The Center for Italian Studies is pleased to host a lecture by Professor Rosetta Giuliana Caponetto of Auburn University titled:
From Garden to Table: Intersections between Italian American Gardening Traditions, Black Farming, and Southern Hospitality
In this lecture kitchen gardens provide the backdrop for an exploration of agricultural placemaking, the role of universities, and the power of philanthropy. More specifically, the talk focuses on several Italian American philanthropic endeavors at Auburn University, a land-grant academic institution located in Alabama. It examines the intersection between Italian American gardening traditions for self-sufficiency and the historical involvement of black Alabamians in farming as practice for self-sustenance. The lecture connects these agrarian traditions to academic institutions’ efforts to increase under-represented populations in their student body, as well as the role of outreach in their mission. Ultimately, this talk theorizes ways in which Italian Studies can stay relevant to innovative research, while also being advocate for change.
ROSETTA GIULIANI CAPONETTO is Associate Professor of Italian at Auburn University. Her areas of academic interests include Italy’s colonialism in East Africa, the Italian American diaspora, studies on nostalgia, food movements and activism. She is the author of Fascist Hybridities. Racial Mixing and Diaspora Cultures under Mussolini (Palgrave, 2015). A scholar of Somali descent, she is one of the co-editors of Longing for an African Future. Mal d’Africa, Somali Pain, and Afro Optimism (under contract, Routledge).
The event is sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and co-sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies.