Italian majors Alessandra Aziz, Pierluigi Sirio, Chiara Cardone, and Alex Ryon shared with their high school guests what led them to choose Montclair and the Italian Program for their studies. A picture emerged of a student-centered program, career prep courses, modules and projects, professional and cultural networking opportunities, and a warm sense of community among students. Pierluigi shared that he was happy to have transferred to Montclair because he gets to interact closely with each of his professors. Double major Alex (Italian and History) added that her Italian teacher and Montclair Italian alumnus, Robert Campana, had highly recommended the Montclair Program based on his own experience some years ago. Chiara highlighted how Drs. Antenos and Miele had hosted her for a day’s visit on campus, which led her to choose Montclair Italian. Lastly, Alessandra spoke about the warm and fun atmosphere created among students in the program through small classes, meetings, and events. In fact, Alessandra leads weekly culture and conversation gatherings funded by the Inserra Chair for Italian and Italian American Studies, the source of many cultural and educational opportunities for students, as is the Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America.

WHRHS teachers Balsimelli and Truong had this to say about their day in Montclair:

“The field trip was such a meaningful and enriching experience for WH students and teachers! Upon arrival, students were warmly welcomed by Professor Trubiano and several of her advanced Italian students for a conversation on their connections to the Italian language and an informative presentation about the undergraduate and graduate Italian program at Montclair. It was a valuable experience for our students to hear from their older peers and to share their own connections to the Italian language and culture.

The discussion with Professor Dini was highly engaging and offered students deeper insight into the film’s historical context and relevance to conversations about identity and immigration today. Furthermore, Professor Dini provided the students with a preview of an actual college lecture, offering exposure to university life, which was especially meaningful to the students heading off to college in the fall.

Overall, both students and teachers greatly valued the visit to Montclair, as it fostered intellectual growth while also strengthening social connections among students. The experience was especially meaningful because it gave students the opportunity to engage with and reflect on complex themes such as identity and immigration, deepening both their academic understanding and personal perspectives. We look forward to visiting again in the future!”

Their students added:

“I really enjoyed my experience at Montclair and being able to engage with the professors and students. I liked how they both introduced the Italian program at Montclair and how it can really benefit our college experience and help us with our jobs in the future. The students talking about their time at Montclair helped me realize the opportunities they give to their students and how I can continue my Italian in college. I also really enjoyed talking about the film we watched in class with one of the professors, going through the real meanings and our thoughts on the film. Overall, it was a nice experience at Montclair!!”
— Alexa, 11th grade

“I really enjoyed our trip to ����vlog. My sister just graduated from Montclair last spring, so I’m familiar with the campus, but learning about the Italian program felt like learning about an entirely different school. The trip opened my eyes to just how much Montclair has to offer. My favorite part of the tour was talking to the students because they were very welcoming and informative. It also made me feel more connected to the Italian program and to the school after talking to students who are actually a part of it. The classrooms were very nice, and I could tell by their size that Montclair makes sure students form a real connection with their professors. Overall, there was so much to do on and off campus, the learning environment seemed positive and welcoming, and the Italian programs were super interesting to hear about and seemed like so much fun.”
— Ella, 11th grade

“Montclair was so fun to visit. The Italian program is filled with passionate and welcoming teachers.”
— Ivana, 11th grade

“The field trip was very interesting and educational! I enjoyed meeting the Montclair students and talking to the professors.”
— Noa, 11th grade

“Leading up to the trip, I felt very nervous and anxious. I had just committed to Montclair, and prior to the field trip I had only attended an open house. Since I didn’t meet anyone from the Italian program there, I had no idea what to expect. What would lectures look like? What teaching styles would my professors have? The trip helped answer my questions.

The field trip not only eased my nerves, but also made me more comfortable with the campus. Italian is a less popular language at my school compared to Spanish, Mandarin, and French, let alone people pursuing it as a major. The trip solidified not only my choice of university, but also my decision to pursue a double major in Education and Italian, and it only made me more excited to attend in the fall. Hearing about the experiences of other Montclair students, including one who is double majoring in History and Italian, made me feel even more encouraged.

Overall, the experience made me feel more secure because it was a trip organized by my two current Italian teachers, and I loved being able to experience what a lecture may look like. The film we watched prior to the excursion sparked my curiosity, and it was great being able to dissect every little detail with the guidance of a potential future professor. I honestly wish it could have been a bit longer. I really enjoyed it, and I felt like it was an amazing first impression. It definitely helped persuade my friends to apply to Montclair during their senior year.”
— Genesis, 12th grade

For students who have already chosen ����vlog, the Italian Program can’t wait to welcome them. For those who have decided to pursue their undergraduate education elsewhere, we hope to welcome them back for the new ��Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Italian��graduate program and other graduate programs. We look forward to hosting WHRHS students again in the near future!

After a year of workshops, internships and shows in Sicily that have contributed to build a veritable cultural bridge between the Valley of the Temples and New Jersey, the Greek gods now also speak English! Their first American appearance was offered by an ensemble of talented Musical Theatre and Voice students of our campus, thanks to the impressive translation of one of the 2025 interns, Brianna Coppolino. A truly magical evening that gave the audience moments of introspection and emotion as they listened to the gods interrogating human beings about each others’ fate, with both humor and depth.

Video by Colin Keys

The musical, vocal and choral direction was entrusted to David Fraley of the Cali School of Music, joined by Marco Savatteri as visiting director. In five intense days of workshops, Savatteri guided a cast of sixteen students in understanding and interpreting the roles of classical myth, demonstrating how ancient themes can still be close to the sensitivity of generation Z. The cast included:��Grant Anderson (Poseidon), Eoin Betancourt (Dionysus), Elizabeth Caldon (Echo), Brianna Coppolino (Trojan mother, Hera), DJ DeJesus (Faun, Perseus), Zack Dooley (Orpheus), Madison Fair (Cassandra), Mia Grizzuti (Anake), Noelle Hammond (Bacchante), Lorenzo Hilliard (Narcissus, Apollo), Elizabeth Johnson (Aphrodite, Medusa), Jaxson Louhisdon (Hephaestus), Esther Olmo (Demeter), Desirae Powell (Athena), Diogo Ramirez (Ares), Tishaun Turner (Hermes).

led the workshop with his assistant Toti Maria Geraci, who wondrously turned into a white faun just moments before the show, and started hopping on and off the stage. Other members of the Savatteri company — Davide Maria Incandela, Giulia Tarantino, and Matteo Valentini — traveled to Montclair on a separate independent program. In the course of the week, they supported the American students in studying the libretto, accompanying them as their alter egos until the performance on stage. The elegant Leshowitz Auditorium of the Cali School of Music was enriched by select projected images of the musical in Agrigento, immersing the audience in the splendor of the temples and the Mediterranean landscape of Agrigento. In the audience, students, teachers, musicians and local residents experienced ancient and, at the same time, surprisingly contemporary theatre.

A CULTURAL BRIDGE BETWEEN SICILY AND THE USA

The project was born in 2024 during Marco Savatteri’s visit to the U.S., when Prof. Fiore (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies in the Italian Program) started a conversation with Prof. Lori McCann�� (Voice) and Prof. Ryan Kasprzak�� (Musical Theatre), two programs of excellence in the College of the Arts, where the internationalization of the curriculum is encouraged.

The objective of the project is to create a two-way exchange: to offer American students an international professional experience in an island rich in history, art, and natural beauty and to promote the Italian language and culture on campus. In the last two years, Savatteri has conducted workshops on immersive theater and “The Reawakening of the Gods,” while some students have participated in internships in Agrigento at Savatteri Produzioni. The Italian part of the project began with the summer 2025 internship of three Opera and Musical students — Mia Grizzuti, Emma Mason and Brianna Coppolino — who lived for two months in Agrigento spending their time in rehearsals, performances and tours of the area.

THE ENGLISH LIBRETTO

Besides an insightful exchange with the translator on stage, the performance was followed by a conversation with Mia Grizzuti, 2025 intern, who described the unique characteristics of performing in the musical in an archeological site and the transformative experience of being part of a different, yet familiar, culture for two months. And a few days before the performance Marco Savatteri, Prof. Fiore and Prof. McCann were interviewed about the project on ����vlog’s WMSC FM 90.3 radio, as part of an original program presented in an Italian café, Caffè Classico ().

FUTURE HORIZONS

After the success of the reading, the project now focuses on the 2026 edition internship with Tishaun Turner and Lorenzo Hilliard as interns, within a collaboration with Nexo Sicilia on logistics. Future prospects include an international production of “The Reawakening of the Gods,” in partnership with ����vlog, the Valley of the Temples Park and Savatteri Produzioni, combining classical tradition and contemporary innovation. A collaboration with the Center for Holistic Integration of the NYC College of Technology (City University of New York) for an immersive staging of the Temples abroad would bring visibility to the UNESCO site thanks to sophisticated visual projection, thus bringing the ancient myths into the present in ever new and modern forms.

This multi-part project entails an inter-college and international collaboration between ����vlog (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, Musical Theatre Program, the Cali School of Music) and , a musical theater company based in Italy. The related internship involves the��Office of International Academic Initiatives at ����vlog, Nexo Sicilia for logistical aspects in Agrigento, and the .

Short link:

Related events:

• March 2025: A workshop and auditions with Marco Savatteri
• Summer 2025 Paid internship program: Three MSU students perform in a musical in Sicily
• October 2025: Workshop and presentation about Summer 2025 internship (with Marco Savatteri and Toti Maria Geraci)��
• March 2026: Public Reading in English of The Reawakening of the Gods
• Summer 2026 Paid Internship in Sicily

Media coverage:

(28 aprile 2026)

(29 aprile 2026)

(28 aprile 2026)

Linked to a class on Italian American film taught by the director Dr. Fulvio Orsitto that explores issues of the mixed cultural identity of Italian immigrants and descendants in the U.S., the talk allowed the students to explore how this identity was further complicated as Italian descendants were sent back to Italy as fighting soldiers and governing officers of the AMGOT (Allied Military Government Occupied Territories). Included in President Roosevelt’s strategy of turning the American forces from enemies to relatives, this approach proved to be successful as illustrated in the Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (1944) and its film adaptation by Henry King (1945), which were at the core of Fiore’s talk for the attention they also pay to food availability during the war.

The second part of the talk was an interactive session in which students were invited to look at Fiore’s gallery of video clips about food practices around the time of the Landing. The students’ comments and questions about the interviews with direct witnesses of the war opened up a debate about content and methodological issues, from the differences in food access depending on social class and geographical location to the tension between actual experience and recollection, as well as institutional historiographic reconstruction and propaganda about hunger and feeding.

The talk was part of Fiore’s current sabbatical project titled��“Memories of the Landing,”��the in-progress documentary that she is working on in collaboration with Awen Films.

Blending excerpts from audiovisual archival material, literary sources, and original video-interviews with direct witnesses of the 1943 Allied Landing in Sicily, the presentation read a largely forgotten pivotal historical event of WWII through the lens of foodways. In Fiore’s approach, as a memory and narrative device, food allows for an alternate history of the liberation campaign through complicating both the myth of the Land of Abundance incarnated by the U.S. military forces and the image of a destitute Sicily that the Americans embraced.

Included in the Jerre Mangione Lecture Series and sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies, the lecture fostered a lively debate among graduate students and faculty alike with a mix of touching family recollections, intellectual curiosity towards the subject, and careful inquiry about the research methodology.

March 10, 2026 marked the launch of , a book co-translated from Italian by Dr. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, WLC Department). Written by Nikolai Prestia in Italian, this autofiction work was published by Rutgers University Press in the OVOI series (Other Voices in Italian). Enriched by a preface by Loredana Polezzi, a translator’s note by Teresa Fiore, and the cover photo by Lilia Pino Blouin created specifically for the book, the publication is part of a collaboration between the author and a mother-daughter translator duo, Teresa Fiore and Daniela Chaudhary Fiore.

Largely based on Prestia’s early life, the novel portrays the experience of the protagonist Kola growing up in 1990s Russia in a family marked by poverty, substance abuse, and neglect, which is the reason why Kola and his sister are eventually admitted into the orphanage system. Here, Kola comes face to face with a different but equally daunting challenge: navigating an unfamiliar and sometimes hostile world haunted by the absence of his mother. The ensuing journey, which eventually culminates in the adoption by an Italian family, alternates moments of both trauma and deliverance, while asking fundamental questions about our ability to reconcile ourselves with unfathomable loss.

