John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
65 followers 24 following 44 posts
The Calandra Institute is a CUNY research institute under the aegis of Queens College dedicated to the study of the Italian diaspora. 25 West 43rd St, Manhattan.
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Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
bgfirmani.bsky.social
Terrific #documentary, “The Piccirilli Factor,” by Eduardo Montes-Bradley, about six #Italian #immigrant stone carver/sculptor brothers working in the Bronx who made some of NYC's most beloved sculptures.
www.montesbradley.com
calandrainstitute.org/events/the-p...
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social
Happy to share that the exhibit I curated w/ @josephsciorra.bsky.social , Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States, has been extended through November 26, 2025. Check it out!

Gallery Hours: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm
25 W 43rd St Fl 17, New York, NY
@calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
illinoispress.bsky.social
In Italian American Review 15.1, Marcella Martin focuses on a late 20th-century periodical published at a time when many were predicting the end of the Italian ethnic press in the US. cc: @calandrainstitute.bsky.social and @josephsciorra.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/arti...
Cover of Italian American Review, Volume 15, Issue 1, Winter 2025
Multi-colored yellow background featuring the art work of Vincent Baldassano—an abstract house design.
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
illinoispress.bsky.social
Atlantica and similar publications are instrumental in advocating for the teaching of Italian in schools, employing a promotional and propaganda strategy. Read more from Roberto Dolci in italian American Review 15.1. @calandrainstitute.bsky.social
scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/arti...
Cover of Italian American Review, Volume 15, Issue 1, Winter 2025
Multi-colored yellow background featuring the art work of Vincent Baldassano—an abstract house design.
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social
Glad the @nytimes.com finally recognized Tina Modotti by running an obituary of this immigrant activist and artist.

I—along with others—have been submitting her to their “Overlooked No More” series

I’d love to know how they ultimately decided to run one
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...
Overlooked No More: Tina Modotti, Whose Life Was as Striking as Her Photographs
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
illinoispress.bsky.social
The study of Italian periodicals in Latin America is relatively recent and has propelled new approaches. Articles by John Starosta Galante & Daniel Goldstein in Italian American Review 15.1. @josephsciorra.bsky.social @calandrainstitute.bsky.social scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/iar/issu...
Cover of Italian American Review, Volume 15, Issue 1, Winter 2025
Multi-colored yellow background featuring the art work of Vincent Baldassano—an abstract house design.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Check out the 3D model of the Calandra Institute's exhibit "Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States" curated by Laura E. Ruberto and Joseph Sciorra. @laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social @josephsciorra.bsky.social
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
For those of you who were unable to attend our conference "The Bitter Bread of War: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from Italy and the Diaspora" in April you can now watch the presenters on YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?lis...
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
WRITERS READ SERIES

Nov 10, 6 pm
Marianne Leone reads from Christina the Astonishing: A Novel (Akashic Books, 2025)

This novel is told from the perspective of the irrepressible yet lonely Christina, an Italian American teen in 1960s Catholic Boston.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
WRITERS READ SERIES
Oct 27, 6 pm
Frank Ingrasciotta presents excerpts from Blood Type: RAGU (Next Stage Press, 2025)

The one-man play involves 22 characters exploring a 2nd gen Italian American child’s delicate balance between searching for identity, embracing culture, & understanding forgiveness.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Oct 7, 6 pm The Piccirilli Factor (2025), 69 minutes, Eduardo Montes-Bradley, dir.
A documentary exploring the legacy of the Piccirilli Brothers, Italian American sculptors who significantly contributed to shaping New York City’s urban landscape by carving some of its most iconic monuments.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Sept 23, 6 pm
Unpacking Memories of World War II Italian Captivity in Africa: Music, Theater, Literature, and Art Making in POW Camps
Elena Bellina, New York University

This presentation analyzes the diverse forms of artistic production developed by Italian POWs in different African regions.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Sept 9, 6pm
Captive Sites of Memory: Conflicting Italian Identities in the United States During World War II
Laura E. Ruberto, Berkeley City College

This talk considers the material legacies of surveillance, restrictions, and imprisonment of different groups in the US in the WWII era.
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
iehs.bsky.social
***Apply to Awards from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society***

The IEHS offers a number of prestigious awards that recognize excellence in scholarship in the fields of immigration and ethnic history.

Would you like more information?

iehs.org/awards/
Awards Overview
Visit the post for more.
iehs.org
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
The brochure for our fall programming is now ready. Stay tuned for more information.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
“The protest on Monday gave voice to some of the more virulent lines of attack against Mr. Mamdani, including some that seemed xenophobic and anti-immigrant. […]

The counterprotesters sought to dispel the notion that all Italian Americans were politically aligned.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/n...
Italian Americans, for and Against Mamdani, Square Off in New York
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
iehs.bsky.social
Check out this new special issue on Citizenship and Migration co-edited by @migrantherstory.bsky.social and @irpinaingiro.bsky.social for the Journal of American and Ethnic History!

The introduction is open access and available to all for free.

scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jaeh/iss...
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
We’ve concluded another exciting Italian Diaspora Studies Summer Seminar at Roma 3 Univ, an intensive 3-weeks of classes and lectures in the fields of history, folklore, literature, cinema, and much more. The brilliant fellows made this year especially intellectually stimulating.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Brando Bonsanti, a Università Roma Tre student, has been awarded the Institute’s 2025 Pietro “Pete” Panto Fellowship for his dissertation topic “A Matter of Identity: The Representation of Labor in Italian/American Literature." Panto who was killed in 1939 for his fight for Bklyn dockworkers.
Reposted by John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
iehs.bsky.social
***Digital History Seed Grants***

The IEHS invites submissions for awards, up to $2,000 each, to support graduate students and early-career scholars seeking to develop or engage with digital history work connected to migration history and related fields.

Deadline: 8/1/25

iehs.org/awards/seed_...
Digital History Seed Grants
Visit the post for more.
iehs.org
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
“Portrait of Bob” (1936), Luigi Lucioni (1900 Malnate, Varese province – 1988 NYC)
🏳️‍🌈 #pride🌈
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Interview with co-curator Laura Ruberto about the exhibit CREATIVITY and WORLD WAR II ITALIAN POWS in the UNITED STATES which shows the artistry of Italian soldiers held by Allied forces in the US. tv.cuny.edu/homepage/sho... @laura-e-ruberto.bsky.social
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
We are pleased to announce that Stefano Morello is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Francesco Durante Italian Diaspora Award for his essay “Networks of Influence: Divagando’s Italian (and) American Literary Infrastructure." Dr. Morello will present this essay at the Calandra Institute in the fall.
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for a special issue of the ‘ITALIAN AMERICAN REVIEW’
Mobilizing Memory: Sacco and Vanzetti on the Centennial of Their Executions 
Abstracts Due: July 1, 2025
calandrainstitute.bsky.social
Looking forward to this anthology.
illinoispress.bsky.social
Happy Pub Date to HIDDEN HISTORIES OF UNAUTHORIZED MIGRATIONS FROM EUROPE TO THE US edited by @dbattisti.bsky.social & @kangborderlaw.bsky.social!
www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...

#AmericanHistory #Immigrations #ReadUP #AmReading #Nonfiction #AcademicPublishing #UniversityPress
An immigrant being examined at the Naturalization Office n Ellis Island for American citizenship by a federal officer with two witnesses. Underwood Archives, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo. The text for the book cover reads: Hidden Histories of Unauthorized Migrations from Europe to the United States. Edited by Danielle Battisti and S. Deborah Kang.