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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Call for Papers: Citizens of Venice: History and Art RSA, Berlin, March 26 - 28, 2015 Deadline for submission: May 30, 2014 We invite papers that explore the identity formation of non-noble Venetian citizens, both original and naturalized. A class later known as Cittadini Originari did not exist when the serrata, a series of laws from 1285-1323, prohibited non-noble Venetians from holding high government office. In the following centuries, a significant number of disenfranchised non-noble families sought to empower themselves, in part by gradually assuming control over the administration of four charitable confraternities, later called the Scuole Grandi, which they transformed into prominent civic spaces and centers of art. By the mid-sixteenth century, the Cittadini Originari referred to themselves as "Noble Families not of the Great Council," and became officially recognized by the Venetian government. Papers might address one or more of the following topics: - How did members of the Cittadini perceive themselves within the social stratification of Venice, and did their perceptions change over time? - Did the Cittadini actively employ strategies to achieve class formation? - Did the Cittadini's commercial, artistic, and religious practices contribute toward defining their social class? - What was the role of literature and the visual arts in fashioning the Cittadini's social identity? - Did the Cittadini emulate the ruling nobility or did they develop their own distinctive social model? - What was the contribution of patronage to the Cittadini's class formation? Did Cittadini patronage differ between private and public contexts? Please send your paper title, abstract (150-word maximum), keywords, and a brief curriculum vitae (300-word maximum) to one of the organizers: Gabriele Matino ([log in to unmask]) and Daniel Wallace Maze ([log in to unmask]). ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe italian-studies YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe italian-studies to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/italian-studies