January 2008 INSIDE, Opening of a Digital Painting Exhibit by Pamela Cento, Friday, January 25 at 6pm February 2008 The Red "Lega" , Conversation, Friday, February 1 at 6pm The Missing Italian Nuremberg, Book Presentation, Tuesday, February 5 at 6pm Republican Rituals, Lecture, Thursday, February 7 at 6pm Towards a Gendered History of Italian Literature , Conference, Friday and Saturday, February 8, 9 Staying Connected, Play by Mimi Gisolfi D'Aponte, Wednesday, February 13 at 6pm Italian Food is City Food: A history of Italy's gastronomic traditions from the Middle Ages to the present day, Lecture, Thursday, February 14 at 6pm Entroterra, Dance Performance, Tuesday, February 19 at 6pm Banana and Booh in Security, Staged Reading, Wednesday, February 20 at 6pm Raccontare la propria infanzia, Lecture Friday, February 22 at 6pm Economics of Time: Closing the Door on the Thieves of Time. , Lecture, Monday, February 25 at 6pm Margherita, Play by Anthony E. Gallo, Tuesday, February 26 at 6pm Lightroom, Exhibit by Roberto DePaolis, Opening Wednesday, February 27 at 6pm Poetic Strategies in Contemporary Italian Philosophy, Lecture Wednesday, February 27 at 6:15pm March 2008 The Ugly, the Stupid, and the Dead: Boccaccio's Emilia and the Poetics of Speculation in Decameron, Day 6 Lecture, Thursday , March 6 (DATE CHANGE) at 6:15pm Mi sono innamorato di una statua. Oltre la sindrome di Stendhal, Book Presentation, Monday, March 10 at 6pm Made in Italy (Lost & Found in New York), Staged Reading Tuesday, March 11 at 6pm Sylvan Winds, Concert Thursday, March 13 at 7pm April 2008 A Conversation with the Ambassador Ronald P. Spogli Tuesday, April 8 at 6pm Monarchy and the Nation in Italy (1860-1922), Lecture Thursday, April 10 at 6pm The Neapolitan School: Laying the Foundation for the European Tradition, Talk and Concert, Friday, April 11 at 6pm Splinters of Arte Povera (An Italian Avant-Garde) Art Exhibit Opening, Monday, April 14 at 6pm Fragments of History: The Construction of Reality in Rosi's Late Films, Lecture, Thursday, April 24 at 6pm IBLA GRAND PRIZE Winners Gala, Lecture Monday, April 28 at 6pm May 2008 Mass culture in Italy since the 1930s: politics, commerce and consumption, Lecture, Monday, May 5 at 6pm Exhibit Openings for Fabio Caramaschi and Niccolò Ricci , Thursday, May 15 at 6pm Adelfi. A book by Paolo Mastrolilli, book presentation, Monday, May 19 at 6pm The Welles Mission to Rome 1940, A talk by Robert L. Miller, Tuesday, May 27 at 6pm June 2008 Le Conversazioni - scrittori a confronto, presentation Tuesday, June 3rd at 7pm The Leopard 1958-2008, panel discussion, Wednesday, June 4th at 7pm Italian Cinema on Stage, panel discussion, Thursday, June 5th at 7pm INSIDE Digital Painting by Pamela Cento Opening Reception Friday, January 25 at 6pm On view Monday through Friday 10am - 5pm TOP The Red "Lega" A Conversation with Gianfranco Azzali (Micio) Giuseppe Morandi Paolo Barbaro Claudia Cavatorta, (Università di Parma) Established in 1967 and still active today, the Lega di Cultura di Piadena (a small town in the province of Cremona in the northern Italian Po Valley) was modeled and named after the red unions (leghe rosse) that at the turn of the century supported the battles of the field workers in that part of the country, raising a class conscience and attempting to put into practice socialist ideals. Forty years later, two of the founders of the Lega - its president Gianfranco (Micio) Azzali and internationally acclaimed photographer and documentarian Giuseppe Morandi - discuss their grassroot work and political and cultural activism. On the occasion of The Italian Festival of the Arts and Humanities: An Italian Sense of Place: Land and Identity held at Montclair State University. For a complete schedule of events of the festival, please visit: www.montclair.edu/globaled/events.html Friday, February 1 at 6pm TOP The Missing Italian Nuremberg. Cultural Amnesia and Postwar Politics (Palgrave: 2007) By Michele Battini A book presentation with the author and Marta Petrusewicz(CUNY Grad. Ctr) and Nadia Urbinti (Columbia U.) Moderated by Ruth Ben-Ghiat(NYU) Introduced by Tony Judt (Remarque Institute, NYU) Michele Battini, a Professor of Modern European History and Political Thought at the University of Pisa explores in