The Conflicts of Immigration Past and Present: The Position[ing] of Italian and the Diaspora

Transcription

1 The 51 st Annual IASA Conference October 18 to October 20, 2018 University of Illinois, Chicago The Conflicts of Immigration Past and Present: The Position[ing] of Italian and the Diaspora In Collaboration with the University of Illinois, Chicago; the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Chicago, and the Consolato Generale d Italia, Chicago The Italian American Studies Association would like to extend its gratitude to all those who assisted in making this conference a success. The IASA Conference Committee Ryan Calabretta-Sajder Donna Chirico (Chair) Alexandra de Luise John Gennari Alan Gravano Robert Oppedisano Carla Simonini Special Thanks to Chiara Fabbian, University of Illinois, Chicago Alberta Lai, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Ron Onesti, Italian American Sports Hall of Fame

2 Thursday, October 18 2:00-5:00 PM: Registration Location: Crowne Plaza Lobby: Chicago West Loop, 733 West Madison 2:00-5:00 PM: Executive Council Meeting Location: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame *DINNER ON YOUR OWN* 6:00-6:15 PM: Graduate Student Meet & Greet Location: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame Alan Gravano, IASA President, Rocky Mountain University 6:15-7:00 PM: Poetry Reading Location: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame Peter Covino, University of Rhode Island George Guida, New York City College of Technology/CUNY Joey Nicoletti, Buffalo State College/SUNY 7:00-7:15 PM: Opening Remarks Location: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame Ron Onesti, President/CEO, The Onesti Entertainment Corporation Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Alberta Lai, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Giuseppe Finocchiaro, Consul General, Consulate General of Italy, Chicago Alan Gravano, IASA President, Rocky Mountain University 7:15-8:15 PM: Keynote Address Location: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame Jennifer Guglielmo, Smith College Title: Italian American Studies for a World in Crisis 8:15-9:15 PM: Reception (Open Bar) Location: Italian American Sports Hall of Fame Hosted by The Onesti Entertainment Corporation 2

3 Friday, October 19 8:00 AM-4:30 PM Registration Convention Registration Desk: UIC SCE 6 th Floor 7:30-9:00 AM Coffee Service Location: UIC SCE 6 th Floor 8:00-5:00 PM Book Display Room Location: SCE 610 CONCURENT SESSIONS 8:00-9:15 AM Session 1: Ethnic Neighborhoods and Ethnic Identity: Continuity and Change in Chicago's Italian communities (Roundtable) Room: SCE 611 Chair: Dominic Candeloro, Casa Italia Chicago/Loyola University Chicago Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College, Seeing Little Italies, Past, Present, Future Dominic Candeloro, Casa Italia Chicago/Loyola University Chicago, Paese/Neighborhood Relations of Chicago Italians: A Family Affair? Robert Lombardo, Loyola University Chicago, The Chicago Avenue Neighborhood and the Our Lady of the Angels Fire: A Personal Retrospective Session 2: Beyond the Margin : Crossing Ethnic Lines within and without Italian Americana Chair: Maria Protti, Independent Scholar Nancy Carnevale, Montclair State University, African American and Italian American Crossing in James Baldwin s Another Country Suzanne Manizza Roszak, University of California, Riverside, Representation Matters: Visions of Italian American in Malamud s The Assistant Samuele Pardini, Elon University, Blackening Immigration. Jerry Mangione, the Italian Immigrants and Sterling Brown Session 3: Diasporic Migrants Considerations: From Illegality to Numbers Chair: Dennis Barone, University of St. Joseph Giacomo Sproccati, California State University, Long Beach, The Latest Italian Immigrants to California: A Vitality Analysis Danielle Battisti, University of Nebraska, Omaha, The Privileges of Illegality? Unauthorized Italian Immigration to the United States and Adjustment of Status in the Twentieth Century 3

