News | Department of Italian Studies

If your question was not answered by any of the resources above, you may also submit questions through the University’s online form – https://www.utoronto.ca/covid19-contact. Questions will be routed to the appropriate office and staff will respond as soon as possible.

As always, for any questions about the Department of Italian Studies’ programming and activities, please send an email to Italian.Studies@utoronto.ca. You can also reach out to specific members of the department by email, which can be found on our directory: http://italianstudies-archive.artsci.utoronto.ca/faculty-and-staff/faculty-and-staff/

Quick Links:

ITA345H1 Cinema of the Italian Diasporas: Italian Americans in Hollywood will be offered during the Winter semester (January 7 to April 15, 2021).

The course description is as follows:

Italian-Americans have a long and varied history in the cinematic traditions of Hollywood. Hollywood’s fascination with Italian mobsters and other cultural stereotypes surrounding Italian-Americans have given rise to some of the most significant films in American popular culture including: The Godfather Trilogy, Goodfellas, Big Night, Moonstruck, and Do the Right Thing. This course examine the history of Italian-Americans in Hollywood and focus on how diasporic directors, actors, and communities have grappled with their representation in Hollywood cinema. We will engage with film theory as well as a body of work on racial and cultural stereotypes. Students will also pay close attention to the socio-cultural context in which each film screened was produced and distributed, allowing them to situate these cultural artifacts within broader histories of Italian diasporas.

Additional details can be found here and on the Faculty of Arts and Science’ Academic Calendar. For further details, please contact Dr. Jessica Whitehead at jessica.whitehead@utoronto.ca.

Find our new brochure about MA and PhD Program here.

Click here for the CIBPA Education Foundation Bursary application information. Extended deadline: November 22, 2019.

Click here for praise regarding Prof. Franco Pierno’s latest book, La parola in fuga.

Please see here for a story on Forgotten Italians, Konrad Eisenbichler’s new published book.

Please see the latest edition of the department’s newsletter here.

Alex from the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies wrote an article in relations to our lecture with Millicent Marcus on May 2, 2019. Read it here.

See the latest edition of the department’s newsletter here.

Prof. Konrad Eisenbichler was inscribed in the Albo d’oro for the Associazione Fiumani Italiani nel Mondo. Click here for article.

Our very own Letizia Tesi published an article in Corriere Torino. Check it out here.

After a long hiatus, a new Department of Italian Studies newsletter has come out! See it here.

Eleonora Lima has been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, which she will hold in the Italian department at Trinity College, Dublin for two years.

Congratulations to Professor Salvatore Bancheri who was awarded the title of Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia at a reception and ceremony held at Casa Loma on Sunday, June 3^rd. See the full article celebrating this spectacular achievement. Also, see the video of the presentation.

Luca Fiorentini, was awarded the extremely prestigious «Antonio Feltrinelli» Prize in the field of Art and Poetry Criticism by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

A recent profile of Anna Vanek, Business Officer and Graduate Administrator, in the March edition of gradschool e-news. Anna was nominated by students in the Department of Italian Studies for going above and beyond in her role helping graduate students. Anna, congratulations, on behalf of the Department, and thank you.

A recent interview with Prof. Franco Pierno about the new 4^th year course offered through the Department of Italian Studies: “Italian Language and Dialects in Toronto” The interview was aired on OMNI News Italian Edition http://www.omnitv.ca/on/it/videos/la-valorizzazione-dei-dialetti-italiani-alla-uoft/

“Getting to Know Professor Elisa Brilli” / “Luca Fiorentini: It is Important to Get Acquainted with Original Texts” / “Paris to Zurich; Dante & Agostino: A PhD Student’s Trip” – Corriere Canadese, January 9, 2018 2018.01.09_Corriere Canadese

Welcome Back to the Royal Ontario Museum, The building’s 1933 entrance has been revamped and reopened in a modest but symbolic architectural move ROM Article https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/architecture/roms-1933-entrance-has-been-reopened-in-a-modest-but-symbolic-architecturalmove/article37310707/

A Graduate Course on Italian-Canadians from Istria and Dalmatia: 17 09 23 La voce del Popolo article on Grad Course

Current theatrical production of La Mandragola involving Department of Italian Studies students: http://www.mississauga.com/whatson-story/7153846-students-present-machiavelli-s-la-mandragola-in-italian-at-utm/