this book the failure to bring to trial the military command of Nazi power in Italy. This lack of an "Italian Nuremberg" resulted in an enormous historical misrepresentation of the Nazi occupation of Italy and threatens to change our collective memory of the past. On the occasion of the Giorno della Memoria (in collaboration with Centro Primo Levi and The Italian Cultural Institute) For a full description of the programs for the Giorno della Memoria visit: http://www.primolevicenter.org and http://www.iic.esteri.it Co-sponsored by the Remarque Institute (NYU) Tuesday, February 5 at 6pm TOP Republican Rituals A Lecture by Yuri Guaiana (University of Milano Bicocca) The talk will explore the several Italian public holidays that have their origin in the short yet crucial period of time in which the collective memory of the Italian republic was formed, taking into account religious as well as public holidays, national as well as party commemorations and the interactions among them. Yuri Guaiana works on the subjects of Public Holiday and Gender Identity as a fellow for the History Department of Society and Institutions at the University of Milano Bicocca. He studies allegoric representations of Europe, the representations of the enemy during WWI and the history of European integration. Dr. Guaiana's latest book is Il tempo della Repubblica. Le feste civili in Italia (1943-1949) (Unicopli, 2007). Thursday, February 7 at 6pm TOP Towards a Gendered History of Italian Literature Conference organized by Department of Italian Studies Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane Friday and Saturday, February 8, 9 The aim of this two-day conference is to explore the implications of a full integration of gender as an analytic category within the study of Italian history. In recent decades the literary contribution of Italian women writers has received renewed critical interest. The rise of women?s studies has enabled sustained critiques of the exclusion of women from the traditional literary canon. This conference departs from critical approaches that focus on ?women in x, y, or z? and examines, instead, attitudes toward gender in literary texts through the lenses of the competing ideological systems to which authors subscribe, and the changing material and social contexts of literary production and consumption. FRIDAY, February 8 1:30pm WELCOME Stefano Albertini (Director, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, New York University) Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Chair, Department of Italian Studies, New York University) Aldo Schiavone (Director, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane) Introduction Nadia Fusini (Università di Roma "La Sapienza") KEYNOTE SPEAKER Teodolinda Barolini (Columbia University) Towards a Gendered History of Italian Literature 3:15-5:15pm PANEL I: MEDIEVAL Speakers Jane Tylus (New York University) Writing St. Catherine. Claudio Leonardi (Università di Firenze) La donna italiana nella tradizione latina del medioevo. Comment Susan Crane (Columbia University) 5:15-5:45pm: Coffee Break 5:45-7:45pm PANEL II: RENAISSANCE Speakers Ann Rosalind Jones (Smith College) Gendered Poetry in the Cinquecento: Recovery, Performance, Dialogue. Marina Zancan (Università di Roma "La Sapienza") Quadri rinascimentali. Interferenze delle prospettive di genere nella tradizione storico letteraria. Comment Karen Newman (New York University) 7:45pm WELCOME RECEPTION SATURDAY, February 9 9:00-10:00am: Coffee and Pastries 10:00am-12:00pm PANEL III: BAROQUE Speakers Virginia Cox (New York University) Decline and Fall: Women's Writing in Seicento Italy. Alberto Asor Rosa (Università di Roma "La Sapienza") Barocco e Controriforma: la figura femminile fra esaltazione sessuale e convento. Comment Giulia Calvi (European University Institute, Florence) 1:30-3:30pm PANEL IV: MODERN Speakers Barbara Spackman (University of California, Berkeley) Beyond Nation, After Gender? Patrizia Zambon (Università di Padova) Le scrittrici della nuova Italia, dal Risorgimento alla modernità. Comment Giancarlo Lombardi (College of Staten Island/Graduate Center, CUNY) 3:30-4:00pm: Coffee Break 4:00-6:00pm PANEL V: CONTEMPORARY Speakers Rebecca West (University of Chicago) Becoming an Adjective: The Modulation of Female Authority in Twentieth Century Italian Poetry by and about Women. Elisabetta Rasy (Writer) La bestia che parla. Comment Ellen Nerenberg (Wesleyan University) TOP Staying Connected A play written and directed by Mimi Gisolfi D'Aponte Featuring Meghan Duffy Brian Rhinehart Pat Robbins At home, in the street, at the Doctor's, at the Vet's, and in the Park, Mrs. Edweena Green (Everywoman, retired, 60+) battles technological overload on behalf of her children, husband, grandchild, cat - and her own sanity! Mimi D'Aponte is professor emerita of Theatre, Baruch College & CUNY Graduate Center. She (adjunct) teaches Playwriting at Baruch during the Spring. Wednesday, February 13 at 6pm TOP Italian Food is City Food: A history of Italy's gastronomic traditions from the Middle Ages to the present day A Lecture by John Dickie (University College London) introduced by Ruth Ben-Ghiat (NYU) John Dickie is Reader, Department of Italian Studies, University College London. He is the author of: "Darkest Italy. The Nation and Stereotypes of the Mezzogiorno, 1860-1900" (1999); "Cosa Nostra. A History of the Sicilian Mafia" (2004) which has been translated into 20 languages and has sold over half a million copies; and "Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and their Food" (2007). Translated into Italian as "Con gusto. Storia degli italiani a tavola", it was hailed by the Corriere della Sera as "brilliant and pleasurable." Ruth Ben-Ghiat is the chair of the Department of Italian Studies, NYU. Thursday, February 14 at 6pm TOP Entroterra Lecture and demonstration on Southern Italian Folk Dances by Anabella Lenzu (author, director) featuring DanceDrama members Emily Vescht, Katie Clancy, Kelley Natella, and Ana Wu A journey that transports you to the heart of the magical south of Italy, where the rhythms, rituals and typical Italian dances (tammurriatas, pizzicas and tarantellas) are rephrased through modern dance to reveal the map of a woman's soul in four distinct stages of her life. Anabella Lenzu is a dancer, choreographer and teacher with over 15 years experience working in Argentina, Chile, Italy and the USA. http://www.AnabellaLenzu.com Tuesday, February 19 at 6pm TOP Banana and Booh in Security by Susan Tenneriello a Staged Reading by Daniel Manley (Booh), Donna Mitchell (Banana), Andrea Stover (Martha) Directed by Andrea Stover Emily Vescht, Katie Clancy, Kelley Natella, and Ana Wu Banana and Booh celebrate comic duos and wacky Yankee storytellers with a discordant twist. Set in an airport, this quirky pair are cast offs, contemporary archetypes derived from nineteenth-century Yankee storytellers. The play shares characteristics with these wide-eyed, spirited journeymen, whose itinerant adventures became the mythos of a national character. Banana and Booh (the wanderer and the hero) embody our historical landscape. Banana has her own idiom, a contemporary logic, which is the playwright's attempt to recast for the theatre, a heightened, poetic language in order to tell the stories of our times. Susan Tenneriello is assistant professor of theatre in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at Baruch College. Banana and Booh in Security was originally commissioned by America-in-Play. Wednesday, February 20 at 6pm TOP Raccontare la propria infanzia a lecture by Sergio Zatti (Università di Pisa, currently Visiting Professor at Harvard University) Sponsored by the Graduate Students of the Department of Italian Studies. Friday, February 22 at 6pm TOP Economics of Time: Closing the Door on the Thieves of Time. Value, Riches and Luxury in Today's Life a Lecture by Claudio Baccarani (Professor of Management, University of Verona) The business world is currently dealing with the issue of time and is realizing that the the answer does not lie in making life faster. Many managers are choosing a "shift-down", with sometimes lower salaries, in order to find management schemes that allow for a more pleasing work environment, with the ability to speed up only when necessary. Claudio Baccarani is the author of several academic works and books such as Diario di viaggio sul treno che non va in nessun posto. Riflessioni per chi vive l'impresa (Giappichelli, 2005) and Dalla penombra alla luce: un saggio sul cinema