3^rd IASA International Symposium in Italy

Call for Papers

May 26-29, 2022

Fondazione Campus

Via del Seminario Prima, 790

Lucca, Italy

www.fondazionecampus.it

Italian Diaspora(s): The Manifestations and Dynamics of Cultural Change

Submission Deadline: Saturday, February 21, 2022
Submit a proposal

The Italian American Studies Association (IASA) invites proposals for participation in its 3^rd International Symposium in Italy. Proposals on all topics relevant to Italian American studies and Italian Diaspora Studies will be considered. Membership is not required to apply, but is required to present at the symposium.

The dispersion of communities of people physically displaced from their perceived ‘homeland’ has been a defining feature of the human experience. Commonly referred to as Diasporas, these groups have travelled to other lands for reasons including to escape persecution, seek a better life, and exploit economic opportunities. Some have defined Diaspora in terms of what it is not – not from “here,” not “at home,” not “rooted.” Theorization on cultural exchange has moved from Marie Louise Pratt’s “contact zone” (1992), mainly understood spatially, to Homi Bhabha’s “third space” (1994) where the meeting between two cultures takes place. More recently, Doreen Massey (2005) conceives spaces as the site of a continuously developing intersection of different trajectories which is “open, multiple and relational,” and Guido Bonsaver, Alessandro Carlucci, and Matthew Reza (2019) have proposed a model for the visualization of cultural change using Italy and the USA as a case study.

This symposium aims to consider how members of displaced groups relate to identity markers such as race, ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, and other socio-cultural categories, having regard to the impact of globalization, connectivity, and mobility. If the language of difference, binary categories of here/there, and other features of customary understandings of diaspora are no longer appropriate, then scholars need new approaches for conceptualizing, theorizing, representing, and interacting with Diasporas.

The Symposium Committee welcomes proposals from scholars from any discipline, inter-discipline, or scholarly field, including creative artists (filmmakers, artists, writers), from both within and outside of the university. We will consider proposals that compliment this year’s theme. We prefer fully formed sessions, although we also encourage perspective participants to submit individual presentations. The preferred language of the symposium is English; however, presentations may be in English or Italian.

Proposals should include a 250-word abstract for each paper and 75-word bio for each participant, including chairs and respondents, as well as for all participants in a proposed panel. Each participant’s name, affiliation, email, and preferred address should be listed. Please indicate if the presenter/panel requires AV equipment (each room has a computer, a projector, and speakers). The Symposium Committee will send an email notification of acceptance for individual abstracts or proposed panels through Submittable by Saturday, March 5, 2022.

Guidelines for proposals:

All sessions will be 75 minutes, and we will ask presenters to limit their remarks to 15-20 minutes each so that there is ample time for Q&A and discussion. Proposals may take one of three forms.

• Individual presentation, paper, or talk
• Complete panel session, round table, or workshop, featuring multiple presenters (we particularly encourage thematic groupings of presenters from diverse disciplinary fields or methodological approaches, see above for more information)
• Performance, reading, or screening of creative work

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Connectivity and Technology: impact of television, radio, smart phones, the internet, social media, and other modes of connection on the Italian / Italian-American diasporans
• Economics: Employment and financial security for diasporic communities
• Education and Pedagogy: how diaspora and education mutually inform each other; experiences of diasporans (emigrants in movement) in the classroom; how diaspora is taught or not being taught
• Generational Issues: intergenerational challenges faced by aging diasporas; differences in diasporic experiences among (grand)parents and children; how age and generational differences impact the ways in which the diaspora self-identifies and represents itself to others
• Home: ideas of what constitutes home and belonging or being at home; “homing”; relationships between diaspora communities and so-called homelands
• Identity and Representation of Diaspora: including through memory and witnessing; literature; music; performance; film, television, and other visual media
• Impact of Intersectionalities: entanglements/tensions relating to language, race and ethnicity, nationality, culture and other diasporic diversities on relations within and between diaspora communities–and how those relationships are discussed
• Legacies: Influence of diaspora on evolution of languages, genetic traits, geographical boundaries, etc.
• Policy and Law: non-governmental organizations, charities and government agencies that provide assistance to diasporans; political agency and activism of diasporans; impact of diaspora on foreign policy; approaches to recognizing and protecting rights of diasporans
• Post-colonialism and Decolonization: how discourses around diaspora shifts vis-a-vis evolving politics of post-colonialism and decolonization, particularly in relation to the ways in which “here” and “there” have traditionally been constructed within colonial language
• Power and Voice: liminality and in-betweenness, marginalization, (in)visibility, and relations of and to power as it pertains to diasporan fluidity
• Sex, Gender, and Sexuality: how differences in sex, gender, and orientation produce differing perspectives on what constitutes diasporic identity

