Conference: Italian Identities: Dialects, Minorities, Literatures

Italian Studies at Notre Dame announces the “giornata di studi” Italian Identities: Dialects, Minorities, Literatures. This one-day conference will investigate the connections between the modern anthropological and sociological context of Italy and the use of dialects. The conference will focus, in particular, on how literature has responded to both the ever-present issue of the uneven economic development and the crisis of the so-called Italian identity in the last 30 years. In order to achieve its goals, this day will be divided into three main panels, each one dedicated to exploring the topic from a specific linguistic, socio-anthropological, and more purely literary perspective. *Schedule of Events* 9:00 a.m.–9:15 a.m. _Greetings and thanks_ 9:15 a.m.–10:30 a.m. _First keynote speaker: Professor Franco Brevini (University of Bergamo, Italy)_ 10:30 a.m.–10:45 a.m. _Coffee break_ 10:45 a.m.–12:15 a.m. _First Panel: Linguistic Focus: Dialects and Orality_ _Professor Edward Tuttle (UCLA) Professor Luisa Del Giudice (independent scholar) Professor Theodore Cachey (ND) responding to the two papers and opening the discussion_ 12:15 p.m.–2:00 p.m. _Lunch_ 2:00 p.m.–3:30 p.m. _Second Panel: Socio-anthropological Focus: Migrations and Minority Languages_ _Professor Maurizio Albahari (ND) Professor Giuseppe Marci (University of Cagliari, Italy) Professor Joseph Buttigieg (ND) responding to and opening the discussion_ 3:30 p.m.–3:45 p.m. _Coffee break_ 3:45 p.m.–5:15 p.m. _Third panel: Literary Focus: Dialect poetry and multilingual prose_ _Professor Luigi Bonaffini (CUNY) Professor Gigliola Sulis (University of Leeds, England) Professor John Welle (ND) responding to and opening the discussion_ 5:15 p.m.–5:30 p.m. _Coffee break_ 5:30 p.m.–6:45 p.m. _Second keynote speaker: Gian Mario Villalta (Independent scholar and Italian poet)_ 6:45 p.m.–7:15 p.m. _Final discussion and conclusion: Professor Joseph Francese (MSU)_

The day's events will be followed by a reception. For more information, contact Damiano Benvegnù at dbenvegn@nd.edu. Sponsored by Italian Studies at Notre Dame