Description
Book SynopsisThe Casa Italiana has represented Italian culture on Columbia University’s campus since 1927. Celebrating the Casa’s ninetieth anniversary,
From Da Ponte to the Casa Italiana documents and recounts the history of the individuals, both Italian and American, who contributed to the formation of Columbia University’s rich tradition of Italian studies.
Trade ReviewWritten with admirable clarity, Barbara Faedda’s beautifully told story reveals the hopes, tensions, politics, and personalities behind the creation of Columbia’s Casa Italiana, one of New York’s most vital—and sometimes controversial—cultural and educational institutions. -- David Freedberg, Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art and director of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University
Since its inauguration in 1927, the Casa Italiana at Columbia University has represented the vibrant intellectual, academic, political, and cultural connection between Italy and the United States of America. This important work [is]...a significant initiative that sheds new light on Italy's historical and contemporary role on the international cultural scene. -- from the foreword by Armando Varricchio, Ambassador of Italy to the United States
Barbara Faedda magisterially illuminates Italy's vibrant and complex cultural presence in New York, using primary sources to trace the story of Italian studies at Columbia University from Da Ponte to the inauguration of the Casa Italiana through World War II. She thereby illuminates Columbia's early commitment to transcultural dialogue, a hallmark of both the university and the city to which it belongs. -- Teodolinda Barolini, Lorenzo Da Ponte Professor of Italian, Columbia University
Through the history of Italian studies at Columbia University, Faedda clearly displays the key role played by the Casa Italiana in consolidating the long-time relationship between Italy and the United States from the beginning of the twentieth century to World War II. Faedda’s history is crucial in grasping the cultural and political peculiarities of this relationship. -- Paolo Carta, University of Trento
Table of ContentsForeword, by John H. Coatsworth, Provost of Columbia University in the City of New York
Foreword, by Armando Varricchio, Ambassador of Italy to the United States
Foreword, by Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City
Introduction
1. The Dawn of Italian Studies at Columbia University: Lorenzo Da Ponte (1825–1838)
2. After Da Ponte: Eleuterio Felix Foresti and His Successors (1838–1911)
3. The Casa Italiana: The Realization of an Ambitious Dream (1920s)
4. Prezzolini, Controversial Casa Director, and World War II (1930s and 1940s)
Appendix A: From Lorenzo da Ponte to Charles V. Paterno:
Libri Italiani at Columbia University, by Meredith Levin
Appendix B: Anatomy of the Casa Italiana’s Façade, by Francesco Benelli
Appendix C: The Casa Italiana Educational Bureau: A Research “Fact-Finding Institution” Studying the Italian-American Community, by Javier Grossutti
Acknowledgments
Notes
Color Plates
