Below you'll find Dr. Vettore's introduction to the Spring 2023 issue of Il Postino, the Graziadio Center's semesterly newsletter. To read the rest of this semester's issue, visit the Il Postino tumblr page!

A Letter on what’s new at the Graziadio Center

Dear friends of Il Postino,

Welcome the Spring 2023 issue of our newsletter!

Since the end of last semester (quite hectic!), the Graziadio has been working tirelessly on the main event of this semester: the biannual California Interdisciplinary Consortium of Italian Studies (CICIS), that will take place on February 24th and 25th, at the Anatol Center (and via Zoom). The topic of the conference is Hybridity.

The conference will open with Prof. Massimo Riva’s (Brown University) keynote address entitled, “Hybrid Musings: Pinocchio, The Future of Literature and Calvino’s Legacy”.

A PhD-in-progress roundtable will give four PhD candidates to discuss their projects each with a faculty Respondent will follow.

On Saturday, Feb 25, fifteen colleagues from the UC system, Chapman University, Scripps College, Stanford University, and Loyola Marymount University will give presentations on the topic of hybridity in all its declinations. The lineup of presenters is of the highest quality, and we expect the conference to be a success.

This semester, we will have the fifth iteration of our Telecollaboration with Roma3, while Joanna Tatro is working to ensure that the success of our summer abroad program in Recanati, Italy.

In this issue, you will find interviews with alumnus Giacomo Sproccati, and with short-term scholar Chiara Sala, who visited us last semester and has returned to Milan a few days ago. The faculty spotlight this semester is for our lecturer Sienna Hopkins!

Finally, you’ll have the opportunity to get to know Diego Brol Batres better, who became the new Graziadio Program assistant last semester.

To conclude, a note on Club Italia, that has a new lineup for this semester:

Victoria Bravo, President

Traneka Harris, Vice President

Antonina Campbell, Treasurer

This semester, the Club plans to meet every week, alternating between Tavola Italiana and a Practice Hour (for students who want to practice their Italian beyond the classroom). Club Italia will contact students and instructors soon with a list of activities/events.

Congratulations to old and new officers––we wish you a very productive semester!

And of course, a warm wish for a beautiful, productive, and exciting Spring semester to all of our students, colleagues, and readers/friends as well!