Dr. Pacchioni’s Work Illuminates and Promotes the Universal Language of Italian Puppets

Posted on March 4, 2023 by pacchion

Palgrave Macmillan recently published an English translation of Dr. Pacchioni’s study The Image of the Puppet in Italian Theater, Literature, and Film. During the past two weeks, Dr. Pacchioni was invited to speak about the popular Italian puppet theater and its artistic and cultural influence in scholarly and cultural venues.

Dr. Pacchioni spoke about puppetry’s significance in the search for an Italian global identity at the virtual international panel Italy by Design, organized by the University of Edinburgh, Scottland, which gathered leading Italian Studies scholars worldwide. He also spoke about the transmedial history and potential of Italian puppetry at the annual conference of the California Interdisciplinary Consortium of Italian Studies hosted by the Graziadio Center for Italian Studies at California State University-Long Beach. Finally, Dr. Pacchioni spoke about the broader puppetry tradition underpinning the figure of Pinocchio at the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, which currently hosts the exhibit A Real Boy: The Many Lives of Pinocchio.

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Join us for the 7th Annual Italian Perspective!

Posted on February 14, 2023 by pacchioni

Join us for Theater and Culture: An Italian Perspective in the Musco Center for the Arts of Chapman University, Orange, California, on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 10am.

This year’s edition is a unique opportunity to learn about the influence of Italian theatrical culture across various periods, styles, and genres. The program will include talks and live performances to provide intellectual insight and aesthetic experiences – a fascinating journey stimulating the mind and the heart. Presentations will reveal the interlaced historical genesis and significance of iconic Italian theatrical traditions.

The event will feature a message from The Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini; a talk by leading Italianist Daniela Bini on the woman in Italian opera; a modern reinterpretation of Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author written and directed by Professor Nick Gabriel, performed by Chapman’s Department of Theater; a taste of Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo’s unique grammelot style performed by award-winning actor Matthias Martelli.

This celebration of Italian theater and culture, exploring the vitality, beauty, and complexity of Italy’s cultural and artistic identity, will be the seventh edition of the Italian Perspective series, following Business and Culture (2016), Music and Culture (2017), Cinema and Culture (2018), Science and Culture (2019), Food and Culture (2021), and Design and Culture (2022).

For details and tickets, visit the event’s page.

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Join us for the 7th Annual Italian Perspective!

Posted on February 14, 2023 by pacchion

Join us for Theater and Culture: An Italian Perspective in the Musco Center for the Arts of Chapman University, Orange, California, on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 10am.

This year’s edition is a unique opportunity to learn about the influence of Italian theatrical culture across various periods, styles, and genres. The program will include talks and live performances to provide intellectual insight and aesthetic experiences – a fascinating journey stimulating the mind and the heart. Presentations will reveal the interlaced historical genesis and significance of iconic Italian theatrical traditions.

The event will feature a message from The Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini; a talk by leading Italianist Daniela Bini on the woman in Italian opera; a modern reinterpretation of Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author written and directed by Professor Nick Gabriel, performed by Chapman’s Department of Theater; a taste of Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo’s unique grammelot style performed by award-winning actor Matthias Martelli.

This celebration of Italian theater and culture, exploring the vitality, beauty, and complexity of Italy’s cultural and artistic identity, will be the seventh edition of the Italian Perspective series, following Business and Culture (2016), Music and Culture (2017), Cinema and Culture (2018), Science and Culture (2019), Food and Culture (2021), and Design and Culture (2022).

For details and tickets, visit the event’s page.

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The Idea of Beauty across Art, Business, and Science: A New Interdisciplinary Travel Course in Florence

Posted on January 17, 2023 by pacchioni

Florence, the birthplace of the European Renaissance, continues to represent Western ideals of civilization and artistry across the globe. The period that marked the beginning of modernity–a monumental shift in ways of thinking and managing politics, economics, and the arts–is inscribed in the very stones of the City of the Lily and continues to inspire new creations and ideas. It’s the quintessential site for examining how beauty impacts political, cultural, and economic processes.

This January, a group of Chapman students across different university departments designed and carried out individualized research projects while visiting Florence’s major museums and signature establishments of the city’s creative industries. The travel course is the fruit of a partnership between Chapman University and the International Studies Institute of Florence. Students availed themselves of the mentorship of Dr. Federico Pacchioni before, during, and after the stay, interviewed experts in various sectors of the arts and business, and collaborated with Italian peers from the University of Florence.

