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Italian Studies Theory and Practice: An ECR Workshop
13-14 May 2019, University College Cork, IRELAND
For 11 years the Department of Italian UCC has been the centre for Graduate Studies in Ireland, hosting the annual Graduate Conference
in Italian Studies conference annually. This year, many of the key researchers of the department are organizing a one-and-a-half-day workshop on Methodologies of Theoretical Approaches within the discipline. The guiding principle to the workshop will be the
application of methodologies and theory to the study of Italian language and cultural production.
The workshop is centred on four dedicated sections:
1)
Spatial Humanities & Geocriticism (organizers: Silvia Ross/Giovanni Vitali [MSCA European Fellow]). Keynote:
Prof Davide Papotti;
2)
Postcolonialisms (organizers: Chiara Giuliani/Mark Chu). Keynote:
Dr Neelam Srivastava
3)
Authorship and Reception (organizers: David Bowe [IRC post-doc])/Nicoletta Mandolini). Keynote:
Prof. Ursula Fanning
4)
Language Assessment for a New Generation of Language Learners: The Cyber- Learners (organizers: Gabriella Caponi/Sara Lis Ventura). Keynote:
Prof Lucilla Lopriore
Each of the dedicated sections will have three to four speakers and one keynote (see panel descriptions below).
The Department of Italian UCC now has a vibrant Postdoctoral community – both Marie Curie and IRC Postdoctoral Fellows - to complement
its already well-established Doctoral one. The workshop is primarily aimed at Early Career Researchers and interested PhD candidates, and will interrogate the paradigms under which we work. The workshop will finish with a Round table discussion. We therefore
invite submissions for papers from Early Career researchers throughout Ireland, the UK and further afield. Please write to the individual panel leaders (email addresses below).
DEADLINE for Submissions: 15 MARCH 2019
Date of conference 13-14 May
2019
Conference venue University College
Cork, Ireland
Conference website
https://www.ucc.ie/en/italian/conferences/
Organizer’s name and contact details
Silvia Ross/Daragh O’Connell
Department of Italian, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
University College Cork, Ireland
This workshop is generously supported by The Society for Italian Studies, CASiLaC (Centre for Advanced Studies in Languages and Cultures) and the Department of Italian, UCC.
1)
Panel on ‘Spatial Humanities’
Organizers: Giovanni Vitali MSCA European Fellow, Silvia Ross, Dept of Italian, UCC
Keynote Speaker: Prof Davide Papotti, Università degli Studi di Parma,
https://www.unipr.it/ugov/person/18040
Panel Description:
In recent years the ‘Spatial Turn’ has profoundly influenced how we theorize the world around us, signalling a shift away from a focus on the diachronic/historical interpretation of cultural
production and leading to a preoccupation with the spatial in textual criticism. This panel investigates the application of spatial theory to the text in the Italian context. We are interested in exploring how theories in this area can serve to deepen our
understanding and interpretation of the representation of space, place, and the non-human environment. Relevant theories include Geocriticism (Westphal), Ecocriticism (Iovino), Ecofeminism (Plumwood), or Posthumanism (Braidotti), as well as the application
of Geographical or Architectural thought to the text. We seek papers of max. 20 minutes in length which harness the above theoretical frameworks and apply them to textual criticism in Italian Studies. Areas could include literary or filmic texts, or other
forms of cultural production within the Italian socio-historical context of any period, from the Middle Ages to the present.
Those interested in participating in this session should send an abstract (of 250-300 words) of the proposed paper, including title, presenter’s name and contact details, along with a brief bio
to both [log in to unmask] and
[log in to unmask] .