Harrowing yet lyrical, Nikolai Prestia’s prize-winning 2021 novel is a testament to the duality of memory in its ability to both hurt and heal, and to the transformative power of those figures, adults and peers alike, who contribute to a child’s development. A rarity even in the realm of books on adoption, the novel serves up a wrenching glimpse into the back stories that often precede the adoption of an older child.

In Italy, the book was the winner of the Massarosa Literary Prize for Debut Novel, was long listed for the Comisso Prize, and short listed for the Premio Zocca Giovani. Originally published in 2022 by Marislio, it was reprinted in the prestigious Economica Feltrinelli series after several reprints. See some early .

Special thanks to Alessandro Vettori for embracing the proposal in 2022, Sandra Waters and Eilis Kierans for their wordsmithing as editors, Carah Nasseem, and the whole team at Rutgers University Press, for bringing the project into harbor. This project was also made possible through the support of presentations, workshops, and services by the Inserra Chair at ����vlog over the years.

Presentations of the book in Italian:
1. Online conversation with Nikolai Prestia at ����vlog (2022)
2. In-person presentation in Sicily (2024)

Part of the broader project launched by Dr. Fiore, titled Adoption Studies.

This ever-expanding site available in both and , and configured in mobile-friendly mode accessible via cell phone, is an aggregator of pre-existing forms of knowledge as well as new textual, video, and audio material, gathered in collaboration with professors of the University of Palermo (including the Agrigento branch, Polo Territoriale), environmentalist guides, chefs, photographers, architects, local residents, etc., and co-implemented with Ph.D. students Giacomo Frazzetta and Doğa Tekin. The project was co-sponsored by the Agrigento 2025 Foundation, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Region of Sicily, the Municipality of Agrigento, the Inserra Chair (����vlog), and UCLA, with the logistical support of the Municipality of Realmonte.

The project has already been covered in other media: , , and .

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Through an experimental narrative, the film tells the journey to the United States of the protagonist, a Sicilian woman forced to emigrate to the USA with an imposed arranged marriage, leaving behind a partner and her children. As such, the woman becomes “other” both with respect to the world she comes from and that of Lawrence, Massachusetts, in which she finds herself living after crossing the ocean. The theme of the video is highly relevant to the Agrigento 2025 dossier, entitled “The Self, the Other and Nature: Cultural Relations and Transformations” and places emphasis on the gender issue, in a province characterized by strong emigration, including female emigration, both in the past and today.

Maria Rapicavoli’s video work is an adaptation of the real story of a relative of hers, whose micro-history as “other” is intertwined with the US macro-history at the time of the Spanish flu epidemic and the great strikes that redefined the concept of work in the 20th century. From a philosophical point of view, Rapicavoli’s work is inspired by the words of Simone de Beauvoir in the essay “Woman as Other” which serves as the introduction to The Second Sex, a revolutionary book published in 1949: “It is not the Other who, by defining itself as Other, defines the One; the Other is posited as Other by the One positing itself as One. But in order for the Other not to turn into the One, the Other has to submit to this foreign point of view.”

Created in 2020, the two-channel version of the video had an extremely limited audience due to the impact of COVID on the art world, although it was screened in prestigious spaces. This installation in Agrigento therefore has a key role in making the video in the original version accessible to a wide and varied audience, for the first time in Italy and in particular in Sicily, which is one of the two locations of the story.

The opening of the installation takes place only a week after the in November 2025, a day at the General Assembly at the United Nations in 1999.

THE OTHER: A FAMILIAR STORY is a video installation included in the project called , as part of , with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Fondazione Agrigento Capitale, the Sicilian Region, the Municipality of Agrigento, and the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at ����vlog.

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The work was initially commissioned by The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, exhibited in collaboration with Westfälischer Kunstverein, and supported by the Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (now MIC) within the Italian Council Program.

Resources
Further information on this
Maria Rapicavoli’s
Maria Rapicavoli’s
project

Maria D. Rapicavoli was born in Catania and lives and works in New York. She obtained a Master’s degree in Art from Goldsmiths University in London (2005) and a degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania (2001). She participated in the Whitney Independent Study Program in 2012. In 2024 she was an Artist Fellow at the Swiss Institute of Rome. In 2023/24 she taught as an artist at the Children’s Museum of the Arts in New York.

