Consulate General of Italy in Philadelphia
Center for Italian Studies

present

The Third Jerre Mangione Memorial
Lecture Series

Identity at Large
Women preserving and interpreting Italian heritage
into the 21st century

     In the epilogue of his last book, La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience, Jerre Mangione wrote, “Italian Americans will survive into the twenty-first century.” Since women traditionally have passed down cultural values into the next generation, it is the intention of this event to address the issues of cultural change and preservation and to explore how women in literature and the visual arts continue to draw inspiration from Italy, Italian America, and the intersection of these two related cultures.

Featuring poems and other writings by Italian American Women Writers:

Diana Cavallo
Maria Fama
Rachel Guido deVries
Maria Mazziotti Gillan
Mary Ann Vigilante Mannino


Selected readings will be followed by translation and presentation in Italian by
Maria Elisa Ciavarelli

In conjunction with the readings, there will be a display of pen and ink drawings and paintings by landscape painter,
Barbara Barasch Rosin and a series of paintings and drawings by Rita Bruno Klinger.
Ms. Rosin has created a body of work which has been inspired by this Italian American poetry and prose. Her drawings are an amalgamation of the Italian landscape, its people, and her imagination.
Ms. Rita Bruno Klinger’s presentation of paintings and drawings were also inspired by the Italian American writings, which have triggered memories of growing up in an Italian American family and the subsequent appreciation of the rich country of her heritage.

The symposium will conclude with a panel discussion of such issues as Italian American identity, values, popular culture, stereotyping, conflict, isolation, artistic inspiration, and the survival of traditions.
The panel will include psychotherapist Catherine Dileo Radeschi, L.C.S.W.,
and the artists and writers who participated in the symposium.

Saturday, March 31, 2007
10:30 am - 4:00 pm

Amado Recital Room
Irvine Auditorium
3401 Spruce Street
University of Pennsylvania

Admission free event w/ Lunch Reception