Given the goal of this original radio program, which literally brings our students and equipment to the nearby community to connect with local listeners and boost MSU engagement off campus, WMSC chose an Italian spot, in Pompton, NJ. The interviewer, Allen Macaraeg, addressed questions to Prof. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, Italian program, CHSS), Prof. Lori McCaan (Voice Program Cali School, CART) and our special guest from Agrigento, in the region of Sicily, composer and director , to explore the different aspects of this exciting multi-phase initiative.

In the course of a lively exchange with Allen, Fiore explained the history of the project, born from Savatteri’s first visit on campus in Nov. 2024, and unfolding through three workshops with our students, a two-month summer internship in Sicily for three Opera and Musical Theatre students in 2025, and the March 27, 2026 Public Reading bringing together members of the Savatteri company and MSU students. McCann, also on behalf of Prof. Ryan Kasprzak (Musical Theatre, CART) highlighted the importance of the internationalization of the curriculum for Montclair State students in the Performing Arts, especially those in Opera and Musical Theatre: Italian constitutes a key language for their training and career opportunities.

Savatteri commented on the ancient and yet incredibly contemporary content of a musical that carries the timeless lessons of classical mythology. Precisely because of this eternal quality, Savatteri was excited to bring the musical from the UNESCO World Heritage site The Valley of the Temples of Agrigento – where the show is presented in front of the 5^th-century BC Tempio della Concordia – to the United States and have it speak English, thanks to the translation of the 2025 intern and Opera student, Brianna Coppolino. Her precise and poetic version was completed under the supervision of Prof. Trubiano (Italian program) and encapsulates the type of translation of knowledge, talent, experience, languages and cultures that the overall initiative activates in three departments (Musical Theatre, Voice at the Cali School of Music, and Italian), two colleges (CART and CHSS), two kind of entities (public university and private company ) and effectively locations in two continents, Montclair (USA) and Agrigento (Italy).

Sponsored by the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies, in collaboration with the Cali School of Music, the , , and , this international intercollege initiative reflects the Expand Reach and Amplify Impact commitment of ����vlog’s mission: “Increase global engagement by creating international experiences, broadening access to Montclair programs and promoting a global mindset.”

Special thanks to Communications and Media major, Allen Macaraeg, and his team of students from the award-nominated WMSC radio, supervised by Annabella Poland, who joined at Cafè classico for a cappuccino. And a special “grazie” to the owners of Caffe classico for their hospitality and generosity. It’s always nice to find arancine and cannoli on the other side of the Atlantic after a long flight from Sicily!

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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.

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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City Hall of Agrigento, Piazza Pirandello, 1 – Multimedia room (inside the atrium on the right)
December 1-31, 2025 Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Saturday 10am-1pm
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Guided tour: Sunday Dec. 28 at 5:30pm in the courtyard of City Hall, Agrigento. The main actress, Lucia Cammalleri, originally from Canicattì (Agrigento) will be in attendance. A light thematic tasting will be prepared by the pastry baker Federica Farruggia (Casa Barbadoro). We will write postcards to the artist currently in New York City.

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.

This work by Maria Rapicavoli is inspired by the words of Simone de Beauvoir in the 1949 essay “La donna like other:” its opening to the public takes place only one week after the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999.

The other: A familiar story is an installation included in the SPONDE project, within Agrigento Capital of Culture 2025, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Agrigento Capitale Foundation, the Sicilian Region, the Municipality of Agrigento, and the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at ����vlog.

Dr. Fiore shared information about the condition of Italian Americans at the time of Pearl Harbor and described their paradoxical experience of being at once “enemy aliens” in 1942 and supporters of the military efforts with the drafting of large numbers of soldiers of Italian descent, while also being concerned about the fate of their relatives back in the country of origin, since Italy was an enemy up to the Landing. Dr. Fiore also illustrated how the 82nd anniversary of the Landing was celebrated in Licata as part of the programs of Agrigento Capital of Culture 2025. Since the main topic of the evening was indeed the cultural value of the memory of the Landing as part of public history projects, she provided a model that embraces a multi-disciplinary approach in line with the mission of and its Italian chapter, (see SBARCO).

Based on her sabbatical research on foodways at the time of the Allied Landing in Sicily (1943), the paper revises the narrative of the American forces feeding Sicilians through the use of eighteen interviews with direct witnesses and scholars sharing stories about the stark contrast between the local wartime food and the industrial food brought by the soldiers from the US. See webpage.

Prof. Cinotto introduced Dr. Fiore’s talk providing special insights into the impact of the landing in Italy in terms of U.S. control of the economic and socio-political sphere.��The students’ questions during the Q&A revealed a keen interest in historical issues, in methodological aspects linked to oral history, and in the encounter of cultures during wartime.

UNISG has an institutional commitment to videos about food. Its film archive directed by Dr. Gabriele Proglio, is devoted to oral history about food, food history, food practices, etc.

UNISG is a private university linked to Slow Food, the movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Focused on food and sustainability, the academic approach privileges collaborative hands-on projects ranging from cooking, cook-book writing, market visits, food history research, eco-agronomy techniques, etc.

The UNISG campus is a World-Heritage (UNESCO) site with its distinctive historical buildings, imposing towers, elegant courtyards, printing office for student-managed publications, student-tended fruit and vegetable gardens, and a unique cafeteria that largely relies on the produce cultivated on campus. All under the watchful eye of the snail, the Slow Food symbol, under no time pressure.

