Wednesday, September 23, 2026
5–6:30 p.m.
Argyros Forum 201
Daniele Struppa (Ferrucci Institute Fellow)
Leonardo Fibonacci Encounters Emperor Federico II, Stupor Mundi
The year is 1225, the place is Pisa. Two of the greatest figures of Medieval Italy
meet, to discuss some new mathematical advances. One, the greatest Holy Roman Emperor
ever, Federico II known as Stupor Mundi for his wisdom, and culture. The other Leonardo
Fibonacci, a mathematician who authored the book that effectively introduced Indo-Arabic
numeral to Europe. In this talk I will try to recreate this encounter, the series
of events that led to it, and its consequences. No mathematical background is necessary.
Daniele Struppa is a former university President, professor of mathematics whose career
has spanned two continents (Milano, SNS Pisa, Calabria in Italy and then GMU and Chapman
in the US). He is author of more than 250 papers and books and the recipient of the
Ellis Island Medal of Honor and of Cozzarelli Prize from National Academy of Sciences.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
5–6:30 p.m.
Argyros Forum 201
Joel Kotkin (Chapman’s Center for Demographics and Policy)
Irene Lottini (The University of Iowa)
The Italian Artisan Economy and its Relevance in America’s Future
Recent years have witnessed the shift of young people towards tangible industry and local production and have registered a growth of craft centers in the OC, as well as in LA and the rest of the country. This may be a break towards the past but may also signal what the economy might look at in the post-AI era. The report will discuss the rise of artisan industries in the US, using the Italian experience as a model.
Described by The New York Times as “America’s uber-geographer,” Joel Kotkin is an internationally recognized authority
on global, economic, political, and social trends. His latest book, The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class, is now available in paperback. Mr. Kotkin is the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow
in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California, and serves as Executive
Director of the Center for Demographics and Policy. He is also a Senior Research Fellow
at the Civitas Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a regular columnist
for Spiked (UK), the National Post (Canada), and The California Post. In addition, he writes frequently for UnHerd, Quillette, the Los Angeles Times, National Review, City Journal, The Daily Telegraph, and The Spectator, among many other national and international publications.
Irene Lottini is an Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of Iowa where
she serves as the head of the Italian program. Her main research interests include
Italian silent, modern, and contemporary cinema, Italian American cinema, the relationship
between film and other art forms, and the intersections between Italian culture and
business. Her publications include the co-edited volumes and essays on Italian literature,
theater, 1910s cinema, modern and contemporary film.
Wednesday, February 24, 2027
Argyros Forum 201
5 – 6:30 p.m.
Chiara Mazzucchelli (University of Central Florida)
Paper Boats: Literature, Memory, and the Ocean
What stories does the ocean carry? In this talk, Chiara Mazzucchelli explores the
ways Sicilian writers transformed the experience of the Great Emigration to the United
States at the turn of the twentieth century into a powerful literary archive of memory,
loss, and belonging. Drawing on her recent book Paper Boats, she examines how authors including Giovanni Verga, Luigi Capuana, Maria Messina,
and Luigi Pirandello responded to this unprecedented movement of people, revealing
how the ocean became more than a physical passage and emerged as a space where identities
were reshaped, families were divided, and new visions of home took form.
Chiara Mazzucchelli is Professor and Euliano Chair of Italian Studies at the University of Central Florida, where she directs the Italian program and teaches courses on Italian language and culture as well as seminars on Italian and Italian-American literature. From Spring '17 to Fall '21, she served as the Associate Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, and in 2019-2020, she held the position of Provost Faculty Fellow at UCF. She is the author of Paper Boats (SUNY Press, 2026), Bastimenti d’inchiostro (Edizioni Kalós, 2024) and The Heart and the Island (SUNY Press, 2015) and has contributed articles to journals such asItalica, Nuova Prosa, Forum Italicum, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, and Altreitalie. From 2009 to 2018, she was Editor-in-chief of the semi-annual peer-reviewed journal Voices in Italian Americana-VIA.
Wednesday, March 21, 2027
5 -6:30 p.m.
Argyros Forum 201
Emily Carman (Ferrucci Institute Fellow)
Emma Harvie (Ferrucci Emerging Creative Scholar)
Transitional Divas: Italian Female, Stars in Postwar American Cinema
Emily Carman is an associate professor of film and media studies in the Dodge College
of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University, specializing in American cinema and
media history and historiography. Her published books include Independent Stardom
(University of Texas Press) and Hollywood and the Law (BFI press). Since 2012, she
has led a travel course to Bologna, Italy that brings Chapman students to the Il Cinema
Ritrovato Film Festival, a leading venue for global film restorations. The development
of this course traces back to Dr. Carman's time as an intern at the Cineteca di Bologna's
L'immagine Ritrovata film lab and her work for various archival and cultural institutes
in Los Angeles (including the Academy Film Archive, UCLA Film and Television Archive,
and the USC Warner Bros. Archives). Her published work on postwar Italian female film
stardom appears in the Quarterly Review of Film and Video and she has presented her
research on stardom and film history at the European Network for Cinema Studies at
the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan.
Emma Harvie is a Film and Media Studies major at Chapman University. As a Ferrucci Emerging Creative Scholar, she explores intersections of Italian culture, cinema, and gender studies through interdisciplinary research. Her work as an intern with the American Film Institute Catalog has furthered her interests in film history, research, and archiving. Beyond academics, Emma serves as president of Chapman University’s Film Society, a weekly screening club dedicated to expanding access to minority and arthouse cinema. She also supports undergraduate scholarship and mentorship as a Student Scholar Ambassador for the Center of Undergraduate Excellence.
Windows to Italy Series 2026-2027!
