Business Italian Students Publish Interviews on “Made in Italy” in Online Newspaper La Voce di NY

Why study Italian on our campus? What class-related projects can show Montclair State University students the professional relevance of Italian Studies in our area? In the fall semester of 2014, students in the Business Italian course, taught by Dr. Enza Antenos, and a student completing a Coop Ed in Italian under the supervision of Dr. Teresa Fiore had the unique opportunity to take part in a project called “Business Italian Style” whose main aim was to actively link the study of Italian to the Made in Italy sector in NY and NJ.

Eighteen students were split up into four groups by sector (food, design, art, and fashion), attended preparatory workshops with experts in the field (Maurita Cardone of La Voce di New York and Giuseppe Malpasso), researched their specific topic and created a set of questions in Italian for the interviewees (two per sector). The interviews took place over two days in both New York City and New Jersey, and were a wonderful opportunity for the students to really experience the world of design, food, fashion, and art, through seeing the interviewees in their own workplaces.

The final products were a subtitled video and an article in Italian for each sector: they have been published once a week during the month of February in the Italian online newspaper La Voce di New York. The Design group, in interviewing NYC-based Italian designer Gaetano Pesce and Federico Materazzi (VP of Poltrona Frau Americas), allowed students to see and analyze the influence of Italian creativity in our area, while the Food group interviewed Sabbia Auriti (The N Beverage Group) and Melissa Daka (Owner, Pastai Restaurant NYC) and delved into the meaning and relevance of “Italian” food, both imported and freshly prepared, in the New York and New Jersey areas. The Art group had the opportunity to speak with Cecilia Alemani (Director, Highline Art) and Laura Mattioli (Founder and Director, Center of Italian Modern Art) about the historical and contemporary status of Italian art, especially in the U.S. Finally, the Fashion group interviewed designer Tiziano Zorzan and Alberto Milani (CEO, Buccellati Americas), who discussed why the unique creativity of the Italian style and the adaptability of Italian practices work so well within the business-focused American market.

For a list of the articles in the four-part series published on La Voce di New York and a full description of the project including the names of all the students and video makers involved, the bios of the experts, and the educational objectives of the project see this webpage.

This project was spearheaded and sponsored by the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies.