The Future of an Immigrant Past: Italians in Canada Since Confederation

Description

The Pugliese-Zorzi Italian Canadian Studies Lecture Series

The lecture will present a brief overview of the settlement of Italians in Canada, beginning with those who arrived in the mid-nineteenth century when both sending and receiving societies were emerging nation states. From this introduction the presentation will review the state of Italian-Canadian Studies with a focus on the 1970s. This period has come to be seen as a type of  renaissance moment for this field in Canadian Studies despite (or perhaps because of) an initial characterization as a “frozen waste.” As will be seen, since the 1970s a significant body of scholarship has emerged from the study of various aspects of the Italian-Canadian experience,  a body of work that has flourished over a period of some forty years and which now includes virtually all of the humanities disciplines. This is an ideal moment, also, to reflect on directions for future scholarship as we pay tribute to the foundation of the Zorzi-Pugliese Italian-Canadian Studies course at University College and with it the creation of a new opportunity both to disseminate the results of previous scholarship and to encourage more of the same.

Reception to follow. The event is open to the public, no charge, first-come, first-served basis.

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