The Italian Program of the University of Pittsburgh and the Italian American Program of the Senator John Heinz History Center will co-host the 54th annual Italian American Studies Association Conference Oct. 27-29. 

Entitled “Mining the Diaspora: Italian-American Materialities, Archaeologies, and Intersections,” the conference’s theme examines the intersections of local, global and transnational settings, with emphasis on the connections, collaborations and contestations that exist between and among Italians, Italian Americans and other multi-ethnic and -racial groups. 

The conference, which was last held in Pittsburgh in 1996, will take place at the History Center and a various locations on Pitt’s campus.

“Not only a reference to our region’s history as a mining and manufacturing mecca in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this year’s theme also references the rich, raw materials found in our communities, which detail the local histories that enrich understanding of the Italian Diaspora experience,” said Melissa E. Marinaro, director of the Heinz History Center’s Italian American Program. 

Marinaro is part of the 2022 conference committee, which includes Nancy Ann Caronia of West Virginia University, Lina Insana of the University of Pittsburgh and Anthony Dion Mitzel of the University of Bologna. 

Programming activities for conference attendees include a walking tour of the Italian art in Oakland, as well as a pop-up museum exhibit at the Tito-Mecca-Zizza House in Uptown. Select programming is open to the public, including two pre-conference workshops on Oct. 27: memory writing and integrating archives into curriculum at the History Center, as well as the “Appalachian Writers Read” Oct. 28, at the Frick Fine Arts Building. 

Pittsburgh native Laura E. Ruberto of Berkeley City College will deliver the keynote lecture and Edvige Giunta of New Jersey City University will present the plenary address. 

For more information about Italian American Studies Association, visit its website.