Keynote Title: The Historical Migration of the Serchio Valley and the Relating Roots Tourism Phenomenon

Abstract: This paper has the purpose of studying the historical migrations from the Tuscan Serchio Valley area towards foreign countries during the past centuries. A specialized focus on socio-economic reasons for migrations represents the initial approach to investigate migrants’ descendants returning effects that influence contemporary tourism dynamics. In particular, the research analyses ‘roots tourism’ origins characterizing recent cultural and genealogical tourism behaviors, by considering the emerging community involvement in local heritage valorization and identity awareness. In light of this, the Serchio Valley area is currently a proactive territory for roots tourism development, as concerns its migration history, and regarding stakeholder involvement in policies fostering cultural and ethnographic territorial elements. According to this study perspective, roots tourism represents the present social reply to the past diaspora, as a new tool of cultural exchange, socio-economic growth, and country mobility. In the light of this, roots tourist study approach leads to a reflection on spill-over effects that have recently promoted this specific tourism segment, such as new business models’ development, environment repopulation of mountain areas of the Serchio Valley, as well as a new touristic way to discover ethnic values belonging to generational memories.

Bio: Full Professor of Geography at the University of Pisa, Department of Political Sciences. Managing director for Tourism, Education and Research at Fondazione Campus in Lucca. Director of the Master in Hotel Management and Digital Tourism, organized by the University of Pisa and Fondazione Campus. Since 2017, speaker at Ecosistemi Digitali and Advisory board at BTO 2019 and 2020. Since 2015, President of the Technical-Scientific Regional Committee of Fondazione ITS "Tourism, Art and Heritage." Technical Coordinator of some European projects: H.O.S.T. (The Heritage of Olive Tree for Sustainable Tourism COSME programme 2014); S.C.O.R.E. (Support for Capacities for Tourism of Returning Emigrants, 2016); H.E.R.I.B.I.T.S. (Heritage Best Practice Models of Crowdfunding Intelligence to Enable the Culture Economy, 2017). Since 2012, she is a teacher of Economic and Political Geography at Accademia Navale in Livorno. Since 2010, Lemmi is a member of the Ph.D. scientific board in Geopolitics at the University of Pisa. Since 1996, she carried out numerous research studies in the field of Urban Geography and Tourism Geography. Research Doctorate in Urban and Regional Geography in 1994. Degree with honors in Literature in 1984. Author of numerous publications, and speaker at many conferences in Italy and abroad. Some recent publications include LEMMI E. (2020, in print), “Heritage and new communication technologies: development perspectives on the basis of the Via Francigena experience” in Heritage, Tourism & Hospitality International Conference 2020, 6-8 April 2020, Mendrisio, Switzerland. Lemmi E., Sacco P.L., Crociata A., Agovino M. (2018), “The Lucca Comics and Games Festival as a platform for transformational cultural tourism: Evidence from the perceptions of residents” in Tourism Management Perspectives, 27, Elsevier Ltd, Amsterdam, pp. 162-173. Lemmi E. (a cura di) (2015), Turismo e management dei territori. I Geoitinerari, fra valori e progettazione turistica, Bologna, Pàtron Editore. Lemmi E. (2009), Dallo «spazio consumato» ai luoghi ritrovati. Verso una geografia del turismo sostenibile. Milano, FrancoAngeli.