September 3, 2025

International Symposium 2025

The Italian Ethnic Press in North America
Expanding Scholarship on Language, Education and Identity

International Symposium
September 23, 2025
Chancellor’s Suite
Seton Hall University

Click on underlined participant’s name to see the abstract of their paper and their biography

Organizers

Matteo BRERA
William J. CONNELL

Keynote Speaker

Bénédicte DESCHAMPS

RSVP

Barbara.Ritchie@shu.edu / 973-275-2967

Program

Opening Remarks

9:00 a.m.
Matteo BRERA, William J. CONNELL, Seton Hall University
Jonathan FARINA, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Seton Hall University
Claudio PAGLIARA, Director, Italian Cultural Institute New York

Session 1

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Politics, Education and Ideology in the Italian Ethnic Press

Chair: Mark ROTELLA (Coccia Institute, Montclair State University)

Carmen PETRUZZI (University of Foggia)
A Year of Rebellious Words. A Socio-Educational Analysis of Il Martello (1918)

Matteo BRERA (University of Padova / Seton Hall University)
Schools, Societies and Newspapers: Education and the Italian Ethnic Press in Louisiana

David ALIANO (University of Mount Saint Vincent)
Fascism, Anti-Fascism and the Italian Language Press in Argentina

Coffee Break

11:00 a.m.– 11:15 a.m.

Session 2

11:15 a.m.– 1:00 p.m.
Between Print and Digital Culture: Voices and Visions of the Italian Ethnic Press

Chair: David ALIANO (University of Mount Saint Vincent)

Marcella MARTIN (New York University)
L’Italia Oggi:
An Analysis of Bilingual Articles in Attenzione Magazine

Fred L. GARDAPHE (Queens College, CUNY and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute)
Forty Years on the Masthead: My Life as an Ethnic Journalist

Stefano MORELLO (CUNY, Graduate Center)
Making the Invisible Visible: Digital Humanities Approaches to Italian American Ethnic Periodicals in North America

Lunch Break

1:00 p.m.– 2:15 p.m.

Session 3

2:15 p.m.– 3:45 p.m.
Readers and Readerships: Literary and Cultural Perspectives on the Italian Ethnic Press

Chair: Donna CHIRICO (York College, CUNY and Resident Faculty, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute)

Brando Francesco BONSANTI (Roma Tre University)
«Il Progresso Italo-Americano» and Its Readership: A Critical and Literary Analysis

James PERICONI (Independent Scholar)
The Role of the Ethnic Press in the Development of a Book Culture among Italian Immigrant Readers during the Great Migration

Luigi CEPPARRONE (University of Bergamo)
Il canone muto. Letteratura e narrazione nei meccanismi di costruzione dell’identità nei giornali di una comunità italo-americana.

Coffee Break

3:45 p.m.– 3:55 p.m.

4:00 p.m.– 4:20 p.m.
Digital Windows onto the Italian Ethnic Press: The DaShoW Newspapers Collections and the Newark Tribune Digitization Project
Matteo BRERA (University of Padova / SHU), Quinn CHRISTIE (SHU Libraries)

Roundtable Discussion

4:20 p.m.– 5:20 p.m.
Ethnic Voices in Print: Italian American, Italian Canadian, and African American Presses

Discussant: William J. CONNELL (Seton Hall University)

Participants: David ALIANO (Mount Saint Vincent University), Matteo BRERA (University of Padova / SHU), Larry GREENE (Seton Hall University)

Keynote Address

6:00 p.m.– 7:00 p.m.

Bénédicte DESCHAMPS (Université Paris Cité)
Historicizing the U.S. Ethnic Press: The Case of Italian American Journalism

Dinner

7:30 p.m.

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