dennis Looney, Professor of Italian at University of Pittsburgh. A lecture entitled “Dante in African American Culture”.
Fall 2008. Alessandro Carrera, poet and critic, presented his poetry for the Dickinson International poetry festival (Semana Poética). Sponsored by several departments and the Dean’s office.
Spring 2008. Tahar Lamri, Algeria-Italy for the conference on Transnational Mediterranean, sponsored by the Clarke Center at Dickinsonn College.
Fall 2007. Sandow Birk, artist and filmmaker, author of an animated movie based on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Co-sponsored by Film Studies, Central Pennsylvania Consortium, MEMS, and Art and Art History.
Fall 2006. Fred Gardaphé, Professor of Italian American Studies at Stony Brook University and author of the book: From Wise Guys to Wise men (2006). Sponsored by the Clarke Center, Learning Community, French and Italian, Film Studies and Anthropology.
Fall 2005. Suzanne Branciforte. Author, Educational Consultant and Adjunct Professor at the University of Genoa, Italy.
Fall 2004. Elisa Biagini (Italy) and Robert Viscusi (USA), poets invited to present their poetry at the Dickinson International poetry festival (Semana Poética). Sponsored by several departments and the Dean’s Office.
Fall 2003. Millicent Marcus, Professor of Italian Studies at Yale University. Co-sponsored by Clarke Center, Film Studies, Judaic Studies, Religion, French and Italian and German departments.
Spring 2003. Tiziana Jacopone, Professor of Italian at the University of Paris VIII. Funded by Global Education.
Spring 2003. Umberto Mazzone, Professor of History at the University of Bologna. Funded by Global Education.
Fall 2002. F. Regina Psaki, Dickinson alumna and Associate Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon. Funded by the Clarke Center.
Fall 2002. Pierluigi Pellini, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Siena. Funded by Global Education.
Spring 2002. Cosetta Gaudenzi, Assistant Professor of Italian at Gettysburg College. Funded by French and Italian department and Global Education
Fall 2001. Remo Ceserani, Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Bologna. Funded by Global Education.
Spring 2000. Maria Rosa Cutrufelli, Italian Writer. (one-week residency) Funded by Central Pennsylvania Consortium.
Spring 1999. Dacia Maraini, Internationally known Italian writer. Funded by Central Pennsylvania Consortium.
Fall 1998. Anthony Tamburri, Chair of Modern Languages, Florida Atlantic University. Funded by Central Pennsylvania Consortium.
Renowned author Dacia Maraini and Prof. Tullio Pagano on the porch of the Hartman House, Spring 1999.