Cultural Writing. The three essays in this volume originate from a symposium held at Florida Atlantic University, dedicated to the integration of the Advanced Placement exam within the teaching of Italian language and culture. Special emphasis was placed upon Italian-American culture, as shown in the essays included in INTRODUCING ITALIAN AMERICANA: "From the Old Country to the Old Neighborhood: Creating Italian American Literature," by Fred Gardaphe, State University of New York at Stony Brook; "From Italy to the New World: Italian Writers in the United States," by Paolo A Giordano,...

There has been an odd reluctance on the part of historians of the Italian American experience to confront the discrimination faced by Italians and Americans of Italian ancestry. This volume is a bold attempt by an esteemed group of scholars and writers to discuss the question openly by charting the historical and cultural boundaries of stereotypes, prejudice, and assimilation. Contributors offer a continuous series of cultural encounters and experiences in television, literature, and film that deserve the attention of anyone interested in the larger themes of American history.

This volume includes essays-from the Italian American Studies Network 2014 Conference-by Mary Jo Bona, Leonardo Buonomo, Marina Camboni, Ottorino Cappelli, Margherita Ganeri, Fred Gardaphe, Paul Giordano, Donatella Izzo, Djelal Kadir, Cristina Lombardi-Diop, Giorgio Mariani, Graziella Parati, Joseph Sciorra, Anthony Julian Tamburri, Maddalena Tirabassi, and Robert Viscusi.

East Liberty is a poetic, passionate coming-of-age novel spanning 1955 to 1963, set in an Italian-American neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Roberto (Bobby) Renzo, the novel's fatherless narrator and main character, lives with Francene Renzo, his beautiful, mysterious, and unconventional mother who gave birth to him out of wedlock. Together the two habitually watch vintage Hollywood movies on TV. Orbiting Bobby and Francene are the Catholic Church; Francene's gothic, judgmental, Neapolitan parents; and the dramatically shifting culture at large hurtling toward them.
While urged by the nuns at...