Below, students reflect on their experience:

“My travel course experience in Florence brought experiential learning to a new level through engaging group adventures and the remarkable knowledge of our faculty. The time I’ve spent here has reignited my passion for exploration and learning and has motivated me to continue my academic pursuits through travel in the future” – Mac Francini

“On this trip, I had the opportunity to tap into the artistic ecosystem of Florence and use the complexities of such a historic city to draw ideas for my own work. From the workshops and museums, I learned how to listen for inspiration.” – Ashleigh Cohan

“I feel so grateful to be able to engage with Florence to such an immersive degree. This class has been such a unique experience that I feel has expanded my perspective in a way that I could not have gotten traveling on my own!” – Marissa Thompson

“Being one of the most influential experiences of my Chapman journey, I have learned so much about myself and the world beyond our own. It has been an incredible opportunity with personalized education like no other, thanks to Dr. Pacchioni.” – Emalia Katelanis

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An Evening with Dacia Maraini: Italian students meet Chapman’s latest honorary degree recipient

Posted on October 18, 2022 by pacchion

This fall, Chapman University awarded an Honorary Degree to Dacia Maraini, one of the most important and prolific writers in contemporary Italy. During her visit to campus, Italian Studies students had the privilege of meeting Maraini and hearing her read from her most recent book, Caro Pier Paolo (Neri Pozza Editore, 2022), which contains letters to Pier Paolo Pasolini, a renowned intellectual, novelist, poet, and filmmaker who was murdered in 1975. The intimate and thought-provoking evening was moderated by Professor Sara Mattavelli.

Dacia Maraini wrote numerous novels, short stories, and poems, and she also completed significant work in theatre and cinema. Much of her writing focuses on women’s struggles and rights, and she was very involved in Italian Feminism in the 60s and 70s. She traveled extensively and had incredible life experiences with some of the most important and well-known figures in Italian culture. Dacia Maraini has received numerous awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for L’età del malessere (1963), the Premio Fregene for Isolina (1985), the Premio Campiello, and the Book of the Year Award for La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria (1990), and many more.

Dacia Maraini’s Honorary Degree Ceremony (from left: Consul General of Italy Silvia Chiave, Provost Norma Bouchard, Dacia Maraini, Dr. Mark Axelrod, Dr. Federico Pacchioni).

Dacia Maraini and Dr. Mattavelli in conversation

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Dr. Sara Mattavelli, a Gifted Educator, Joins Chapman Italian Studies

Posted on August 8, 2022 by pacchioni

Chapman University’s Italian Studies Program is pleased to announce that Dr. Sara Mattavelli will join the faculty as instructional assistant professor of Italian starting this fall. With her expertise in language acquisition and pedagogy and her extensive and award-winning teaching experience, professor Mattavelli will support and innovate the Italian Studies curriculum and program in the coming years. Thanks to her unique approach, which integrates multi-literacy and critical thinking with language acquisition, professor Mattavelli brings creative and intellectual depth to the teaching of foreign languages, particularly Italian. Chapman Italian Studies faculty and students are eager to collaborate with professor Mattavelli and to be inspired by her educational vision.

Below is a letter from Dr. Mattavelli to the program’s community.

“I’m very excited to be joining the vibrant Italian Program at Chapman University this Fall, and I look forward to meeting students and colleagues very soon! I have been living on the East Coast for the past six years, but I am no stranger to Southern California. Fifteen years ago, after graduating with a laurea magistrale in Language Sciences and Foreign Literature from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan (Italy), I landed at LAX to start my avventura americana. I worked as an instructor and language resident at Scripps College for one year, and then I went on to pursue graduate studies.

I received my Master’s in Italian from the University of Virginia and my Ph.D. in Italian Studies with a Minor in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. My research interests include second language acquisition, literacy-based approaches to L2 instruction, as well as contemporary Italian literature. For my dissertation, I focused on Italian feminism and the works of four Italian women writers: Dacia Maraini, Franca Rame, Elena Ferrante, and Alina Marazzi. In the classroom, I encourage students to explore contemporary issues such as immigration to and from Italy, citizenship law, gender roles, and gendered language. To support students’ learning, I use various authentic resources, from rap music to newspaper articles, from videos to short stories.

Outside of work, I enjoy photography, binge-watching reality competition shows, trying new restaurants and cafés, and spending time with my cute puppy, Petrillo.

I look forward to start working with colleagues and students (and the Italian club!) and creating exciting opportunities to learn more about Italian language and cultures in and around campus. Ci vediamo presto!

