Research Guides: Italian American Studies guide: Introduction

Welcome

Italian American Studies is the examination of the history of Italians in the United States, in particular the mass migration period of 1880-1920. The purpose of this research guide is to introduce Queens College students to the variety of sources available as one begins research in Italian American studies at our library, and to point out some of the seminal books and media on this topic.

To understand what books are available on your topic, you can search doing a keyword search in our library’s OneSearch discovery tool, typing ‘Italian American’ and a key term (such as stereotypes, religion, culture, demographics, etc.), which should yield a number of books on the subject that the library owns. Bibliographies on Italian American studies, are useful for advanced students and researchers, with the most important published ones by Giovanni Schiavo (1947), Olga Peragallo (1949), Francesco Cordasco (1974 and 1978), and Fred L. Gardaphe (1995 and 2000).

Highlighting Our Faculty

Queens College's Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies, Dr. Fred Gardaphe, has published an overview of Italian-American Literature appearing in Oxford Bibliographies Online.

Fred L. Gardaphe earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1976), a Master’s Degree in English at the University of Chicago (1982) and his Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago (1993) with an emphasis on cultural criticism and American multicultural literature.

A leading expert in the field, Gardaphe is Distinguished Professor of English and Italian American Studies. He directs the Italian American Studies Program at Queens College, City University of New York and also works at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. Previously he helped to create the Italian American Studies program at Stony Brook University, which he directed from 1998-2008. He taught five years at the high school level before taking a position in English and Educational Studies at Columbia College in Chicago. At Columbia College he created and taught writing, literature courses and courses in Italian American film and literature from 1978-1998.

Distinguished Professor in English and Italian American Studies
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Room 1700
212-642-2037
Fred.Gardaphe@qc.cuny.edu

Published Books

From Wiseguys to Wise Men by Fred Gardaphe
ISBN: 9780415946476
Publication Date: 2006-03-03
The gangster, in the hands of the Italian American artist, becomes a telling figure in the tale of American race, gender, and ethnicity - a figure that reflects the autobiography of an immigrant group just as it reflects the fantasy of a native population. From Wiseguys to Wise Men studies the figure of the gangster and explores its social function in the construction and projection of masculinity in the United States. By looking at the cultural icon of the gangster through the lens of gender, this book presents new insights into material that has been part of American culture for close to 100 years.
Anti-Italianism by William J. Connell (Editor); Fred Gardaphe (Editor)
ISBN: 9780230108295
Publication Date: 2011-09-28
There has been an odd reluctance on the part of historians of the Italian American experience to confront the discrimination faced by Italians and Americans of Italian ancestry. This volume is a bold attempt by an esteemed group of scholars and writers to discuss the question openly by charting the historical and cultural boundaries of stereotypes, prejudice, and assimilation. Contributors offer a continuous series of cultural encounters and experiences in television, literature, and film that deserve the attention of anyone interested in the larger themes of American history.
ISBN: 0791485978
Leaving Little Italy explores the various forces that have shaped and continue to mold Italian American culture. Early chapters offer a historical survey of major developments in Italian American culture, from the early mass immigration period to the present day, situating these developments within the larger framework of American culture as a whole. Subsequent chapters examine particular works of Italian American literature and film from a variety of perspectives, including literary history, gender, social class, autobiography, and race. Paying particular attention to how the individual artist’s personality has intersected with community in the shaping of Italian American culture, the book reveals how and why Italian America was invented and why Little Italys must ultimately disappear.

Published Articles

Beyond Columbus: An Italian American Wake Up Call
This article discusses the relationship between Italian American culture and the celebration of Columbus Day in the United States.
We Weren’t Always White: Race and Ethnicity in Italian/American Literature
Italian-American Literature and Working-Class Culture