Il Sole 24 Ore (12 June, 2016): Article on “Filologia sì ma con giudizio”, on a book written by our graduate students called Questioni filologiche: la critica testuale attraverso i secoli, a cura di Pamela Arancibia, Johnny L. Bertolio, Joanne Granata, Erika Papagni, Matteo Ugolini.

|| High resolution photographs of an out of this world evening with Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti are available (November 6, 2015). FUTURA Mission – 200 Days in Space November 3 An evening with astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti and Roberta Bondar.

|| Italian astronaut Samantha Christoforetti interview on CTV News (with Sandie Rinaldo) (4 November, 2015):
https://www.facebook.com/CTVNewsChannel/videos/985778431483488/

|| Metro Newspaper (30 September, 2015): Interview with graduate student Paolo Frascà on “Rare dialects live in T.O.” || The Toronto Star (30 September, 2015): Interview with graduate student Paolo Frascà on “Linguists documents dying languages still spoken in Toronto” || Contribution by Prof. Bancheri in a book in honor of Camilleri || La Voce del Popolo (22 August, 2015): Interview with Prof. Konrad Eisenbichler on “A course at the University of Toronto on the Giuliano-Dalmata Immigration to Canada” || Corriere Canadese (28 July, 2015): Terza pagina by our graduate students: Interview with Prof. Franco Pierno on “Tra lingua e storia, intervista a Franco Pierno” ||
Gloria Cernivivo, our Business Officer & Graduate Administrator of the Department of Italian Studies receives the 2015 Outstanding Staff Award!: http://news.artsci.utoronto.ca/all-news/2015-outstanding-staff-award-winners/ || C orriere Canadese (16 June, 2015): Terza pagina by our graduate students: Articles || Corriere Canadese (9 June, 2015): Terza pagina by our graduate students: “Benigni e Barschi il giusto tributo” ||

Roberto Benigni at the The University of Toronto (3 June, 2015):

9 October 2013 – NCIC “Spirit of Ontario Awards”

Domenico Pietropaolo has won the NCIC (National Congress of Italian Canadians – Ontario Region) “Spirit of Ontario Awards” in the field of “Academia and Education”. The area of endeavours is described as follows: “Academia & Education: peer-reviewed research in any discipline and/or significant improvements to education”.

Mirella Pasquarelli Clivio has won the NCIC (National Congress of Italian Canadians – Ontario Region) “Spirit of Ontario Awards” in the field of “Italian Culture”. The area of endeavours is described as follows: “Italian Culture: promoting pride in Italian heritage and culture”.

The “Spirit of Ontario Awards” are given “to recognize and honour eight Italian Canadians who have made an outstanding contribution in eight areas of endeavours such as: Research and Innovation; Arts; Social Justice: Business and Entrepreneurship: Community Service; Education; Science; and Academia.”

11 September 2013 – Riconoscimento al Dipartimento di italianistica di Toronto

L’Accademia della Crusca ha deciso di conferire un particolare riconoscimento al Dipartimento di italianistica dell’Università di Toronto, attualmente diretto dal Prof. Salvatore Bancheri, per il lungo, continuo e intenso impegno nel campo dell’italianistica, e specificamente della linguistica italiana. Il Dipartimento, attivo in modo autonomo dal 1973, svolge corsi di formazione, assai frequentati, di tutti i livelli universitari, ed è tra i pochi all’estero che offre un programma di dottorato non solo in letteratura, ma anche in linguistica italiana, seguito da studenti di tutto il mondo, soprattutto canadesi, statunitensi ed europei. La formazione, la ricerca, i molti rapporti di collaborazione, ma anche le numerose iniziative convegnistiche ed editoriali ne fanno un centro per la promozione dell’italiano oltre frontiera di riconosciuta fama internazionale.

The Accademia della Crusca is an Italian society for scholars and Italian linguists and philologists established in Florence. It is the most important institution responsible for regulating the Italian language as well as the oldest linguistic academy in the world.

September 2013 – Suzanne Terryberry
The oldest student at the University of Toronto is currently taking a class in Italian:

14 July 2013 – Prof. Konrad Eisenbichler wins the 2013 Premio Flaiano

The Sword and the Pen by Prof. Eisenbichler won the 2013 Premio Flaiano, one of the most important prizes awarded in Italy. The prize is given in five categories: movies, theatre, music, literature, “italianistica” (Italian Studies). Prof. Eisenbichler won under “italianistica”.