4 Giovanna Miceli Jeffries, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Another side of e/migration. Agency, education, effecting factors in the narrative of second wave Italian immigration in North America Session 4: Teaching Italian American Studies: A Roundtable Approach I Chair: Alan Gravano, Rocky Mountain University Courtney Ruffner Grieneisen, State College of Florida, On Teaching through Representations of Italian Americans Via Gangster Literature Ben Lawton, Purdue University, The Mafia and the Movies Rocco Mesiti, Western New England University, Italian American Studies' Past and Present Participation in Globalism Alan J. Gravano, Rocky Mountain University, Teaching Italian-American Cinema in a General Education Course 9:30-10:45 AM Session 5: Disability Poetics and the Voicing of Italian America: A Critical Framing and Poetry Reading with Adam Giannelli and Denise Leto" Chair: Roseanne Giannini Quinn, De Anza College Adam Giannelli, Independent Scholar Denise Leto, Independent Scholar Respondent: Roseanne Giannini Quinn, De Anza College Session 6: Are Italians White? How Race Is Made in America: A Fifteen Year Retrospective (Roundtable) Chair: John Gennari, University of Vermont John Gennari, University of Vermont Edvige Giunta, New Jersey City College Jennifer Guglielmo, Smith College Caroline Waldron Merithew, University of Dayton Salvatore Salerno, Minneapolis Community and Technical College Joseph Sciorra, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY Session 7: Why are We Laughing at Ourselves on Screen? Italian Americana, Humor, and the Media Chair: Colleen Ryan, Indiana University Bloomington 4

5 Anthony Mitzel, Università di Bologna/University College London, It s My Kind of Meme, Italian Italians as Humorous Trope in the Mediasphere Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, University of Arkansas, Masculinity, Humor, and Italian American Lives on Main Stream TV Lawrence Squeri, East Stroudsburg University, Italian Americans: Many Singers, Few Comedians 11:00-12:15 PM Session 8: Libraries as Institutions of Leadership and Structure Chair: Robert Oppedisano, Independent Scholar Alexandra de Luise, Queens College/CUNY, The Chicago Public Library and the Italian American Leadership: The Case of the Sicilian-Born Henry E. Legler Dominic Candeloro, Casa Italia (Melrose Park), Using Casa Italia s Florence Roselli Library to Preserve Italian American History and Culture in Chicago and Beyond Maria Protti, Independent Scholar, Categories and Compartments of Italian Americana: An Evolution of Subject Headings Within the Library of Congress Catalog Melissa E. Marinaro, Senator John Heinz History Center, Safeguarding the Diaspora: A Model for Non-profit Institutions Session 9: Media, Mafia, and Migration on Screen Chair: Rosetta Giuliani Caponetto, Auburn University Dario De Palma, McGill University, Paths of Hope: Emigration in Fascist and Post- Fascist Cinema Joey Nicoletti, Buffalo State College/SUNY, Don t Stop Believin : Examining Gangster Culture and Power Stereotypes in The Sopranos Colleen Ryan, Indiana University Bloomington, From Laverne DeFazio to Madonna: Ethnic Signs in the Work of Penny Marshall 12:15-1:00 PM *LUNCH ON YOUR OWN* 1:15-2:30 PM Session 10: Brevitas: Diasporic Excursions I Chairs: Peter Covino, University of Rhode Island Edvige Giunta, New Jersey City University Mary Giaimo, La Scuola d Italia, New York Meghan Flaherty, New Jersey City University 5

6 Session 11: Turning the Tables: Dining with the Other Chair: JoAnn Delmonico Luhrs, Brooklyn College/CUNY Martina Di Florio, Trinity College, Turning the Tables: Dining with the Other in Io, L'altro Rosetta Giuliani-Caponetto, Auburn University, Turning the Tables: Dining with the Other in Italian American Amexicano Rachel Perry, Auburn University, La Donna in Cucina: Italian-American Women in the Center of the Home Session 12: To Move Beyond Metaphor': Cultural and Critical Legacies in the Work of JoAnne Ruvoli Chair: Mary Jo Bona, Stony Brook University/SUNY Mary Jo Bona, Stony Brook University/SUNY, Accessing JoAnne: Undiscovered Textual Territories and Building Ethnic Archives Jessica Maucione, Gonzaga University, Stacked Narratives : The Excavation and (Re)mapping of Multiethnic and American Literary Canons in JoAnne Ruvoli s Framing Ethnicity: Storytelling in Italian American Novels Roseanne Giannini Quinn, De Anza College, Express Yourself : Popular Culture, Personal Narrative, and the Monocle of Italian American Desire in the Work of JoAnne Ruvoli Respondent: Chris Messenger, University of Illinois, Chicago 2:45-4:00 PM Session 13: Brevitas: Diasporic Excursions II Chairs: Edvige Giunta, New Jersey City University Peter Covino, University of Rhode Island Jennifer Guglielmo, Smith College Circe Sturm, University of Texas at Austin Session 14: Political and Cultural Implications of Italian Americana Chair: Samuele Pardini, Elon University Michele Deramo, Virginia Tech University, Reflecting on Columbus from the Seat of the Confederacy Anthony Scioli, Keene State College, When Hopes Divide: How Divergent Constructions of Hope Have Contributed to American Stereotypes and Misunderstandings of the Italian Character 6

