Selected seminars, conferences, lectures, film screenings, exhibitions, and workshops in Italian (2015 to 2023). DELC Research Seminar Series > Italian The DELC Research Seminar Series (DRSS) encourages collaboration and co-production between staff and students across European Languages and Cultures and beyond.Each series is designed on a transversal exploration of a common theme. In the 2020 to 2021 academic year, DRSS incorporated two mini series linked to postgraduate courses: Epidemos - linked to the Biopower course on French and Italian BiopoliticsMini MAXXI: Radical Conversation on Material Culture - linked to Italy by Design postgraduate courseThese mini series were designed to turn COVID limitations on learning and knowledge exchange into innovative engagement opportunities for everyone. Earlier events in the Seminar Series Selected DRSS events involving ItalianPlease note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.Date(s)Mini SeriesTitleGuest speakersCo-creators17 March 2021Mini MAXXIUnsustainable Ctd | Cities Portfolio (Venice)Jane da Mosto (We are Here Venice); Daniel Finch Race (Ca Foscari); Emiliano Guaraldo (Ca Foscari); Eleonora Sovrani (We are Here Venice)Autonomous Learning Group co-led by Liza Gordon, Ophelia Jackson, Berit Levy-Weinstein, Zeynep Ulas and Hazel Zhang10 March 2021Mini MAXXIIndustrious Objects | Enterprising Subjects (Part II)Jeffrey Schnapp (Harvard University)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Change by Design3 March 2021Mini MAXXIAutarkic Extractions | The Cult of the DuceGiuliana Pieri (Royal Holloway, University of London)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Decolonising Minds and Methods24 February 2021Mini MAXXIIndustrious Objects | Enterprising Subjects (Part I.2)Luca Cottini (Villanova University, Philadelphia, USA)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Unsustainable Ctd22 February 2021Mini MAXXIIndustrious Objects | Enterprising Subjects (Part I.1)Luca Cottini (Villanova University, Philadelphia, USA)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Unsustainable Ctd12 February 2021Mini MAXXIStilled and in Motion | Nation Formation as Arrested InstantGiuliana Minghelli (McGill University, CanadaStudents in the Autonomous Learning Group: Change by Design3 February 2021Mini MAXXIDavid Must Fall | Decentring the RenaissancePaolo Bartoloni (Galway University); Stephanie Hom (University of California)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Decolonising Minds and Methods23 November 2020EpidemosFeminist Counterapocalypse | Share THE ENDFeminist Counterapocalypse and Exit Man | How I Came to Think + Write + Create + Teach about THISProfessor Catherine Keller (Drew University); Professor Joanna Zylinska (Goldsmiths, University of London) Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Powerful Future(s)11 November 2020EpidemosDecolonising NatureFederico Luisetti (University of St Gallen); Dr Florian Mussgnug (University College of London)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Decolonising Power3 November 2020EpidemosWorking with Capital and CrisisDr Giulio Goria (University Vita-Salute San Raffaele)Students in the Autonomous Learning Group: Decolonising Power21 October 2020Epidemos'noi lo sappiamo: e abbiamo anche le prove': a COVID video-poemProfessor Gabriele Frasca (University of Salerno)Third- and fourth-year Italian students19 October 2020EpidemosDiscussion of set reading - Byung Chul Han's 'The Burnout Society'Spatialities of COVID | How I Came to Think + Write + Teach about THISProfessor Timothy Campbell (Cornell University); Professor Jeffrey Schnapp (Harvard UniversityStudents in the Autonomous Learning Group: Power People Place Italy by Design Italy by Design is a practice-led course open to honours and postgraduate students at the University of Edinburgh. Taught by Italian Studies staff at the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, the course focuses on the art of cultural transmission working selectively on the material success of the invention of Italy in the last 500 years.Alongside the course, a guest speaker series hosted was developed, and we're delighted to come together for a third series ahead of the publication of a forthcoming book, named after the course. Earlier events in the Seminar Series DateTitleSpeaker(s)5th April 2023Early Career PanelBerit Levy-Weinstein (Italy by Design, 2021), Kate Jones (Class 2021); Stella Brook Young (Italy by Design, 2021); Zeynep Ulas (Italy by Design, 2021); Irene Eapen (Italy by Design, 2022); Smrithi Pradeep (Italy by Design, 2022); Chariklia Martalas (Italy by Design, 2023); Eleonora Soteriu (Italy by Design, 2023); Youyou Tang (Italy by Design, 2023); Nina de Walque (Class 2023); Elisa Vivaldi (PhD student, University of Edinburgh)22nd March 2023(Un)sustainably MadeLisa Colletta (American University, Rome); Claudio Fogu (University of California, Santa Barbara); Roberto Dainotto (Duke University); Robert Gordon (Cambridge University); Medina Lasansky (Cornell