Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar: Special Offer for CUNY Faculty and HEO Staff Members

January 28, 2025 Amanda Rajnauth

In 2015 the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute founded the Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar, a three-week summer program designed to introduce participants (primarily doctoral students and professors, as well as non-academic cultural and community leaders) to cultural studies of the Italian diaspora from a variety of scholarly perspectives and to foster development of individual projects responding to the materials covered in the series of seminars in literature, film, and the social sciences.

Initially, the Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar was held at the University of Calabria (2015-2018). In 2018, they moved to Rome and joined Roma Tre University as their local partner. They have been there continuously with a two-year hiatus due to Covid. This coming summer, June 2025, they will hold their nineth edition.

The special offer is the following: the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost to the University has offered four fellowships. This support from Interim Provost Alvero will allow four CUNY colleagues to attend free of charge the three-week professional development seminar dedicated to the Italian diaspora. These four participants will spend three weeks in a four-star hotel (single room), attend the seminar classes held at Roma Tre University, including breakfast and lunch. This fellowship covers the Seminar’s entire fee of $3,500.

The corpus of the group is no larger than 20. Over the past eight years, they have averaged around 17 for each summer. In addition to the announcement and application, I have attached the brochure for last summer. One or two classes will change, but overall, the three-week session is as described in therein.

Except for this special offer from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost to the University, the program has been funded over the years by outside sources; you’ll find them on the back of the 2024 brochure.

Any questions should be directed to:calandra@qc.cuny.edu.

The general deadline for applications to the Seminar is February 28. However, considering this is completely free for four CUNY colleagues — qualified first come, first accepted — and one need only buy an airplane ticket, I would urge interested CUNY parties to apply ASAP.