Chapman Italian Studies News

On Wednesday evening, a group of daring and imaginative students from intermediate Italian classes, staged an interactive play fully in Italian and accompanied by original music and songs. The show was created and presented by Paige Gulley, Briana Salatino, Michael Seaman, Axel Mejia-Juarez, Brennan Meier, Lucy Franco, David Carnicelli, and Michael Hamilton, under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Francesca Paduano. Grazie di cuore a tutti per questa serata memorabile! 

Florentine sociologist and counsellor Paolo Mecacci spoke to the students of ITAL345 Introduction to Contemporary Italy about the social history of notions such as solidarity, reciprocity, and resilience. The lecture was followed by a workshop with creative and symbolic exercises raising the students’ awareness about differences and similarities between community in Italy and the United States.

Professor Clarissa Clò‘s insightful presentation attracted a large crowd of students and local folks eager to learn about the complexities of contemporary Italy. The presentation described how innovative techniques in documentary filmmaking are generating new narratives in facing and dealing with the critical challenges of today’s Italian society.

Students and local folks gathered on Wednesday evening to spend some Italian quality time together. Paul Romano, president of the Patrons of Italian Culture and board member of Chapman’s Italian Studies Council, shared the history of his organization and reminded the students of how important their work is for the future of the Italian-American community. Following, Italian instructor Nadia Vranicich-Pettinger involved everyone in a fun and interesting presentation on pizza and pizza making. All in all, this La Serata was a celebration of ingredients, those that make up our favorite pizzas and those that make up a supportive community. Grazie a tutti e arrivederci al 9 dicembre!

Last week a number of students and local folks attended Dr. Letizia Modena’s original and engaging lecture. The talk shed new light on the complex reality of lesser-known areas of Rome, on the role that highways have had in molding community life in the city’s outskirts, and on the work that filmmakers and writers are doing to mend communities and develop a new sense of identity.

Open to all who want to improve their language skills, learn about the Italian culture, share their talents, speak with native speakers, and socialize with members of the local community and other students!

“Walk, Write, Film: Reimagining Urban Renewal in Italy”. A lecture by Dr. Letizia Modena (Vanderbilt University). Thursday October 29, 7:30-9 p.m. Argyros Forum, room 209A. Prof. Modena surveys how Italian fiction and cinema search for what it means today to inhabit the city.

Vicky Carabini, a committed supporter of Italian education and community in Orange County, and patron to the Italian Studies program at Chapman University was recently recognized for her tireless efforts in preserving and fostering the Italian heritage in the region. In addition to serving as the Chair of the Italian Studies Council at Chapman, she is the ambassador to Capestrano, Italy, sister city of San Juan Capistrano. In addition, she is an active board member of the Italian Arts Council, the History Mission Preservation Board and serves as the Orange County Area Coordinator for the National Italian American Foundation.

In her acceptance speech, Vicky stated that “Growing up Italian is all I’ve ever known.” She grew up in America surrounded by grandparents who worked hard to build successful lives in America and who fostered the American dream, but who “still instilled the traditions from bella Italia—the food, the culture, the holidays, the importance of family and their deep love for their homeland.”

At fifteen she visited Italy for the first time and fell in love with the land her grandparents had left behind. When speaking of Italian Americans, she had this to say: “Our roots are deep with passion, and we have this innate ability to try to be more Italian than the next Italian American. In fact most Italian Americans usually just refer to themselves as simply ‘Italian’. Those born in the US of Italian descent are more boastful of their heritage than those born in Italy.”

By raising her two daughters to speak the language and embrace their Italian heritage, by acquiring dual citizenship with Italy for herself and her family, by purchasing a farmhouse in Tuscany that actively produces olive oil, and by her active involvement in so many Italian cultural organizations, Vicki is the ideal example of the third-generation Italian American who has had great success in building a bridge between America and Italy. She said, “My grandparents left their beautiful homeland – little did they know that we would return and keep our heritage alive. It truly is a heritage of the heart.”

Her speech ended on a poetic note with the words by Robert Browning: “Open my heart and you will see graved inside of it, Italy.”

Below Vicky Carabini (third from the right) and other dignitaries at the award ceremony on October 4th.