per lo sviluppo manageriale (Giappichelli Editore, 2003, in cooperation with Federico Brunetti). He offers original reflections on a new culture of work with regard to combining efficiency with personal well-being. Presented in cooperation with Associazione Culturale L'Arte del Vivere con Lentezza (Association for the Art of Slow Living) on the occasion of the "2nd Global Day of Slow Living". For complete list of events please visit: htt[://www.vivereconlentezza.it Monday, February 25 at 6pm TOP Margherita A play by Anthony E.Gallo Directed by and featuring Theresa Gambacorta With: Marlene Nichols: Stage Directions, Michael Schwartz: Benito Mussolini, Orest L. Ludwig: Major Karl Klemmer, John Gazzale: James Bullock, Theresa Gambacorta: Margherita Sarfatti Margherita Sarfatti and Benito Mussolini, former lovers, meet after a three-year separation in 1939. Il Duce suddenly appears at her door as she attempts to leave the country. Margherita, who is Jewish, is well aware of what he wants--the 1300 letters he has sent her during their 25-year affair. He knows she wants out of the county. Anthony E. Gallo has copyrighted, published, workshopped, and produced dramas including Eugenio, Better than the Best, Solomon, Vandergrift!, Lincoln and God, and the Agony of David. Tuesday, February 26 at 6pm TOP Lightroom Opening off an exhibit by Roberto De Paolis Curated by Raffaella Guidobono Wednesday, February 27 at 6pm TOP Poetic Strategies in Contemporary Italian Philosophy a lecture by Alessandro Carrera (University of Houston ) An introduction to his book: "La consistenza del passato: Heidegger Nietzsche Severino" (Milan: Medusa, 2007) Wednesday, February 27 at 6:15pm TOP "The Ugly, the Stupid, and the Dead: Boccaccio's Emilia and the Poetics of Speculation in Decameron, Day 6" a lecture by Albert Russel Ascoli (University of California) Albert Russell Ascoli is the Gladys Arata Terrill Distinguished Professor at the Albert Russell Ascoli is the Gladys Arata Terrill Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. This is the fifth lecture in the series Colloquium in the Humanities 2007-08, presented by the Department of Italian Studies at New York University. Thursday , March 6 (DATE CHANGE) at 6:15pm TOP "Mi sono innamorato di una statua." Oltre la sindrome di Stendhal "I've fallen in love with a statue." Beyond the Stendhal Syndrome (Nicomp, 2007) A book presentation followed by a conversation with author Graziella Magherini With Guest Speakers Harold P. Blum, MD (Clinical Prof. of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine) Richard M. Gottlieb, M.D. (Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine) Named after the famous French 19th century writer, the Stendhal Syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that can cause a variety of symptoms in an individual exposed to a particularly beautiful piece of art. Professor Graziella Magherini is the Florentine psychiatrist that for the first time in 1979 studied, described and named the syndrome. In her latest bilingual book "Mi sono innamorato di una statua." Oltre la sindrome di Stendhal-"I've fallen in love with a statue." Beyond the Stendhal syndrome (Nicomp, 2007), Magherini furthers her investigation into the intricate and complex system of reaction the human psyche develops in front of a great work of art, namely Michelangelo's David. Monday, March 10 at 6pm TOP Made in Italy (Lost & Found in New York) A monologue by Carol Crespo Mica Bagnasco performed by Mica Bagnasco This one-woman show is about an aspiring Italian actress who, bored to death, leaves her little village by the pre Alps and goes to Manhattan to learn English where, instead, she discovers therapy! Martina Castiglione is the protagonist of this geographic and psychological journey into self discovery. Her ingenuity and naiveté will take her places she had never dreamed of going before. Trough a series of poignant and funny vignettes we see Martina's transformation from a gullible hick to a sophisticated city girl. The psychological and cultural changes she is able to endure will make her a new person, yet, she remains just as endearing and engaging as she was before she left her little village. Mica Bagnasco was born and grew up in Northern Italy. She studied acting with Vittorio Gassman and Jeanne Moreau and in the late 80's moved to New York and decided to stay. Here she has performed works by Pirandello, Agatha Christie and Mario Fratti. In 2003 Mica translated Our Fathers by Italian author Luigi Lunari in which she interpreted the role of Rosemary Kennedy at the Samuel Beckett Theatre. "Duse's Fever" a one-woman show about the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse is Mica's latest work. The play is also her first solo as a writer and was performed at the Kirk Theatre at Theatre Row in december 2006. http://www.micabagnasco.com Tuesday, March 11 at 6pm TOP Sylvan Winds presents A selection from the Italian repertoire for wind instruments. The Sylvan Winds have earned both critical and audience acclaim for its innovative programming. With an established reputation as one of New York's most versatile chamber music ensembles, the group has been hailed by the New York Times. Svjetlana Kabalin (flute), Alexandra Knoll (oboe), Amy Zoloto (clarinet), Gilbert Dejean (bassoon), Zohar Schondorf (horn) Performing works by Bach/Vivaldi, Respighi, Berio, Rota, Ghedini, Cambini. Thursday, March 13 at 7pm TOP A Conversation with the US Ambassador to Italy A conversation with ambassador Ronald P. Spogli Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò is pleased to be hosting a conversation with the US Ambassador to Italy, Ronald P. Spogli, at such a crucial moment in Italian politics. With elections impending, Ambassador Spogli will offer insight into his views on the future course of the country and the state of US – Italy relations. Moderated by Stefano Albertini Part of the Congressman Frank J. Guarini Series on Public Affairs Ambassador Ronald P. Spogli, a native of Los Angeles, graduated from Stanford University with an A.B. in History and went on to receive his M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1975. In 1983, together with Bradford M. Freeman, Ambassador Spogli founded Freeman Spogli & Co., one of the leading private equity investors in the United States. In the course of his activities with the company, Ambassador Spogli has served on the board of directors of over twenty different companies. Between 1968 and 1973, Ambassador Spogli spent nearly three years in Italy working on various activities sponsored by Stanford University. He was the assistant to the Directors of the Florence program, and afterwards worked in Milan where he was lead researcher for a project studying the social impact of labor migration from Southern Italy to the Italian industrial north. Holding a great personal interest in international education and international relations, Ambassador Spogli became a member of the Board of Visitors of Stanford's Institute for International Studies, the University's primary forum for interdisciplinary research on key international issues and challenges. Continuing in this commitment, in 2002, he was appointed to the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship board by President George W. Bush. Tuesday, April 8 at 6pm TOP Monarchy and the Nation in Italy (1860-1922) a lecture by Catherine Brice Catherine Brice est Professor of Contemporary History at the 'Université de Paris XII Val-de-Marne and Chair of the Department of History. She is the author of Monumentalité publique et politique à Rome. Le Vittoriano, Ecole française de Rome, 1998 ; Histoire de l'Italie, 2001 ; and Rome et les Romains de Napoléon Ier à nos jours, 2007. She is now preparing a study entitled La monarchie et la construction nationale en Italie (1860-1911). Introduced by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Chair, Department of Italian Studies, NYU. Thursday, April 10 at 6pm TOP The Neapolitan School: Laying the Foundation for the European Tradition A talk by Robert Gjerdingen (Northwestern University) Prof. Gjerdingen will explore the significance of the Neapolitan School and describe the city's famous conservatories and their pupils. Followed by a concert with Gioacchino Longobardi (piano) Alberto Vitolo (violin) Tiziana Pizzi (contralto) Performing works by Durante, Pergolesi, Orgitano, Leo. Presented in cooperation with Neapolitan Music Society (NMS) NMS will also host a performance at Skirball Center on Sunday, April 13. For more information please call 212-572-6439 or visit www.neapolitanmusicsociety.org Mº Gioacchino Longobardi is currently President and Artistic Director of Neapolitan Music Society. He received his diploma in piano from the Conservatory of Music San Pietro a Majella di Napoli. He also graduated in Choral Music, Choir Conducting and Composition, Musica Sacra, Opera and Orchestrazione. He expanded his knowledge in conducting at the Musikhochschule Mozarteum in Salzburg, under the guidance of Herbert von Karajan. Mº Longobardi continues his endeavor in the United States as president of Neapolitan Music Society in pursuit of further studying and revealing the work of the Neapolitan School Masters of the Eighteenth Century. Friday, April 11 at 6pm TOP Splinters of Arte Povera (An Italian Avant-Garde) Art Exhibit Opening, In collaboration with Esso Gallery Curated by Filippo Fossati with the help of David Flinn On view April 15 through May 12, 2008 Monday through Friday 10am-5pm Monday, April 14 6 to 8pm TOP Fragments of History: The Construction of Reality in Rosi's Late Films a lecture by Gaetana Marrone-Puglia GAETANA MARRONE-PUGLIA is Professor of Italian at Princeton University. She specializes in modern Italian literature and postwar Italian cinema. Her many books include La drammatica di Ugo Betti: Tematiche e archetipi (1988); New Landscapes in Contemporary Italian Cinema (1999), The Gaze and the Labyrinth: The Cinema of Liliana Cavani (2000; Italian edition, Lo sguardo e il labirinto, 2003); a critical edition of Ugo Betti, Delitto all'isola delle capre (2006); and is General Editor of a two-volume Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies (Routledge, 2007). Marrone-Puglia has also produced award winning films, including Woman in the Wind (1990); and Zefirino: The Voice of a Castrato (2007). She is currently working on a critical study of filmmaker Francesco Rosi. Introduced by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Chair, Department of Italian Studies, NYU. Thursday, April 24 at 6pm TOP TOP IBLA GRAND PRIZE Winners Gala Dr. Salvatore Moltisanti, pianist, Music Director Dr. Salvatore Moltisanti, internationally recognized as one of the foremost Italian pianists of his generation, presents this year's IBLA competition winners. Sopranos, pianists, violinists, flutists, guitarists, cimbalist from all over the world perform at Casa Italiana prior to their Carnegie Hall Debut. They will perform music by Joan Sebastian Bach, W. Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederick Chopin, Pietro Floridia, Vincenzo Bellini, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Bela Bartok, Astor Piazzolla, Olivier Messiaen, Synne Skouen Katsiarina Anokhina, cimbalist, Russia Elesin Fedor, cellist, Russia Martina Filjak, pianist, Croatia Cara Hesse, pianist, South Africa Masako Iwamoto-Ruiter, soprano, Japan Alina Kabanova, pianist, Russia Krzysztof Kaczka, flute, Poland Elena Kawazu, violinist, USA Kristian Lindberg, pianist, Norway Adrienn Miks, soprano, Hungary Esther Muradov, violinist, USA Laura Pauna, pianist, South Africa Vladana Perovic, pianist, Montenegro Alessio Quaresima, pianist, Italy Chie Sato Roden, pianist, Japan Perry Schack, guitar, Germany Anna Rutkowska Schock, pianist, Poland Konstantin Soukhovetsky, pianist, Russia Emrecan Yavuz, pianist, Turkey The IBLA Foundation in New York City organizes an annual music competition for pianists, singers, instrumentalists and composers which takes place during the last week of June and the first week of July in Ragusa Ibla, Italy. Winners are presented in such venues as Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Tokyo Opera City Hall, the Tchaikovsky Bolshoi Hall in Moscow as well as other prestigious venues in Canada, Europe, Russia and the USA. www.ibla.org Monday, April 28 at 6pm TOP Mass culture in Italy since the 1930s: politics, commerce and consumption a lecture by David Forgacs (University College London) with an introduction by Ruth Ben-Ghiat (NYU) David Forgacs is Professor of Italian at University College London. He is at present based in the British School at Rome, where he is working on a three-year project (2006-09) on Language, Space and Power in Italy since 1800. His most recent book is (with Stephen Gundle) Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War (Indiana University Press, 2007). Other publications include Italian Culture in the Industrial Era, 1880-1980: Cultural Industries, Politics and the Public (1990), Rethinking Italian Fascism (ed. 1986) and Italian Cultural Studies (ed., with Robert Lumley, 1996). Monday, May 5 at 6pm TOP African Portraits An exhibit opening by photographer Fabio Caramaschi 5:30pm Screening of short film Camera Obscura Africana following by a book signing of "Zambia," a sotry by Fabio Carmaschi. 