Professoressa Mattavelli”

* You can send your personal welcome message to Sara at: mattavelli@chapman.edu

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Journey to Salento: Immersion in Lecce

Posted on August 8, 2022 by pacchioni

This summer, the Italian Studies Program of Chapman University was able to resume its signature language immersion travel course. The course offers students the unique opportunity to connect deeply with a specific area of Italy, one defined by unique geographic and historical features, while developing their language skills and cultural knowledge. This summer, the course explored Salento, the southern part of Puglia, with the elegant city of Lecce as its base. Once again, the Marybelle and Paul Musco Endowment for Travel Courses provided significant financial support for the course and allowed all deserving students to participate.

Several local experts in fields ranging from artisanal skills, cuisine, art history, and tourism contributed to the rich schedule of lessons, including tours of major cities and historical sites, craft workshops, and naturalistic excursions. The program was designed in partnership with the University Language Center of Libera Università Mediterranea, which also provided linguistic training tailored to the student’s levels. Modeled on an experiential education approach, the course also included homestays with local families and personalized projects building on the student’s individual journeys.

The innovative model of this travel course continues to prove effective in enabling students to develop a complete and enduring relationship with Italy and to understand the degree of cultural and natural diversity present in the Italian peninsula; this knowledge and direct relationship hold the potential for the integration of new resources into the students’ professional plans and personal lives.

Below, students reflect on their experience:

“Participating in the Summer Travel Course to Lecce allowed me to put my Italian Studies education at Chapman into practice by fully immersing myself in the language and the culture for three weeks. I found a home in Salento and cannot wait to go back; the three weeks flew by in an instant, and yet every moment was full of learning and discovery. I returned from the journey much more confident in my abilities and with memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.” –– Ayuj Consul

“Lecce was an incredible experience; not only did I gain the confidence to use my Italian and improve my language skills, but I got to make lifelong friendships, see incredible sites, and experience the culture of southern Italy. Living in a host family was my highlight – even though I have no Italian genetics, after Lecce, I can definitively say I have an Italian family.” –– Isabella Ocaña

“I absolutely loved my time in Lecce this summer, being Italian it allowed me to further connect with my roots. It also provided me with the unique opportunity to improve my Italian and gave me a better understanding of the authentic Italian lifestyle.” –– Arianna Modesti

“It was a truly eye-opening experience that helped me develop a deep appreciation for Italian culture and the history behind it.” –– Dominic Cote

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Film history comes alive in Bologna: a new collaboration between Italian Studies and the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

Posted on July 6, 2022 by pacchioni

The Italian Studies program (Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) and the Film and Media Studies program (Dodge College of Film and Media Arts) joined efforts to develop a unique educational experience in Bologna, Italy, a travel course that will become a staple of both programs and Chapman University in the future.

Under the guidance of Dr. Emily Carman and Dr. Federico Pacchioni, a group of undergraduate and graduate students collaborated this summer with the myriad of archival and unique screenings and symposia offered by the Il Cinema Ritrovato film festival and were introduced to Bologna’s cultural history and the local Cineteca research facilities.

The program featured conversations with emblematic actors of the golden age of Italian cinema, such as Stefania Sandrelli; with Italian and American filmmakers such as Gianni Amelio (director of Lamerica), Alice Rorhwacher (Le meraviglie), John Landis (Blues Brothers), Wes Anderson (The French Dispatch); screenings in the Piazza Maggiore accompanied by Bologna’s Orchestra del Teatro; visit of the exhibit Folgorazioni Figurative dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s centennial; and tours of Immagine Ritrovata, the world-renowned film restoration laboratory.

Restoration — as cultural issue and technical practice — is indeed at the heart of this course and is understood within a broader and interdisciplinary discussion about the preservation and evolution of western heritage and canon in today’s globalized community. Drawing from their subjective experiences and the wide-ranging resources of Bologna and its libraries, students developed a portfolio of critical writings probing into the theme of cinematic and cultural heritage.

