A virtual national conference titled "Decentering Pedagogy and Research" hosted by Diversity, Transformation and Italian Studies will include talks by a U of A professor and student of Italian. The conference is today, Friday, Feb. 24, and is free and open to the public, but you need to register to attend. 

DTIS Virtual Conference

Decentering Pedagogy and Research Conference
Friday, Feb. 24

Please register to join the conference.

Please note all times are Eastern Standard Time.

9:45 a.m.
Welcome Remarks

• Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, U of A
• Marina Melita, Marist College

10-11 a.m.
Session One: Pedagogical Approaches to Diversifying and Transforming the Italian Curriculum

• Stella Rita Emmanuele, Università di Enna "Kore," Pedagogia interculturale: per un dialogo antirazzista"
• Tiziana Serafini, University of Notre Dame, "Introducing Socially Engaged Foreign Language Learning and Teaching"
• Alessia Valfredini, Fordham University, "Decentering the Professor's Power"

11 a.m. to noon
Session Two: Reconsidering the Italian Language Program

• Chiara Fabbian, University of Illinois at Chicago, "Diversity and Belonging in the Italian Program: From Reflection to Action"
• Fabio Battista, University of Alabama, "Black Italy in the Beginner Italian Classroom: Authentic Audiovisuals and Diversification of the Language Curriculum"
• Marie Bertola, Santa Clara University and Evelyn Ferraro, Santa Clara University, "Critical Approaches to the Italian Curriculum at Santa Clara University"

Noon to 2:15 p.m.
Session Three: Gained in Translation: The Collaborative Making of Amir Issaa's Vivo per questo into This Is What I Live For and More

• Organizer and Chair: Clarissa Clò, San Diego State University
• Angela Zagarella, Portland State University, "Gained in Translation: A Project-Based Approach in the Language Classroom"
• Clarissa Clò, San Diego State University, "Amir Issaa's Afro-Italian Hip-Hop Memoir at the Intersection of Personal Story and Public History."
• Donatella Melucci, Georgetown University, "Translation as Experiential Learning through Cultures, Migration, and Diversity."
• Stephanie Jed, University of California, San Diego, "Connecting Through Translation: This is What We Live For."
• Justin Abdel, New York University; Mariana Barrios, CSU-Long Beach; Jorge Hernandez, San Diego State University; "Translating Amir Issaa's Prefazione for This Is What I Live For as a Cohort."
• Roy Whitaker, San Diego State University, "Translating Italian and African Diaspora Hip-Hop Music and Culture: Interpreting Amir Issaa's This Is What I Live For Using Critical Academic Fields and Modern Research Methods."
• Enrico Zammarchi, Gonzaga University, "Amir Issaa's Vivo per questo: Hip-Hop Pedagogy and Italian Studies."
• Amir Issaa, hip-hop artist and educator, Vivo per questo/This Is What I Live For.

2:30-3:45 p.m.
Session Four: Diversity, Diaspora, Italia

• Anthony Sargenti, U of A,  "Nono sono un G2 italiano col trattino": Second Generation Italian Hip Hop and the Postcolonial Rearticulation of Italianità
• Giuseppe Burgio, Università di Enna "Kore," "L'identità diasporica dei tamil in Italia"
• Andy Maginn, Sewanee: The University of the South, "Haitian Royalty in Italy: The Christophes"
• Alessia Martini, Sewanee: The University of the South, "Italian Immigration in the American South: Incorporating DEI Goals in the Italian American Studies Curriculum"

3:45-4:30 p.m.
Session Five: Gender, Sexuality, and Queering Italian and Italian American Studies

• Soraya Cipolla, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, "Gender-Neutral Language, Queer Identities, and Monstrosity Tropes in the Work of Jonathan Bazzi"
• Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, U of A, "Queering Italian-American Poetry: Peter Covino's Cut Off the Ears of Winter. Psychoanalysis, Performativity, and Language"

4:30-4:45 p.m.
Concluding Remarks