As a comparative scholar from an Italian Studies department - and a person without any Italian blood whatsoever - the concept of "Italian-American Studies" has always eluded me. Until Friday, that is, when I visited the John D. Calandra Institute (CUNY) for the conference - "Re-thinking Italian American Studies".
I found myself considering the way a hybrid definition of identity - entirely removed from either national political context - presents a challenge to the idea of an "imagined community" as shaped by geographic or linguistic borders.
I wrote on a piece on the opening panel discussion for i-Italy.org.
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