In the words of some of the students…

“Nowhere else have I felt the amount of love and passion for film as I have here. Hearing industry members speak passionately about the films that were screened at the festival, and getting the chance to speak to some directly has made me even more excited about being a part of the film community, now and going forward.” — Afra Nariman

“As a producing student, I often focused more on the technical and business aspects of film. This course reminded me of the beauty and importance of cinema in documenting and shaping the narrative in both global geopolitical situations and the human experience.” — Nishaad Trivedi

“Getting to come to Italy and be immersed in the culture through the art of cinema has been really inspiring and impactful for my own art. Bologna is truly a wonderful city and I feel so lucky to have been able to see it and embrace all the things it has to offer.”
—Lauren Moyle

“The Il Cinema Ritrovato festival is extremely well-suited for anyone who takes the theater-going experience very seriously and is interested in (world) film history and restoration. This was a phenomenal opportunity to not only engage with the amazing films the festival offers back to back, but also to explore the Italian culture and history that surrounds you and is interwoven with the passions of the festival itself.” — Austin Kang

“Walking through the city of Bologna was like walking through the history of a great civilization; viewing the various films of the Cinema Ritrovato festival was like taking a look into the lives of the people of those times and the culture and stories that formed them.” — Sofie Kassaras

“The most meaningful aspect of this course in Bologna would have to be the opportunity to experience the fusion of Italian culture and cinema simultaneously. Attending Il Cinema Ritrovato has encouraged me to expand my horizons and delve deeper into new genres, eras, and cultural impacts of film movements. The incredible films and extensive historical background of the city have made this course one that I will not forget!” —Mia McGarity

A film screening in Piazza Maggiore, Bologna

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Chapman Italian Studies Supports New Educational Exchange in Italy – The Experience of Nick Gabriel, Professor of Acting

Posted on June 19, 2022 by pacchion

Nicholas Gabriel reflects on the impact of his experience teaching acting at Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi in Rome this summer.

“My entire upbringing was informed by the traditions of the Italian American experience: we traveled to New York City for the Feast of San Gennaro, belonged to the local Italian American Community Center, played bocce, ate ‘seven fishes’ on Christmas Eve, and my father tended an extensive tomato garden that my mother turned into elaborate Sunday dinners, prominently featuring ‘red sauce’ that had simmered on the stove for hours. In fact, my sister and I have a running joke that the only meal we remember from our childhood is pasta with red sauce. However, it wasn’t until recently that I began investigating my ancestors’ extraordinary lives. They were poor carpenters, farmers, and merchants. My great grandparents on both sides of the family, whose surnames were Americanized at Ellis Island, emigrated from Calabria in the early nineteen-twenties and eventually made their way upstate. Because of my desire to grow deeper roots, I plan to establish dual American and Italian citizenship ‘jure sanguinis’.

Through the generous support of the Chapman University College of Performing Arts and, in particular, Dean Giulio Ongaro and Associate Dean Louise Thomas, I was able to travel to Italy for the first time in my life. Dr. Federico Pacchioni, Director of Chapman’s Italian Studies Program, connected me to a colleague (and former Chapman University student) currently working at Teatro Piccolo in Milan. She then connected me to her friends at the Civica Scuola di Teatro Paolo Grassi (CTPG). Founded in 1951 by Paolo Grassi and Giorgio Strehler, CTPG is Northern Italy’s academic gateway for serious theatre artists.

The students I worked with at CTPG were extraordinary. They were well-comported and respectful, uniquely physically expressive, and their acting was poignantly vulnerable. Their single most important distinguishing characteristic was their curiosity. They had an appetite for knowledge that was exceptional. They were excited by a new perspective, and especially interested in the mindset of an American professor who teaches in both screen acting and theatre performance programs at an American university outside of Los Angeles. They shared that our time together was valuable to them because I helped clarify some of the principles they’d learned previously and deepen their understanding of others. They also shared that I taught them some Chekhovian principles they had not learned from their tutor. At the end of the week, I did not want to leave. They thanked me profusely and I thanked them profusely and we reluctantly said our goodbyes. At the request of the CTPG’s director, Mr. Maccieri, I plan to teach for another week in June of next year there. My long-term goal is to establish an ongoing arrangement that allows me to return regularly. I gained a fresh, Italian perspective, and an entirely new community of theatre artists that will inspire me for the rest of my life.”

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Dr. Pacchioni speaks at the International Conference of the Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies in Rome

Posted on June 18, 2022 by pacchion

Dr. Pacchioni spoke at the International Conference of the Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies in Rome. This year’s conference, titled “Italian Cinema and Media: Past and Present, Continuity and Change, Expectations for the Future” was held in person at The American University of Rome on June 16, 17, and 18. It featured more than 100 scholars from around the world to focus on a broader understanding of Italian cinema and media in international artistic contexts. Drawing from his forthcoming book The Image of the Puppet in Italian Theater, Literature, and Film (Palgrave Mcmillan, 2022), Dr. Pacchioni delivered a presentation on the influence of the Italian popular puppet theater in the cinema of the filmmaker Lina Wertmüller (1928-2021).

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