The ICC is pleased to present
ITALIAN AMERICANS AND THEIR LANGUAGES
PAST AND PRESENT
by Nancy C. Carnevale
with the participation of Julie Chi
who will share stories of Italian Americans in Minnesota with a focus on the linguistic and scholastic challenges of first-generation Italian Americans who grew up in the Beltrami Park area in North East Minneapolis.
As part of our series ITALIAN AMERICANS: MORE THAN 200 YEARS IN THE MAKING, dedicated to exploring the history and heritage of the millions of Italians who emigrated to the United States and demystifying stereotypes, we are delighted to announce our next talk: Italian Americans and their Languages Past and Present with Prof. Nancy C. Carnevale.
Have you ever wondered: Why Italian Americans have distinctive pronunciations and spellings of Italian words? How the immigrant generation coped in the U.S. without understanding English? Why Italian was not often passed down through the generations? This lecture explores the complex experiences Italian Americans have had with languages--Italian, the dialects, English, and the hybrid language of the immigrant generations--from the era of mass migration to the present.
Join us on Thursday, September 22nd, 6:00 - 7:30 PM (Doors: 5:30 PM) at ICC. Prof. Nancy C. Carnevale will connect remotely from the East coast with ICC members and friends listening together from our location in the vibrant North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis.
This will be a fascinating evening, providing participants with an opportunity to discover ICC's new location, reconnect and enjoy a glass of wine and light appetizers. Doors: 5:30 PM; Presentation: 6:00 PM.
IMPORTANT: Masking will be optional but proof of vaccination or a negative test performed within 72 hours of the event will be required upon entry. Click here for details on our COVID 19 policy.
All cancellations must be received at least 72 hours in advance to receive a refund less an administrative fee.
It's easy to park at the ICC! Check out options here.
NANCY C. CARNEVALE is Associate Professor of History at Montclair State University. She is the author of the award-winning A New Language, A New World: Italian Immigrants in the United States, 1890-1945 (University of Illinois Press, 2009) and her articles and book chapters appear in a number of edited collections and journals. The current focus of her research is African American and Italian American relations in the postwar era. Her scholarship has been supported by the Social Science Research Council/International Migration Program funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. As a historical consultant, she has worked on television, film, and theater productions, oral history projects, and museum exhibitions. She is an editor of the Critical Studies in Italian America book series from Fordham University Press.
Julie Chi has been studying the Italian language with the Italian Cultural Center for about 4 years and has enjoyed learning about her heritage on the paternal side through participation in various events. She taught English as a Second language at the college level for over 15 years and has taught people of all ages abroad in Mexico and South Korea. For the past 8 years, Julie has been working with English learner and migrant education programs at the Minnesota Department of Education. Julie is proud to maintain the stories, photos and memories of her ancestors and desires to reunite with other descendants and one day soon visit her ancestral towns across Southern Italy (in San Giovanni in Fiore [Cosenzo Calabria] and Palermo).