7 Jan Marta, University of Toronto, When Italians were Black and Who s Black Now: What Might We Have Learned? Session 15: Organized Crime within the Italian American Landscape: Representations on Screen Chair: Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, University of Arkansas Anthony Julian Tamburri, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY, Signing Italian/American Cinema, Code-switching in the City: What Does Scorsese Mean in Mean Streets Joseph E. Kraus, University of Scranton, MELUS President, Putting the Frame on Meyer s People: Jewish Gangster Historiography and the Mafia Narrative of Organized Crime Rebecca Bauman, Fashion Institute of Technology/SUNY, Made in New Jersey? Mafia Identities and Italian/American Transnationalism 4:15-5:30 PM Session 16: Psychology, the Self, and Italian Americana Chair: Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College/CUNY Patrizia Guarnieri, University of Florence, A Gendered Brain Drain after the 1938 Racial Laws. Renata Calabresi, an Italian Displaced Psychologist in New York Patrizia Famà Stahle, College of Coastal Georgia, The Italian Immigrant Experience in the United States, Donna Chirico, York College/CUNY, How and Why the Migration of Italians became a Diaspora: A Psychological Perspective Session 17: Italian Chicago and Organized Crime Chair: Joseph E. Kraus, MELUS President, University of Scranton Louis Corsino, North Central College, The Neighborhood Outfit: Italians and Organized Crime in Chicago Heights Robert M Lombardo, Loyola University Chicago, Sociology Fights Organized Crime: The Story of the Chicago Area Project Arthur Lurigio, Loyola University Chicago, The Taylor Street Crew and Taylor Street Residents: Culture, Gangsters, and Neighborhood Identification Session 18: Foodways as an Entrance in Italian American Culture and Tradition Chair: Michele Fazio, University of North Carolina at Pembroke 7

8 Federico Tiberini, Florida Atlantic University, Traduzione and tradizione: Translation, Identity, and Tradition in the Italian-American Cookbook Pia Bertucci, UNC Chapel Hill, The Urban Peasant: Formations of Italian Culture and Identity through Immigrant Foodways EVENING PROGRAM 5:30-7:00 PM: Play Reading Location: SCE 605 A Long Shadow: A New Play August Nigro, Playwright Nancy Greco, Director 5:45-6:30 PM: Poetry Reading Location: SCE 603 Joseph Fasano, Manhattanville College and Columbia University Gerry LaFemina, Frostburg State University Jennifer Militello, New England College 6:45-7:45 PM: Chicago Italian American Writers Read Location: SCE 605 Our Kind of Town Tony Romano, Author Christina Marrocco, Elgin Community College Fred Gardaphé, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY Mary Jo Bona, Stony Brook University/SUNY 6:45-7:45 PM: Documentary Film Location: SCE 603 Sharp Families (directed by Patrick Grassi) Q&A with Amy Antoniolli immediately following *DINNER ON YOUR OWN* 8