2)
Panel on ‘Postcolonialisms’
Organizers:
Chiara Giuliani, Dept of Italian, UCC, Dr Mark Chu, Dept of Italian, UCC
Keynote Speaker: Dr
Neelam Srivastava https://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/staff/profile/neelamsrivastava.html#publications
Panel Description:
In ‘The Italian Postcolonial: a Manifesto’ published in
Italian Studies in 2014, Cristina Lombardi-Diop and
Caterina Romeo pointed out that ‘it is precisely through a postcolonial approach, inclusive of the multiple processes of extraterritorial conquest, expansion, and migration, that one can comprehend the complex, transnational history of Italy’s cultural identity’
(429). Indeed, they emphasise that in order to understand the concept of
italianità it is crucial to use a postcolonial lens that would
broaden the field by including different historical moments as well as including the study of past and present forms of international and intranational migration. The aim of this session is to look at the different ways in which postcolonial theory is currently
used or questioned in current research in Italian Studies. We welcome paper proposals (250 words) that embrace or challenge a postcolonial approach to analyse different cultural artefacts (literature, cinema, art, etc).
Those interested in participating in this session should send an abstract (of 250-300 words) of the proposed paper, including title, presenter’s name and contact details, along
with a brief bio to both [log in to unmask] and
[log in to unmask]
3)
Panel on ‘Gender: Authorship and Reception’
Organizers:
David Bowe, IRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Nicoletta Mandolini, Dept of Italian, UCC
Keynote Speaker:
Prof Ursula Fanning, University College Dublin, https://people.ucd.ie/ursula.fanning
Panel Description:
(How) does a (self-)awareness of gender affect the act of cultural production, the resulting cultural
products, and their reception and consumption?
We will explore this overarching question through a cluster of papers, a plenary presentation
and extensive discussion, in which we hope to explore, trouble, and expand our understanding of gender as a methodology in cultural studies.
Feminist theories have paved the way for approaching questions of gender and understanding the
construction of and to deconstruct gender norms, offering a starting point for our discussion. The development of gender studies, queer theory, transgender and intersectional feminist analysis have all opened further avenues for analysis and discussion, which
are key to how we understand gender in cultural production and reception.
We invite proposals for a cross-disciplinary panel session to explore questions of authorship,
cultural/artistic production and reception, as they are constructed, shaped, or affected by the awareness of a gendered identity (understood broadly and beyond the binary).
We encourage proposals for presentations of 15 minutes in English or Italian from postgraduate
students and ECRs from disciplines within Italian Studies on topics and approaches include but are not limited to:
gender studies;
queer theory;
transgender theory;
intersectional feminist theory;
literature;
visual/plastic arts;
film/media/screen studies;
performance/theatre studies.
Those interested in participating in this session should send an abstract (of 250-300 words) of the proposed paper, including title,
presenter’s name and contact details, along with a brief bio to both [log in to unmask]
and [log in to unmask]
4)
Panel on ‘Language Assessment for a New Generation of Language Learners: The Cyber- Learners’
Organizers: Gabriella Caponi and Sara Lis Ventura, Dept. of Italian, UCC.
Keynote Speaker: Prof Lucilla Lopriore (Rome Tre):
http://lingueletteratureculturestraniere.uniroma3.it/bacheca/llopriore/home/
Panel Description
The growing impact of technology on our ways of communicating, the increasing numbers of people from different countries among the learners of Italian, the increasing study
of Italian around the world, which has led it to become the fourth most studied language in the world. All these factors make it necessary to re-evaluate and re-think the tools which, up to now, have been adopted for the assessment of Italian as a Foreign
language.
In this context we need an honest and clear discussion on assessment and testing. It is crucial to rethink oral and written production as testing tools in a new linguistic and
pragmatic perspective.
The requirement for a new form of evaluation must address linguistic performance (syntactic and morphological complexity, vocabulary variety, accuracy and fluency) and communicative
appropriateness (content, genre, register, context, forms of interactions and communication modalities/formats) and we as practitioners and researchers should be at the forefront of this change to act in response to the needs of the new digital-native generation
of learners, in our care.
Those interested in participating in this session should send an abstract (of 250-300 words) of the proposed paper, including title, presenter’s name and contact details, along with a brief
bio to both [log in to unmask] and
[log in to unmask]
Dr Daragh O’Connell
Department of Italian,
Director of CASiLaC | Research Officer,
MA Translation Studies Co-Ordinator (Italian)
School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures,
University College Cork,
IRELAND
T: +353(0)21 4902554
F: +353(0)21 4903263