She has exhibited in several group exhibitions (The High Line, New York; ICAMilano; Socrates Sculpture Park, New York; Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster; Magazzino Arte Italiana, Cold Spring, NY; Whitechapel Gallery, London; The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, New York; Villa Croce Museum, Genoa; Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin; Villa Croce Museum, Genoa; Palazzo Reale, Milan; Riso, Museum of Contemporary Art, Palermo; Palazzo Strozzi Foundation, Florence; Italian Cultural Institute in London and New York). She has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Italian Council Award VI edition (2019); New York Award – The Italian Institute and the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, New York (2021). For years she has been an associate artist at the prestigious Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York. For more information, see

Teresa Fiore holds the Inserra Chair of Italian Studies and Italo-American Studies at ����vlog (New Jersey, USA). She has also taught at Harvard, Yale and NYU. She is the author of the book Pre-occupied Spaces: A remapping of transnational migrations and Italian colonial legacies (Mondadori/Le Monnier 2021), which also addresses the topics of the Italian diaspora and gender, and of numerous articles on migration to and from Italy. In 2019 she was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy for her work in cultural diplomacy between Italy and the USA through a regular calendar of events(). She is currently working on a project on food practices during the Allied landing in Sicily in 1943 (Food, Hunger and Migration) and a project on the cultural representation of adoption (Adoption Studies Project). For Agrigento Capital of Culture 2025, she coordinated four programs within the project (a program on the SBARCO/Landing of the Allies in Sicily in 1943, a project of digital research on the Scala dei Turchi, an exhibit about the Italian citizenship law e videoinstallation about emigration and gender)

Dr. Fiore, a former Fulbright scholar, illustrated the work done at ����vlog in the field of internationalization of the education experience: from the focus on Made in Italy in the Tri-State Area with the BA in Language, Business, and Culture to the Translation Project which created unique internships in Italy for students specializing in subtitling and surtitling for the Performing Arts.

Fiore has highlighted two recent projects: her 2025-26 sabbatical project about the Allied Landing in Sicily, which has produced a , as well as the two-month internship in a Sicily-based musical for three Montclair State students of Voice, Musical Theater and Italian who have performed in Il risveglio degli dei in the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento for several magical dawns.

“Given the upcoming 250th Anniversary of the foundation of the U.S., there will be opportunities for collaborations to highlight the historical relationships between Sicily and the U.S. as well as relevant current projects,” Cook remarked.

When: Monday, September 22 at 6pm

How: Send an email to italy@liberationroute.com to get the Zoom link
The webinar will also be streamed through FB ()

Speakers:
Teresa Fiore (����vlog): “Telling the Story of the Landing through an Accessible Multi-media Approach”
Carmela Zangara (Associazione MEMENTO): “A Project to Recover and Enhance the Memory of WWII on the Central-southern Sicilian Coast”
Mirco Carrattieri (moderator)

Included in the broader initiatives of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, the webinar aims to illustrating the various languages used to remember the landing in the past, as well as this year, in order to give proper visibility to an event such as the Sicily Landing that deserves to have a more central role in the official narrative of the war.

Based on the questions from the audience, the debate that will follow intends to collect suggestions for future editions of the anniversary and for the creation of sightseeing routes. Please participate actively to make this rediscovery of the past dynamic and shared as a public history project!

In collaboration with Inserra Chair at ����vlog, , Municipality of Licata, , and .

Other resources: Mirco Carrattieri on WWII and Public History at ����vlog

 

After auditions held in March, two students were granted a scholarship to fund a two-month stay in Agrigento, rehearsing and performing with the Savatteri Produzioni company: Mia Grizzuti is a major in Musical Theatre (CART) and Brianna Coppolino is a Master’s student in Voice, Cali School of Music — they are both taking classes in the Italian Program. In love with the idea of performing in the magical Valley of the Greek Temples (), Emma Mason decided to participate through direct funding from Savatteri Produzioni, after her graduation (BA in Voice, Cali School).

Read the full story and see photos from the production at Inserra.