April 3, 2027
Sponsored by Fitchburg State University’s Center for Italian Culture (CIC), the conference 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
- Art History, Visual Arts, and Architecture
- Borderland, Frontier, and Regional Studies
- Classical Studies and Archaeology
- Digital Humanities and Educational Technology
- Environmental Humanities and Ecocriticism
- Fashion, Industrial Design, and Material Culture
- Film, Television, and Screen Studies
- Food Studies and Gastronomy
- Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
- History (Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern, and Contemporary)
- Italian American Studies
- Italian Diaspora and Global Migration Studies
- Italian Jewish Studies / Judaeo-Italian Culture
- Italo-African and Postcolonial Italian Studies
- Journalism, Publishing, and Media Studies
- Law, Criminology, and Anti-Mafia Studies
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, and Italian Dialectology
- Literature, Philology, and Textual Studies
- Medical Humanities and Disability Studies
- Medieval and Renaissance Studies
- Mediterranean and Maritime Studies
- Music, Opera, and Sound Studies
- Performance, Theater, and Drama
- Philosophy and Critical Theory
- Politics, Policy, and International Relations
- Popular Culture and Graphic Novels (Fumetti)
- Religious Studies
- History of Science and Technology
- Southern Question (Meridionalismo) and Regionalisms
- Translation, Translingualism, and Reception 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 five 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. Panels with more than three papers will have to adjust paper length to accommodate additional speakers.
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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