Teresa Fiore Invited to Give First Jorizzo Lecture at Wake Forest

Dr. Teresa Fiore (Professor of Italian and Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies) was invited to give the first Jorizzo lecture at Wake Forest on Oct. 21, 2019. Entitled “Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies” and based on Fiore’s book by the same title, the lecture inaugurated a new series made possible by the generosity of Joseph and Irene Jorizzo (to the right of Dr. Fiore in the photo above) with the aim of bringing scholars of past and present Italian migrations to the Wake Forest University campus.

Organized by faculty member, Dr. Silvia Tiboni-Craft, the lecture was introduced by Wake Forest University Provost Rogan Kersh, and delivered to a packed room of students, faculty from different departments, as well as community members. The lecture was followed by a lively debate on issues ranging from the Italian citizenship law to the relationship between the Italian Southern question and emigration, and the tension between Italy and the E.U. in the response to immigrant arrivals across the Mediterranean.

‌‌Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies was published in 2017 by Fordham University Press in the Critical Studies in Italian America series. It was awarded the 2017 AAIS Book Prize, received an Honorable Mention at the 2018 MLA Marraro Prize, was voted Runner Up Winner for the 2019 Edinburgh Gadda Prize and was nominated for the 2018 Bridge Book Award. It continues to be the subject of invited lectures both in the U.S. and in Italy (see list).

Official announcement on the Wake Forest website

Book’s official webpage (prizes, reviews, presentations)