UNIVERSITY NEWS - OCTOBER 2003

MEDIA CONTACT: Stacia Smith
561-297-2971, ssmith@fau.edu

FAU Hosts Conference on Italian American Art and Culture

BOCA RATON, FL (October 31, 2003) - Speakers, filmmakers and artists from across the United States and Italy will focus on all aspects of the arts and culture of Italian American society during the 36th annual conference of the American Italian Historical Association (AIHA), November 6-8. The conference will take place at the Holiday Inn at 1950 Glades Road in Boca Raton, with some sessions at the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road. All general sessions are free and open to the public.

General sessions include lectures, film showings, conversations with filmmakers and book presentations. Distinguished presenters from around the country will present on topics such as Music and the Italian American Experience; the Italian/American Press; Frank Sinatra: Artist Extraordinaire; Milestones of the Italian American Experience; Women on War and Italian Vision/Italian Image: Art and Representation.

On Thursday, November 6 at 7 p.m., there will be a screening of Nancy Savoca's feature film, Dirt, which has had recent success at the 2003 Chicago Latino Film Festival. The screening will be presented in FAU's Performing Arts Building, Room 101. Savoca is an independent filmmaker who, after winning a student-film award from New York University for her short films Renata and Bad Timing, made her feature directing and co-screenwriting debut with True Love, a comedy about the trials and tribulations of an Italian/American courtship and the preparation for marriage in the Bronx. There will be a "Conversation with Nancy Savoca" on Friday, November 7 at 6:15 p.m. in FAU's Performing Arts Building, Room 101.

The newly-published book, Are Italians White? How Race Is Made in America is the topic of a roundtable discussion on Saturday, November 8 at 9 a.m. This collection of essays explores how, when and why whiteness became important to Italian Americans and the significance of gender, class and nation to racial identity.

On Saturday, November 8 at 12:15 p.m., filmmakers Michael Di Lauro, Prisoners Among Us, and Leonard Guercio, Tiramisu, will talk on the "why," "how," and "what for" of their films, followed by a conversation between the filmmakers and the audience.

Throughout Friday and Saturday, participants will have the opportunity to view three films by Di Lauro, Guercio and Savoca, which will be showing continuously throughout the two days. Also, Pat DiLeo, host of the radio program, "Around the Kitchen Table," will be circulating throughout the conference, interviewing participants for his program. He will also speak on running a web-based radio station on Friday, November 7 at 1:30 p.m.

The conference concludes on Saturday, November 8 at 8 p.m. with dinner and a guest appearance by Dion DiMucci. The cost of the dinner is $50 and reservations are required. DiMucci is a singer of extraordinary versatility, range and resonance who defined Rock 'n' Roll for a generation. Bridging the era between late-50's rock and the British Invasion, DiMucci was one of the top rock singers of his time, blending the best elements of doo wop, teen idol and R&B styles. His recent induction into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame highlights his contribution to music and today his songs grow more important to his fans and to a new generation of listeners.

Founded in 1966, the AIHA is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the culture, history, literature, folklore and politics of Italians in America. The conference is co-sponsored by the Program in Italian Studies of the Department of Languages and Linguistics and the Ph.D. in Comparative Studies at FAU's Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters; the Office of the Vice President for the Boca Raton campus, Florida Atlantic University; the National Italian American Foundation and the General Consulate of Italy in Miami.

For information on the full program, go to www.AIHA.fau.edu or contact Anthony Julian Tamburri, associate dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and professor of Languages and Linguistics, and president of AIHA, at 561-297-3861 or atamburri@fau.edu.
- FAU -