Friday, June 9th, 19:30-21:00
Book Presentation
Gary Alan Fine – “Etnografia e Società”
Sociology Building, Kessler Room
In his remarkable career, Gary Alan Fine always managed to combine theoretical reflection, empirical research, and careful consideration for ethnographic methods. These are the three elements around which is organized “Etnografia e Società,” a book that collects some of the most relevant essays by Fine translated into Italian to introduce students to ethnography and qualitative research. Starting from this theme, the meeting will be an occasion to develop a discussion about the teaching of sociological theory and ethnographical methods.
Chair: Prof. Marco Marzano (University of Bergamo)
Speakers and book editors: Ghita Bordieri, Giovanni Zampieri (University of Padova)
Discussant: Prof. Andrea Cossu (University of Trento)
Special Guest: Prof. Gary Alan Fine
Video-Documentary Presentation and Discussion
Transmission and Transformation: An ethno-musicological study of the Italian-Canadian community of Toronto
Sociology Building, Room 20
An original video is presented as a result of an experimental inquiry carried out in Toronto from October 2018 through May 2019. The interviews with individuals from three historical migration waves address the topics of how problematic it is to acknowledge the common Italian denominator(s) toward a definition of music identity; what is nostalgic and what is ‘real’; how, and to what extent it is possible to recognize such common element(s) as part of today’s culture, through a fluid perception of space/time and temporality.
Two of the most relevant questions about the Italo-Canadian migration history are related to colonialism and diaspora awareness (for political, religious or economic reasons). The musical functions are connected with two different ways of understanding the process: the musical annexation of a new homeland and the reminiscence of the lost homeland.
Toronto is one of the cities with the highest density of Italian ethnicity in the world. Theatres, music hall, and schools of music, which are part of an extended social ritual participation, were built in the XX century, with the aid of large Italian workforce and labour. The adjective, “Italian” includes people from different regions, with their own specific language and dialect, without a consistent integration in-between.
This independent research is carried out in collaboration with ICAMus, The International Center for American Music.
The video screening will be followed by debate and discussion between the videomaker, Roberta De Piccoli, and the anthropologist Nicholas Harney. Nicholas Harney is Professor of Anthropology and currently Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Western Ontario. Prof. Harney investigates the social anthropology of urban life, migration studies and critical perspectives on global processes with a focus on Canada and Italy. He is the author of Eh, Paesan!: Being Italian in Toronto (University of Toronto Press) and The Lucky Immigrant: The Public Life of Fortunato Rao (CITD, University of Toronto/MHSO).”
Chair: Prof. Andrea Brighenti (University of Trento)
Author and speaker: Roberta De Piccoli (Conservatorio di Musica “G.B Pergolesi” di Fermo)
Discussant: Prof. Nick Harney (University of Western Ontario)