University); Silvana Patriarca (Fordham University); Nicoletta Pireddu (Georgetown University) 8 March 2023Commodification CTDAlessandra Antola Swan (independent scholar); Emiliano Guaraldo (Venice Ca Foscari University); Stephen Gundle (Warwick University); Stefano Jossa (Palermo University); Laura Wittman (Stanford University); Diego Zancani (Oxford University)22 February 2023Mediation CTDGiuliana Benvenuti (Bologna University); Dalila Colucci (Seville University); Reidar Due (Oxford University); Sally Hill (Victoria University, Wellington); Mauro Martino (MIT-IBM Research); Giuliana Minghelli (independent scholar); Federico Pacchioni (Chapman University)8 February 2023Soft Power TroubleTania Convertini (Dartmouth College); Luca Cottini (Villanova University); Matteo Paoletti (Bologna University); Eugenia Paulicelli (Queen’s College and CUNY Graduate Center); Massimo Vedovelli (Università per Stranieri, Siena); Gaoheng Zhang (University of British Columbia)25 January 2023Reset ItalyPaolo Bartoloni (Galway University); Daniel Finch-Race (Bologna University); Stephanie Hom (University of California, Santa Barbara); Emanuela Patti (Edinburgh University); Giuliana Pieri (Royal Holloway); Pierluigi Sacco (IULM Milan and Pescara University) Conferences and symposia Society for Italian Studies, Biennial Conference 2019 Dates: 26 to 28 June 2019Venue: 50 George SquareOrganiser: Society for Italian Studies UK Keynote speakers: Susan Bassnett (University of Glasgow, Professor Emerita at the University of Warwick); Jhumpa Lahiri (Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton); Lino Pertile (Harvard University); Igiaba Scego (International Centre for the Humanities and Social Change, Venice); Walter Siti (Belleville School in Milan, literary critic and author)In brief: A three-day conference that brought together nearly 300 delegates to Edinburgh for a 3-day programme comprising 72 panel sessions, 252 papers, 5 keynote lectures, 3 round tables, the first Peter Brand Lecture by Lino Pertile, and more. Italian-Arabic Diwan: Origins, Love, Exile Date: 31 January 2019Venue: Project Rom 1.06, 50 George SquareOrganisers: Italian Studies at LLC; Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at LLC; the Baharat Collective, with the generous support of the Alwaleed Centre; University of Edinburgh; The Italian Cultural Institute, Edinburgh In brief: This was the first of a series of collaborative events to celebrate the Centenary of Italian Studies at the University of Edinburgh (1919-2019). It was a symposium with live music to bring together the so-called origins of Italian poetry from the Siculo-Arabic poets to Dante. Europa's Long Renaissance: Myth, Metamorphoses, Migrations Date: 12 October 2017Venue: Project Room 1.06, 50 George SquareOrganiser: Dr Davide Messina; Dr Carlo PirozziEvents series: Europa Project In brief: This open seminar in Italian Studies at connected and celebrated three important anniversaries: the European Treaty of Rome (1957), Ovid’s bimillennium, and the first translation in print of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Renaissance Italy (1497). It was part of the Europa Project: Tradition as Transformation, which engaged students with the study of the classical myth of Europa. Dante and Scottish Culture Date: 23 October 2015Venue: Project Room 1.06, 50 George SquareKeynote speakers: Dr Alessandra Petrina (Università degli Studi di Padova); Professor Nick Havely (University of York); Dr Godfrey Evans (National Museums of Scotland); Dr Nicolò Maldina (University of Edinburgh); Dr Robert Wilson (University of St. Andrews); Professor Bernard O’Donoghue (University of Oxford)Organisers: Professor Nick Havely (University of York); Dr Davide Messina (University of Edinburgh); in collaboration with the Italian Cultural InstituteIn brief: A day of celebration in honour of the 750th anniversary of Dante's birth. The programme of events included talks by speakers from Italy and the UK, a welcome talk by Carlo Perrotta (Consul General of Italy), a screening of four Dante images by Frank To, a presentation of Dante on Stage by Giuliana Nuvoli (Milano Statale), and a viewing of the Macleod Dante Collection at the National Library of Scotland. Lectures, talks, discussions and readings Inaugural Lectures Inaugural Lectures are free public talks by recently-appointed Professors and Chairs at the University of Edinburgh where they share their work with a wide audience, inviting reflection and discussion on its broader implications.SpeakerDateVenueThemeProfessor Davide Messina (Chair of Italian and Comparative Studies, University of Edinburgh)8 March 202350 George SquareRiveder le stelle: Changing Perspectives in Early Modern Visual Culture More lectures talks, discussions and readings Pasolini 100 The Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh and Italian Studies at University of Edinburgh hosted a programme of events on the occasion of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 100th anniversary, supported by the Society for Italian Studies. Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) was an Italian film director, poet, writer, political commentator and public intellectual, particularly known for his socially critical, stylistically unorthodox films from the 1960s and early 1970s. By bringing together some of the major scholars in the field, this series of events celebrated one of the key figures of Italian culture on his 100th anniversary. Explore the full Pasolini 100 programme Richard Demarco: Italy, Scotland, Europe Popular Culture and Technologies of Vision Date: 15 February 2017Venue: 40 George SquareGuest speaker: Professor Massimo Riva (Brown University)In brief: Professor Riva gave a talk on the birth of a new, transdisciplinary field: media archaeology. The event explored virtual reality in the late 18th and the 19th century. Made by Italo-Scots: Inaugural event Date: 16 April 2015Venue: Scottish ParliamentResearch strand: Italo-Scottish Research Cluster (ISRC)Guest speakers: Dr Terri Colpi, author of The Italian Factor (1991), QC Lorenzo Alonzi, entrepreneur Gio Benedetti, screenwriter Sergio Casci, Archbishop Conti, entrepreneur Tony Crolla, solicitor Cesidio Di Ciacca, playwright Ann Marie Di Mambro and BBC journalist Giancarlo RinaldiIn brief: The inaugural event of the newly launched research cluster, ISRC. This event was a discussion between guest speakers, as well as hosts MSP Linda Fabiani, Vice-Principal and Head of College Prof Dorothy Miell, and Italian Consul General Mauro Carfagnini. Discussants explored migrant identities in the light of contemporary debates on nation and nationhood, people’s mobility and integration “elsewhere”. Film screenings and festivals Fuori Programma Date: 24 May 2023Venue: Pleasance TheatreOrganisers: Irene Ros and the Italian SocietyIn brief: Fuori Programma is a 10-minute moving image work that broadcast the memories of a group of Italian women. The project encompassed the under-represented narratives of women who were young adults in the 1970s and who belong to the majority of the population, i.e. people who were not involved in Italian political violence. Separately interviewed, the women’s contributions were edited in a conversation that gave a visually entertaining and moving insight into an important chapter of Italian history from an often unheard perspective. Italian Film Series This series was curated by Federica Pedriali, Carlo Pirozzi and Marco Palone. Films were screened in Italian with English subtitles.DateVenueFilm30 March 2017Italian Cultural InstituteIl Divo16 March 2017Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George SquareSacro Gra2 March 2017Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George SquareMamma Roma26 January 2017Lecture Theatre G.03, 50 George SquareLa dolce vita Exhibitions, workshops and performancesThe Italian PlayThe Italian Play is an occasional production by students of Italian Studies.The performance in 2019 celebrated the centenary of Italian Studies at the University of Edinburgh and was held in collaboration with a number of significant Italian-Scottish organisations. It included a round-table discussion with Ann Marie Di Mambro (Scottish playwright and television screenwriter), Federica Pedriali (University of Edinburgh), Anne Pia (Italian-Scots writer and poet), and Maggie Rose (playwright and academic, Milan University).Date(s)TitleVenueCollaborators15 to 16 March 2019Tally’s Blood - 30 Years OnAssembly RoxyThe Italian Cultural Institute; Italian Scotland; Italian Society; Italian Folk Connections; Drama and Performance at Queen Margaret University; Syn Festival; Imprevisto Danza8 to 9 March 2018Europa a LampedusaLecture Theatre G.03, 50 George SquareAnimation at Edinburgh College of Art (ECA); the Modern Dance Society; Edinburgh Studio Opera; Europa Project More exhibitions, workshops and performances David Rizzio at the Scottish Court A series of workshops on Italian musician and courtier, David Rizzio, providing the first comprehensive account of the life and legacy of one of the most romanticised figures in Scottish history.The project brought together experts from multiple disciplines, and was funded by a Royal Society of Edinburgh Workshop Award from November 2022 to November 2023. Explore the full programme of workshops Italian tombolata Date: 6 December 2018Venue: Room G.05, 50 George SquareEvent series: DELC Festive ShowcaseIn brief: A seasonal celebration of Italian food and culture to mark the beginning of Yuletide. It included playing the game of tombola, which is a traditional part of Christmas in Italy. A Bench on the Road Date: 22 February 2017Venue: Roxy AssemblyCommissioned by: The Italo-Scottish Research Cluster as part of a Carnegie Trust Large GrantIn brief: Laura Pasetti's show “A Bench on the Road” returned to Edinburgh after a highly successful premiere at the Piccolo Teatro, Milan. It was a touching hommage to the story of a people whose migration has until recently remained untold. This article was published on 2025-08-12