9 Saturday, October 20 8:00-12:00 Registration (Convention Registration Desk: UIC SCE 6 th Floor) 7:30-9:00 AM Coffee Service Location: UIC SCE 6th Floor 8:00-5:00 PM Book Display Room Location: SCE 610 CONCURRENT SESSIONS 8:00-9:15 AM 1:00-2:15 PM Business Meeting & Presentation of Awards 2018 Book Award Winner: 2018 IASA Memorial Fellowship Winner: 2018 IASA Conference Travel Grants: (Location: SCE 605) 9:30-10:45 AM Session 19: Pushing the Margins : Italian Diasporic Literature Cross-Cultural Perspectives Chair: Fred Misurella, East Stroudsburg University Chiara Mazzucchelli, University of Central Florida, Nuova iorca è più grande di tutta la Siggilia: Emigration in Luigi Capuana s Gli americani di Ràbbato Francesco Chianese, California State University, Long Beach, Before and After the Earthquake: The New Trajectories of the Italian Diaspora in Chiara Barzini s Fiction George Guida, New York City College of Technology/CUNY, The Return of Rose Romano Session 20: Italian Americans in Chicago: Case, Place, and Space Chair: Gloria Nardini, Independent Scholar Peter Belmonte, Independent Scholar, Chicago s Calabrian-Americans in the US Military During World War I: A Case Study Sandro Corso, Italian Consulate General in Chicago, Florence Scala, a Disowned Pioneer of Planning and Civil Rights Movements in the 1960s Roxanne Christofano Pilat, Dominican University, She Persisted: Hull House, Little Italy, and the Legacy of Florence Scala 9

10 Session 21: The Coal Miners Strike of 1873: Immigration and Labor Strife in Ohio s Mahoning Valley Room: SCE 611 Chair: Anthony Mitzel, Università di Bologna/University College London Ben Lariccia, La Gazzetta Italiana Newspaper Joesph Tucciarone, Independent Scholar Session 22: Teaching Italian American Studies: A Roundtable Approach II Chair: Alan Gravano, Rocky Mountain University Lou Corsino, North Central College, Teaching about Italian-Americans Troubled Past (Sociology & Anthropology) Edvige Giunta, New Jersey City University, Memoir as Cross-Cultural Practice in Italian American Studies (Creative Writing: Memoir) Luca Lanzilotta, Dickinson College, Teaching a Course on Old and New Italian Immigration to the USA (Italian & First-Year Seminar) Suzanne Manizza Roszak, University of California, Riverside, Teaching Italian- American Fiction Across Composition and Literature Courses (Composition & Literature) 11:00-12:15 PM Session 23: New Italian Migrations to the United States from 1945 to Present Part I Chair: Laura E. Ruberto, Berkeley City College Stefano Luconi, University of Genoa Italy, Italian Americans, and the Politics of the McCarran-Walter Act 33 Maddalena Marinari, Gustavus Adolphus College, In the name of God and in the interest of our country : The Cold War, Foreign Policy, and Italian Americans Mobilization against Immigration Restriction Joseph Sciorra, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY, Don t Forget You Have Relatives Here : Transnational Intimacy and Acoustic Communities of WOV-AM s La Grande Famiglia Session 24: Italian Americans: Between Language, Film, and Media Chair: Carla Simonini, Loyola University Chicago Jessica Whitehead, Ryerson University, Canadian Italian Language Cinemas and Distribution Networks Giulianna Muscio, University of Pavia, Little Italy in Silent Transition Gloria Nardini, Independent Scholar, Examples of the Intersection between Language and Identity: Lucca as a Case in Point 10

11 Session 25: Critical Eyes on Italian American Authors Room: SCE 611 Chair: Fred Gardaphé, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY Fred Misurella, East Stroudsburg University, Spatial Images of Assimilation in Tony Ardizzone s Stories of Home and Abroad Sabrina Vellucci, Università di Roma Tre, Something Left to Love : Lorraine Hansberry s and Tina De Rosa s Chicago Colleen McClintock, Cumberland University, The Kid from Genoa: Dissecting First- Generation Italian-American Literature as it Reflects the Trauma of Displacement and the Subsequent Dissolution of Italo-American Identities Session 26: Themes and Symbols in Italian American Literature and Film Chair: George Guida, New York City College of Technology/CUNY Michela Valmori, University of Bologna, Arturo Bandini s (Italian) American Dream and Quest in Ask the Dust (on the road) Christina Marrocco, Elgin Community College, The Evil Eye in the Literature of the Italian American Diaspora Shelleen Greene, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Congo Vivo: Expatriatism and Decolonization in Italy 12:15-1:00 PM *LUNCH ON YOUR OWN* Graduate Student Meet & Greet (Location: SCE 611) Alan Gravano, IASA President 1:15-2:30 PM Session 27: Creatively Critical, Critically Creative: Performing Italian American Culture Chair: Fred Gardaphé, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY John Domini, Independent Scholar, Build Your Cities on the Slopes of Vesuvius! : Combining Creative & Critical Ferment Chickie Farella, S.W.O.P. (Scholar Without Papers), I Thought I was Italian: Transformative Migrations at a Local Level, Chicago/Melrose Park Fred Gardaphé, Queens College/CUNY, A Matter of Friction Session 28: New Italian Migrations to the United States from 1945 to Present Part II Chair: Joseph Sciorra, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY 11