6:00pm Opening of the exhibit LOST – Central Brasil An exhibit opening by photographer Niccolò Ricci Vernissage with the Artist 6:00pm Opening of the Exhibit Thursday, May 15 at 6pm TOP Adelfi A book presentation with the author Paolo Mastrolilli with Maurizio Molinari (La Stampa) and Antonia Monda (La Repubblica/NYU) Adelfi tells the story of two Italian brothers that during WWII took opposite sides, when Italy signed the September 8 1943 armistice with the US and the UK. The eldest was a Navy intelligence officer based in Rome, and decided to join the Military clandestine resistance to fight the Nazis that were occupying Italy. The youngest was a Bersaglieri officer, prisoner of the British in India, and refused to cooperate with the former enemy. Both made their dramatic and contradictory decisions convinced that there was no other way to defend Italy's dignity and their personal honor. The story is real, based on documents never published before. PAOLO MASTROLILLI was born in Rome on 1965. He travels back and forth from Rome to New York and is the head of the editorial of Esteri del Tg1 RAI. He has written Hackers. I ribelli digitali, Wall Street del Terzo millennio, Lo specchio del mondo, Le ragioni della crisi dell'Onu and L'Italia vista dall Cia 1948-2004. Monday, May 19 at 6pm TOP The Welles Mission to Rome 1940 A talk by Robert L. Miller As Italy was still "non-belligerent," Franklin D. Roosevelt decided to explore the thinking of the enigmatic Italian dictator and his son in law who were already in Hitler's ominous shadow. FDR dispatched his trusted personal friend and Under Secretary of State, Sumner Welles, to visit Mussolini and Galeazzo Ciano. Italy was viewed as a potential broker in a potential peace agreement. Political tensions and intrigue were high in the United States, as Roosevelt was considering whether or not to run for a third term as president. An episode that remains mysterious and largely neglected by major historians. Robert L. Miller is founder and editor of Enigma Books specializing in contemporary history, he is also the translator and publisher of Renzo De Felice's Storia degli ebrei italiani sotto il fascismo , and of Galeazzo Ciano's Diario 1937-1943 . Mr. Miller has lectured widely on World War II and American foreign policy after 1945. Tuesday, May 27 at 6pm TOP Le Conversazioni- Scrittori a confronto a presentation with the 2008 edition of Le Conversazioni that will take place in Capri, Italy June 27 - July 6, 2008 with Antonio Monda (NYU) Davide Azzolini Fabio Lazzari (FMR Foundation) followed by a screening of the 2007 edition of Le Conversazioni featuring Martin Amis, Ethan Coen, Michael Cunningham, Colum McCann, Ian McEwan, Chuck Palahniuk, and Anne Proulx www.leconversazioni.it Tuesday, June 3rd at 7pm TOP The Leopard 1958-2008 a panel discussion on the 50th Anniversary from the publication of the novel with Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi di Lampedusa (Università di Palermo) Silvano Nigro (Scuola Normale di Pisa) with A screening of the documentary Itineraries of the Sicily of The Leopard (In Italian with English subtitles) Parco Letterario Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa Wednesday, June 4th at 7pm TOP Italian Cinema on Stage a panel discussion with The directors & actors of Open Roads Moderated by Antonia Monda, NYU Richard Peña, Film Society Lincoln Center For a full schedule http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/italian08.html In cooperation with MIBAC (Italian Ministry of Culture)-Filmitalia-Cinecittà Holding Group-Film Society of Lincoln Center-Italian Cultural Institute-ACP Group-41 Parallelo-FIAC-SNGCI-Rai Corporation-Fondazione Apulia Film Commission-Comune di Cesena Thursday, June 5th at 7pm TOP