Miami University

Africa/Italy symposium held at Miami Nov. 6-8

10/16/1998

b>OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami University will host Africa/Italy: An

Interdisciplinary International Symposium Friday-Sunday, Nov. 6-8, at the

Marcum Conference Center.

More than 30 speakers from the U.S. and other countries will present ideas on

the past, present and future historical, anthropological and cultural relations

between Italy and Africa.

"By some estimates, over the past two decades, a million or more African

immigrants have entered Italy, whose southern islands are only a few miles from

the north African coast, thus giving a new face to Italian society and adding

intriguing new dimensions to the future of Italian culture," says symposium

organizer, Dr. Sante Matteo, professor of French and Italian at Miami.

Graziella Parati, Italian, Dartmouth College, will deliver the keynote

address, "Black Italy: Representing Immigrants in Contemporary Italian Film,"

at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

Among highlights is a Saturday morning panel on Ethiopia and Italy with the

great-granddaughter of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Sellassie participating with

world-renowned experts Harold Marcus of Michigan State University, a historian

and Sellassie biographer; Assefa Mehretu, also of Michigan State, an Ethiopian

economic geographer and author; and Gian Paolo Calchi Novati of the University

di Pavia, Italy, an expert on African/Italian relations.

Presentations will be complemented by a premier performance Friday in English

of the Italian play, "An African Harlequin in Milan," at the Center for the

Performing Arts and Saturday performances by the Oxford Gourd and Drum Ensemble

and the Afrikan-American Drum and Dance Ensemble from Cincinnati.

The Miami University Art Museum will exhibit African, Roman, and Italian

artifacts from its collection. There will also be an exhibit of books,

artifacts, and images pertaining to Africa and Italy in the foyer of King

Library.

All presentations will be in English, except at the 5:30 p.m. Saturday

session, in which Pap Khouma and Armando Gnisci will speak in Italian. An

English translation of their texts and/or an interpreter will be provided.

The public is invited to any of the panels, the Friday night theatrical event,

and the Saturday night party without having to register. Meal tickets are $25

each. Full registration is $100, which includes meals and refreshments.

The symposium is made possible by contributions and support from the following

sources: Irvin Lecture Fund; department of French and Italian; office of

student affairs; office of the provost; College of Arts and Science; Black

World studies; department of political science; departments of history,

international studies, classics, geography, theatre, and sociology,

gerontology, and anthropology; film studies program; Miami University Art

Museum; Miami University libraries; and the Oxford branch of the NAACP.