12 Laura E. Ruberto, Berkeley City College, Hot-Blooded Eye-talian : The Lascivious and Desperate Post World War II Italian Immigrant in U.S. Cinema John Allan Cicala, Wayne State University, A Moralizing Landscape as Scenography: Silvio Barile s Italian American Historical Artistic Museum Anthony Julian Tamburri, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College/CUNY, Rethinking Labels: The Italian Writer as Exemplar, or Distinct Categories as Quixotic Session 29: Alternative Italian Americana: Differential Models of the Italian American Experience Chair: Patrizia Famà Stahle, College of Coastal Georgia Carla Simonini, Loyola University Chicago, Joseph Napoli s memoir A Dying Cadence: Memories of a Sicilian Childhood (1986): Reflection of an Accidental Italian American Nancy Caronia, West Virginia University, You are my best maid : Gender and Diasporic Italian Women in Denise Giardina s Storming Heaven Michele Fazio, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Resisting Nostalgia: Revelations of the Family Archive 2:45-4:00 PM Session 30: Reading Italian Americana Memoir Chair: Nancy Caronia, West Virginia University Meghan Flaherty, New Jersey City College, Elijah: A Memoir of Mothering across Racial Lines Roxanne Christofano Pilat, Dominican University, Dough as Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Me Giovanna Miceli Jeffries, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Another Side of E/migration: Agency, Education, Effecting Factors in the Narrative of Second Wave Italian Immigration to North America Session 31: To Remove or Not, That is the Question? The Status of Italian American Monuments (Roundtable) Chair: Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, University of Arkansas Anthony Julian Tamburri, John D. Calandra Institute, Queens College/CUNY Marcella Bencievenni, Hostos Community College/CUNY TBA 12

13 Session 32: Athletics as of Form Cultural Integration Room: SCE 611 Chair: Stefano Luconi, University of Genoa Italy JoAnn Delmonico Luhrs, Brooklyn College/CUNY, Sports as a Tool for the Italian Immigrant to Cultural and Civic Integration Lawrence Baldassaro, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Tony Lazzeri: A Forgotten Pioneer Session 33: Italian American Culture and History: From National to Local Chair: Nancy Carnevale, Montclair State University Dennis Barone, University of St. Joseph, From Sicily to New England; From Anarchist to Baptist: Nunzio Vayana, Artist ( ) Lou Corsino, North Central College, Where Talent Finds a Sure Reward : Italian Immigration in Chicago Francesco De Salvatore, University of Illinois, Chicago, From the Bloody 20 th Ward to Camp Pompeii: Ethnicity, Delinquency, and Self-Help in Chicago s Postwar Little Italy 4:15-5:30 PM Session 34: The Rhetoric of Whiteness as Normal and Immigrant as Abnormal : An Analysis Using the Lenses of Critical Race Theory, Disability Theory, and Queer Theory Chair: Donna Chirico, York College/CUNY John Gennari, University of Vermont, The House We Live In: Italian Americans and Whiteness in the Age of Trump Joseph LoGiudice, CUNY, A Disability Studies Analysis of the Values and Beliefs of Conservative Italian- Americans toward Immigration Policy Michael Carosone, St. John s University, Through a Glass Queerly: Using Queer Theory to Analyze How Conservative Italian-Americans View Themselves as Normal and Immigrants as Abnormal Session 35: The Italian American Experience: Chicago a Pedagogical Canvas (Roundtable) Chair: Lyn Scolaro, Prospect HS, Prospect, IL Daniela Cavallero, DePaul University, Chicago Tour Lyn Scolaro, Prospect HS, IASHF Visitor s Guide Joe Monastero, Independent Scholar, Milano-Chicago s Italian Sister City Mariann Gullo, Casa Italia, Columbus Day Parade & Chicago Elio Bartolotta, Elio s Pizza on Fire, Using Food as a Pedagogical Tool 13

14 Session 36: Historical, Cultural, and Ethnic Diasporic Considerations Chair: Carla Simonini, Loyola University Chicago Caterina Ferrini, Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italian Historical Emigrants and Neoemigrants: A Generational Clash Matthew Reza, University of Oxford, They Stayed There and I Came Over Here : Italian Oral Cultures in the USA Joshua Hoxmeier, University of Illinois, Chicago, Traditional to Symbolic: Changes in Twentieth Century Italian American Ethnicity 6:30 PM Bus departs from Crowne Plaza to Club Lago 7:00-10:00 PM: FINAL BANQUET (Location: Club Lago, 331 W. Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654) 10:00 PM Bus departs for Crowne Plaza 14

15 52 nd Annual IASA Conference in Houston Call for Papers Defying Boundaries, Rais(az)ing Walls: Italian Americans Negotiating Borders in a Changing Ethnic Framework Location: Doubletree at Hilton, 6 E. Greenway Plaza; Houston, Texas, Date: October 31-November 3, 2019 Submission Deadline: Friday, April 26, 2019 Upload/submit proposals to Submittable after February 1: For inquiries, please contact the conference committee at: IASAConference19@gmail.com The Italian American Studies Association (IASA formerly the American Italian Historical Association AIHA) celebrates its fifty-second year of academic inquiry into all things Italian and Italian American. We welcome independent thinkers, scholars, and academics, past and present, to participate in its annual conference This year s conference theme will focus on borders, boundaries, and walls, both tangible and intangible that influence the lives of Italian Americans. We encourage the submission of organized panels of no more than three presenters, not including the chair and respondent, and creative writers and artists of three or more presenters. All presentations are limited to minutes based upon the number of people on the panel. Participation is limited to 3 presentations per panel; this may include academic papers, creative readings, and/or as a part of round table or respondent. If you are willing to serve as chair, please indicate that willingness in your cover letter. This is separate from your presentation(s). All presenters, respondents, and discussants must be members in good standing of the Italian American Studies Association by September 1, IASA encourages proposals in diverse formats, including round tables, debates, workshops, teaching sessions, and performances. We prefer fully formed sessions, although we also encourage people to submit individual presentations, as well as we encourage submission of individuals who would prefer to moderate or to comment. If this is your interest, please submit a CV and statement of areas of interest and expertise. We are especially interested in linking scholars across fields and we welcome participants from multiple disciplines, roles, and backgrounds. The conference committee will consider proposals that do not specifically address but may complement this year s conference theme. Guidelines for Proposals: Sessions will be 75 minutes, and we will ask the presenter to limit her or his remarks to minutes each, so there is ample time for Q&A and discussion. Proposals may be for one of three forms: Individual presentation, paper, or talk. Panel session or workshop, featuring multiple presenters. Performance, reading, or screening of creative work. 15

16 Proposals should include: Proposal title and a brief (250-word description) Suggested topic category (see list above) Brief biographical statement, affiliation, and Technology needs, if any. Possible presentation and panel topics may include but are not limited to the following: 'Old World' vs. 'New World' immigrants: Examining the Italian Diaspora from the past to the present The experience of the Southern Italians in Texas and the Southwestern United States Migrations beyond the East Coast: From the Port of New Orleans to the Port of Galveston Intersections with other ethnic communities of Texas and the Southwest; intersections with other ethnic/racial communities Maintaining ethnic traditions: St. Joseph s Day tables, folk music, feste Contributions to the visual and aural arts in crossing, defying, eliminating borders Italian-American literary and artistic productions in Texas and the Southwest: influences, settings, voices Keeping the faith in the land of liberation theology and Black liberation theology The influence of the Italian immigrants of the brain-drain on businesses and the professions as well as the established Italian Americans in Houston (and Dallas) The influence of mafias outside of the East coast moving west; the Mafia in NoLa/Galveston/Houston Italian Americans in the service (armed forces, NASA, etc.) from Basilone to Schirra to Pace The political and social dynamics of Italian migration, past and present, against the realities of communities of color, crossing borders today Sicilian Italians in Houston Calabrian Italians in San Antonio and Dallas For further information, please visit 16