Center for Italian Culture (CIC) Conference on Italian Studies

The second annual conference will take place, in person, in Hammond Hall on the Fitchburg State campus on Saturday, April 3, 2027.
Inside a grocery store in Italy.

April 3, 2027

Sponsored by Fitchburg State University’s Center for Italian Culture (CIC), the Second Annual Conference on Italian Studies aims to advance the mission of the organization by encouraging the understanding and appreciation of all aspects of Italian language, history, and culture, including ancient and contemporary studies, and the Italian experience in the New World. 

The CIC is a dynamic, interdisciplinary center dedicated to the study, preservation, and celebration of all aspects of italianità. Through excellence in teaching, scholarship, the dissemination of learning, and community outreach, the CIC is a university and regional resource that advances Italian heritage and immigration through educational, cultural and social events and activities. In collaboration with the University, community, and other local and international organizations, the CIC provides innovative programming that connects, informs and inspires the communities of Fitchburg, North Central Massachusetts, and beyond. 

The committee invites submissions on any topic within the scope of Italian Studies. While we welcome panels organized around specific sub-themes, there is no overarching theme for this year's conference. We encourage scholars to submit their current, cutting-edge research regardless of specific subject matter.

Conference Details

Find details on the following topics below:

Paper and panel proposals are due January 8, 2027

The conference organizers welcome paper and panel proposals in Italian and Italian American studies broadly conceived, from a wide range of approaches and contexts. We encourage participation from colleagues working in, but not limited to, such fields as:

  • Applied Linguistics and Language Pedagogy / SLA
  • Law, Criminology, and Anti-Mafia Studies
  • Art History, Visual Arts, and Architecture
  • Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, and Italian Dialectology
  • Borderland, Frontier, and Regional Studies
  • Literature, Philology, and Textual Studies
  • Classical Studies and Archaeology
  • Medical Humanities and Disability Studies
  • Digital Humanities and Educational Technology
  • Medieval and Renaissance Studies
  • Environmental Humanities and Ecocriticism
  • Mediterranean and Maritime Studies
  • Fashion, Industrial Design, and Material Culture
  • Music, Opera, and Sound Studies
  • Film, Television, and Screen Studies
  • Performance, Theater, and Drama
  • Food Studies and Gastronomy
  • Philosophy and Critical Theory
  • Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
  • Politics, Policy, and International Relations
  • History (Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern, and Contemporary)
  • Popular Culture and Graphic Novels (Fumetti)
  • Italian American Studies
  • Religious Studies
  • Italian Diaspora and Global Migration Studies
  • History of Science and Technology
  • Italian Jewish Studies / Judaeo-Italian Culture
  • Southern Question (Meridionalismo) and Regionalisms
  • Italo-African and Postcolonial Italian Studies
  • Translation, Translingualism, and Reception Studies
  • Journalism, Publishing, and Media Studies
  • Urban Planning and Cultural Geography

Paper and panel proposals are due by January 8, 2027

All proposals must be submitted electronically to CICconference@fitchburgstate.edu. 

Please submit paper and panel proposals per the following instructions: 

  • For Individual Papers: proposals should be no more than 250 words.
    • Include title of presentation, name, affiliation, and email address of the proposer, plus a note on technical requirements.
    • Plan for paper presentations to be 20 minutes in length followed by a 30-minute question and answer period, for a 90-minute session.
  • For Panel Proposals: panel descriptions should not exceed 150 words.
    • Panels may include up to three participants; panels with fewer than three participants will be asked to consider submitting proposals as individual papers.
    • Submission for a panel must be made by the panel organizer on behalf of the group and must include all paper titles, abstracts (no more than 250 words each), and contact information (names, affiliations, and email addresses) of all panel members, including the organizer.
  • All sessions will last 90 minutes, with time in each session for a question- and-answer period. For panels with three papers, plan for paper presentations to be 20 minutes in length.

Once approved, papers, panels and sessions will be posted here on the CIC Conference on Italian Studies website.
 
Acceptance of a paper or complete panel implies a commitment on the part of all participants to register and attend the conference. See registration details below.
 
Paper/Panel Submission deadline: Friday, January 8, 2027

Registration is coming soon.

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