John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
The Calandra Institute is a CUNY research institute under the aegis of Queens College dedicated to the study of the Italian diaspora. 25 West 43rd St, Manhattan.
Important collection made available online
B.G. Firmani@bgfirmani.bsky.social · 4mo agoReally cool to see this digitized archive of fascinating public domain items from the James J. Periconi Collection of Italian-language American imprints. Thank you, @jstor.bsky.social and @calandrainstitute.bsky.social! #Immigrants #ItalianAmerican #radicalhistory www.jstor.org/site/queensc...
April 24th–25th is our annual conference, this year on the theme of "Religions, Beliefs, and the Supernatural in Italy and across Italian Mobilities. " Here’s the program of speakers: calandrainstitute.org/wp-content/u...
The $1,000 fellowship is for graduate students who are writing their dissertation on any topic involving Italian emigrant and/or Italian ethnic labor and/or working-class life either in the United States or in the wider Italian diaspora. calandrainstitute.org/2026/01/14/a...
Italian American Review 15.2 is now available! Check it out for a new article, new notes, book reviews, and a film review. Featuring contributions from @bgfirmani.bsky.social, @laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social, and more. cc: @calandrainstitute.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/issu...
Notes in Italian American Review 15.2 include "Robert Viscusi on Pascal D'Angelo and Other Italian American Writers: A Conversation" by Dennis Barone, @bgfirmani.bsky.social, Siân Gibby. scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/arti... cc: @calandrainstitute.bsky.social
📽️A piece of memory work, one that cinematically fills the void of that material desire to “touch history.” @laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social reviews "Chasing the Ghost of the Lung Block" in Italian American Review 15.2. cc: @calandrainstitute.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/arti...
Terrific #documentary, “The Piccirilli Factor,” by Eduardo Montes-Bradley, about six #Italian #immigrant stone carver/sculptor brothers working in the Bronx who made some of NYC's most beloved sculptures. www.montesbradley.com calandrainstitute.org/events/the-p... @calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Happy to share that the exhibit I curated w/ @josephsciorra.bsky.social , Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States, has been extended through November 26, 2025. Check it out! Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm 25 W 43rd St Fl 17, New York, NY @calandrainstitute.bsky.social
In Italian American Review 15.1, Marcella Martin focuses on a late 20th-century periodical published at a time when many were predicting the end of the Italian ethnic press in the US. cc: @calandrainstitute.bsky.social and @josephsciorra.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/arti...
Atlantica and similar publications are instrumental in advocating for the teaching of Italian in schools, employing a promotional and propaganda strategy. Read more from Roberto Dolci in italian American Review 15.1. @calandrainstitute.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/arti...
Glad the @nytimes.com finally recognized Tina Modotti by running an obituary of this immigrant activist and artist. I—along with others—have been submitting her to their “Overlooked No More” series I’d love to know how they ultimately decided to run one www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...
Overlooked No More: Tina Modotti, Whose Life Was as Striking as Her Photographs
nytimes.com
The study of Italian periodicals in Latin America is relatively recent and has propelled new approaches. Articles by John Starosta Galante & Daniel Goldstein in Italian American Review 15.1. @josephsciorra.bsky.social @calandrainstitute.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/issu...
Check out the 3D model of the Calandra Institute's exhibit "Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States" curated by Laura E. Ruberto and Joseph Sciorra. @laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social @josephsciorra.bsky.social
For those of you who were unable to attend our conference "The Bitter Bread of War: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from Italy and the Diaspora" in April you can now watch the presenters on YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?lis...
WRITERS READ SERIES Nov 10, 6 pm Marianne Leone reads from Christina the Astonishing: A Novel (Akashic Books, 2025) This novel is told from the perspective of the irrepressible yet lonely Christina, an Italian American teen in 1960s Catholic Boston.
WRITERS READ SERIES Oct 27, 6 pm Frank Ingrasciotta presents excerpts from Blood Type: RAGU (Next Stage Press, 2025) The one-man play involves 22 characters exploring a 2nd gen Italian American child’s delicate balance between searching for identity, embracing culture, & understanding forgiveness.
Oct 7, 6 pm The Piccirilli Factor (2025), 69 minutes, Eduardo Montes-Bradley, dir. A documentary exploring the legacy of the Piccirilli Brothers, Italian American sculptors who significantly contributed to shaping New York City’s urban landscape by carving some of its most iconic monuments.
Sept 23, 6 pm Unpacking Memories of World War II Italian Captivity in Africa: Music, Theater, Literature, and Art Making in POW Camps Elena Bellina, New York University This presentation analyzes the diverse forms of artistic production developed by Italian POWs in different African regions.
Sept 9, 6pm Captive Sites of Memory: Conflicting Italian Identities in the United States During World War II Laura E. Ruberto, Berkeley City College This talk considers the material legacies of surveillance, restrictions, and imprisonment of different groups in the US in the WWII era.
***Apply to Awards from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society*** The IEHS offers a number of prestigious awards that recognize excellence in scholarship in the fields of immigration and ethnic history. Would you like more information? iehs.org/awards/
Awards Overview
Visit the post for more.
iehs.org
The brochure for our fall programming is now ready. Stay tuned for more information.
“The protest on Monday gave voice to some of the more virulent lines of attack against Mr. Mamdani, including some that seemed xenophobic and anti-immigrant. […] The counterprotesters sought to dispel the notion that all Italian Americans were politically aligned.” www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/n...
Italian Americans, for and Against Mamdani, Square Off in New York
nytimes.com
Check out this new special issue on Citizenship and Migration co-edited by @migrantherstory.bsky.social and @irpinaingiro.bsky.social for the Journal of American and Ethnic History! The introduction is open access and available to all for free. scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jaeh/iss...
We’ve concluded another exciting Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar at Roma 3 Univ, an intensive 3-weeks of classes and lectures in the fields of history, folklore, literature, cinema, and much more. The brilliant fellows made this year especially intellectually stimulating.
Brando Bonsanti, a Università Roma Tre student, has been awarded the Institute’s 2025 Pietro “Pete” Panto Fellowship for his dissertation topic “A Matter of Identity: The Representation of Labor in Italian/American Literature." Panto who was killed in 1939 for his fight for Bklyn dockworkers.
***Digital History Seed Grants*** The IEHS invites submissions for awards, up to $2,000 each, to support graduate students and early-career scholars seeking to develop or engage with digital history work connected to migration history and related fields. Deadline: 8/1/25 iehs.org/awards/seed_...
Digital History Seed Grants
Visit the post for more.
iehs.org
Interview with co-curator Laura Ruberto about the exhibit CREATIVITY and WORLD WAR II ITALIAN POWS in the UNITED STATES which shows the artistry of Italian soldiers held by Allied forces in the US. tv.cuny.edu/homepage/sho... @laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social
We are pleased to announce that Stefano Morello is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Francesco Durante Italian Diaspora Award for his essay “Networks of Influence: Divagando’s Italian (and) American Literary Infrastructure." Dr. Morello will present this essay at the Calandra Institute in the fall.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for a special issue of the ‘ITALIAN AMERICAN REVIEW’ Mobilizing Memory: Sacco and Vanzetti on the Centennial of Their Executions Abstracts Due: July 1, 2025
