Inserra Chair Teresa Fiore in TV documentary: Italian Americans of NY and NJ

Dr. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies) was featured in the TV documentary Italian Americans of New York and New Jersey hosted by Maria Bartiromo and aired in February 2015 as a companion to the national PBS broadcast The Italian Americans. The documentary includes interviews with NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio, former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, singer Tony Bennett, chef Lidia Bastianich, journalist Steve Adubato, actor/sculptor Vincenzo Amato, and Montclair native, opera singer Michael Fabiano.

Dr. Fiore’s contribution in the first part of the documentary focuses on the history of Italian New Jersey: the attractive quality of its rural and industrial economies for immigrant job seekers (15’21”); the role of immigrant workers in Paterson, the silk capital (16’28”); and the status of New Jersey as a state that is even more Italian than the State of New York in terms of the number of residents of Italian origin (35’51”). In the second part, she addresses current immigration from Italy – including the so-called brain drain – and the economic reasons behind it. In this segment, her position as Associate Professor and Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at Montclair State University is featured (44’44”). In mentioning the role of technology in keeping the link to Italy alive among Italian American youth, Dr. Fiore discusses her students’ dynamic ties to Italian language and contemporary Italian culture (48’59”).

To watch the entire videos of the two parts see the top right section of this page:
http://www.thirteen.org/italian-americans-ny-nj/