Join us now for a series of programs this mid-October, from presentations to a workshop and master class led by the creator and director of the musical, Marco Savatteri, and one of the actors, Toti Maria Geraci, with the participation of the three students. Meanwhile, the translation of the musical script is in the works in connection to a class taught by Prof. Trubiano, and will be the basis for a reading on campus scheduled for Spring 2026.

The internship was designed by Prof. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair) and co-organized with Prof. Lori McCann (Voice Program, Cali School of Music), in collaboration with Prof. Ryan Kasprzak (Musical Theatre).

See the flyer below for all the details or access the webpage.

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.

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).

Mia Grizzuti, Emma Mason, and Brianna Coppolino

Read about: BRIANNA’S EXPERIENCE�� �� MIA’S EXPERIENCE �� EMMA’S EXPERIENCE

The students have also been invited to take part in other shows regularly presented by the Savatteri company (Bianca Lancia, a musical about Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II’s legendary lover; and Scopri il teatro, an interactive show about the history of Agrigento’s Teatro Pirandello), but also new productions including in the opera genre, in which Marco Savatteri moved his first yet very convincing steps (Mascagni’s��Cavalleria Rusticana presented in Enna and at the breathtaking Teatro Classico of Taormina in mid-August).

Video: Footage and editing by Colin Keyes

️“This program has changed us as artists, students, and people: adaptability, cultural and linguistic enrichment, challenges and creative answers, as well as the pleasure of a slow pace of life in Agrigento, are part of this extraordinary experience – stated the three students, visibly moved. “Performing in front of the Temple of Concordia with our voices echoing through the columns dating back to the 5th century BCE was an exhilarating feeling.” This emotional and professional journey reached its most intense expression when Mia and Brianna were assigned the solo part at the end of two separate show, and beautifully interpreted the role of Fate.

Lori McCann, Brianna Coppolino, Emma Mason, Mia Grizzuti, Teresa Fiore, and Marco Savatteri

“This program serves as an ideal model of collaboration between academia and the world of musical theater, between faraway places working closely together such as Agrigento and Montclair, between artists who speak different languages and share knowledge, giving voice to a show imbued with ancient yet still very topical stories that explore the relationship between humans and gods. We make joint decisions to lead this program, attending to the affective dimension, and seeing in it a sacred experience: an example of peaceful sharing in a world increasingly permeated by conflicts” – said Prof. Teresa Fiore (Inserra Chair, WLC Dept., CHSS), Professor Lori McCann (Voice, Cali School, CART), and , who have woven together this international summer program along with Ryan Kasprzak (Head of the Musical Theatre Program),��in collaboration with the Office of International Academic Initiatives at ����vlog.

An infinite thank you to Mr. Inserra for his great generosity, to Maestro Savatteri with his tireless genius and sensitivity, to Savatteri Produzioni for the precious logistical support, to the company for the warm welcome, to Ente Parco della Valle dei Templi, and to Agrigento Italian Capital of Culture 2025.

Photo credits: Elena Dibattista and Irene Zunardi.
Program description: click here
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Ex-carcere di Agrigento/Former Prison of Agrigento (Via S. Vito, 45, 92100 Agrigento, Italia)
Oct. 31 – Nov. 28, 2025 (EXTENDED THROUGH DECEMBER 21) FULL DESCRIPTION IN ITALIAN

Diritto di sangue/Rovescio di sangue (roughly translated as Right of Blood/Wrong of Blood) is an exhibit by New York- and Rome-based artist Marina Sagona encompassing 14 prints with paint touch-ups and a 20-minute video with interviews with people who have obtained or would like to obtain Italian citizenship. The exhibit addresses the contradictions of the Italian citizenship law by highlighting how it is available by right to Italian descendants living abroad, even though they have vague or absent ties to the Italian language and culture, while it is challenging to obtain for immigrants living and working steadily in Italy or their children born in Italy. Using as a background the notion of circularity of migration from/to Italy developed by Teresa Fiore in her research, the exhibit adopts the perspective of the artist herself as an U.S.-naturalized Italian citizen.

(Rome, 1967) is an Italian-American multimedia artist. After her studies in Rome, she was an assistant to artist Mario Schifano. In 1995, she moved to New York, where she began working as a illustrator for The New York Times and The New Yorker; directed the contemporary art department at FIAC (Foundation for Italian Art and Culture); and co-curated the exhibition Dante Ferretti: Design and Construction for the Cinema at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in 2014. She was an artist in residence in Galatina (Domus, 2019) and Barcelona (Chiquita Room Gallery, 2021). Sagona’s work is expressed through diverse media such as video, sculpture, and installation, and her artistic journey focuses on the dynamics of communication, shared identity, and the collective unconscious (see her audiovisual works: Stabat Mater, Self-Portrait and Your Dream Is My Dream).��

Teresa Fiore is Professor of Italian and Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at ����vlog, New Jersey. The recipient of several fellowships (De Bosis, Rockefeller, Fulbright), she has held Visiting positions at Harvard, Yale, NYU, and Rutgers University. She is the author of the pluri-awarded book Pre-Occupied Spaces: Remapping Italy’s Transnational Migrations and Colonial Legacies (Fordham UP, 2017), the co-editor of the section “Italy and the Euro-Mediterranean ‘Migrant Crisis’” in the Journal of Modern Italian Studies (2018), and numerous articles on migration to/from Italy.

Diritto di sangue–Rovescio di sangue is included in a broader project called , as part of , with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture, Agrigento Capitale Foundation, the Region of Sicily, the Municipality of Agrigento, and the Inserra Chair in Italian and Italian American Studies at ����vlog, with the hospitality of , and the collaboration of ,��and .