Chapman Italian Studies News

On October 16, Chapman Italian Studies students and faculty engaged in a special workshop underscoring the transformative power of technology in language education and literature, while calling for critical engagement with its limitations. The workshop – a collaboration between the Ferrucci Institute, the Italian Studies Program, and the Istituto di Cultura Italiana of Los Angeles – brought together prominent scholars from top US and European universities to discuss pressing challenges and opportunities.

The panel, moderated by Professor Sara Mattavelli, explored the intersection of technology and education, focusing on the humanizing potential of digital tools in learning. Dr. Tania Convertini (Dartmouth College) highlighted the legacy of Italian educator Alberto Manzi, who demonstrated how technology, when guided by values, could democratize access to education. Dr. Emanuela Patti (University of Edinburgh) discussed the digital turn in Italian literary production, emphasizing the shift towards e-books, audiobooks, and self-publishing, as well as the creation of new hybrid genres. Dr. Enza Antenos (Montclair State University) addressed the integration of generative AI in Italian language classrooms, which enhanced learning through personalized content but also presented challenges like cultural bias and inaccuracies.

Each academic year, the Ferrucci Institute offers a series of talks featuring scholars from both within and outside of Chapman University who are advancing the field by exploring Italy’s more universal educational and intellectual potentials, both in its peninsular and diasporic contexts. The series takes place in the beautiful Henley Reading Room of the Leatherby Libraries on two Wednesday evenings in fall and two evenings in spring. All students, faculty, and staff working on Italy-related projects are encouraged to attend. The event is open to the public.

For more details see: https://www.chapman.edu/wilkinson/research-centers/ferrucci-institute/windows-to-italy/index.aspx

The Gallio Film Festival, officially called Gallio Film Festival del Cinema Italiano Opere Prime, is an Italian film festival dedicated to showcasing debut works from emerging filmmakers. It is held annually in the scenic town of Gallio, located on the Asiago plateau. The festival focuses on “opere prime” — first-time feature-length films by Italian directors— and aims to give young directors a platform to present their work to a broader audience. The event is organized by passionate volunteers from the local community and has become an important cultural gathering in the region, celebrating not only cinema but also the heritage of the Asiago plateau.

The festival features a variety of film categories, including fictional works and films that address important social issues like integration, tolerance, and environmental protection. Over the years, the event has gained prestige, attracting both established and rising stars of the Italian cinema industry. Past participants include directors who later achieved international recognition, such as Alice Rohrwacher and Emanuele Crialese. Various awards are given, including the prestigious “Ermanno Olmi” award for best film and prizes for acting, directing, and screenwriting.

This summer, Dr. Pacchioni was invited to serve as a member of the jury along with journalists Sergio Frigo and Valentina Berengo, actors Marianna Folli and Paolo Bufalino, Producer Elisabetta Olmi and filmmaker Fabio Rosi.

In the photo, Dr. Pacchioni and the festival’s MC Dr. Ilaria Serra (Florida Atlantic University) face the Cineghel, where the festival takes place.

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.”