Chapman Italian Studies News

On June 1st, 2024, a group of scholars and theater practicians from around Italy, Europe, and North America gathered in the small town of Collodi, at the foothills of the Tuscan Apennines, for a conference exploring the reasons and ramifications behind the global life of the character Pinocchio. Collodi is the birthplace of Carlo Lorenzini (aka Carlo Collodi, 1926-1990), the author of the novel Pinocchio (1883), and the title of the conference was “Pinocchio: A Global ‘Puppet’ International Symposium,” a partnership between Chapman’s Ferrucci Institute for Italian Experience and Research, the University of Iowa, and the Fondazione Collodi.

Dr. Pacchioni, who recently published studies on the history and influence of Italy’s unique popular puppet theater, collaborated on the planning and coordinating of the conference. Below is the original Call for Papers description and a copy of the program.

CFP: “Puppet theater represents an important phenomenon in Italian and international culture. Its long artistic traditions and wide dissemination have produced a vast repertoire that encompasses different genres and reworks heterogeneous forms of artistic expression. The result of various cultural influences and contaminations, marionettes and puppets, both as objects and as images or ideas, intersect a complex range of social, historical, and spiritual issues. In its being both similar and dissimilar to humans, the marionette becomes a metaphor for the modern subject and a vehicle for reflections on human existence and contemporary society. The theatrical roots of the Pinocchio character have long been known. Nonetheless, an in-depth analysis of the connections between the protagonist of Carlo Collodi’s masterpiece and the artistic tradition of puppetry deserves to be further explored in light of the most recent research perspectives, first of all in the literary and theatrical fields. The symposium aims to stimulate a broader discussion on puppets and marionettes’ historical, aesthetic, and psychological valences and the relationship between Pinocchio’s theatrical nature and global fortune. These intersections will provide novel perspectives to appreciate the numerous reinterpretations of the well-known Collodi book and the figure of Pinocchio as a character capable of transcending national boundaries.”

The 2023-24 academic year brought with it a new Chapman Italian Studies series presented by the Ferrucci Institute for Italian Experience and Research. The series took place in the beautiful Dee Henley Reading Room of the Leatherby Libraries of Chapman University during the fall and spring semesters. The calendar alternated presentations from external scholars and Ferrucci Institute fellows, providing the university community with a regular forum to explore new ways to understand Italy.

Four distinguished speakers explored various aspects of Italian culture and history. In “Bridges of Life in Italy,” Dr. Thomas Harrison from UCLA examined the Italian peninsula as a bridge, highlighting the role of connection in Italian art and history from ancient to modern times. Dr. Norma Bouchard, a Ferrucci Institute Fellow, discussed “The Global Italian Diaspora: Texts and Contexts of Italianness in an Era of Global Migration,” reflecting on Italy’s transformation from a land of emigration to immigration and its impact on national identity. Dr. Luca Cottini from Villanova University, in “What Do Stories Do? The Added Value of Italian Entrepreneurship,” analyzed how storytelling enriches Italian businesses, adding depth and authenticity to their products. Lastly, Dr. Shira Klein, also a Ferrucci Institute Fellow, in “A Place in the Sun: Jews and the Italian Empire,” delved into the complex relationship between Italian Jews and the colonization of Africa, revealing the paradoxes and consequences of their support for imperialism.

The questions raised by the symbolism of the bridge (which is visible in the institute logo), where the series started in October, resonated throughout all of the meetings. On the one hand, exploring connections between different shores of history, cultural expressions, and disciplinary paradigms, the symbol stood out as a meaning-making humanistic gesture ingrained in the Italian mindset. On the other hand, the metaphor of the bridge, with its assumption of universality, leads to the challenging task of finding common grounds and shared cultural projects. Indeed, the challenging nature of the project and the quest for solutions that are not entirely foreseeable at the onset make the intellectual experiment of the Ferrucci Institute particularly engrossing, worthwhile, and needed work in our fragmented contemporary milieu.

The audience, which included institute fellows, students, and community members, was invited to ponder the intellectual juxtapositions afforded by the different talks and consider how their study and experience of Italy related to the perspectives presented. Next year, the series will continue to feature a variety of disciplinary angles with contributions from philosophy and the sciences.

The lineup for next year is now available on the Ferrucci Institute website.

The Ferrucci Institute for Italian Experience and Research was highlighted several times during the recent State of the University Address as an example of academic excellence.

Toward the beginning of the presentation, when providing examples of germinal initiatives that are having an intellectual “cascade effect” and creating momentum for the institution, President Struppa spoke of the Ferrucci Institute as “a very exciting venture” and a type of “structure that will allow people from different parts of the campus to work together and expand their ideas” (0:35:40).

Following, when outlining recent progress in advancing the strategic goal of Academic Excellence and “key areas” Chapman University is investing in and growing, Executive Vice President Matt Parlow spoke of the Ferrucci Institute as “an interdisciplinary institute… that brings scholars and students from all over Chapman together not just to study and do research here but actually to go out to Italy and do more there,” and underscored the institute’s role in advancing global citizenship at Chapman (minute 1:01:00).

Watch the full video recording or only the highlights.