The Italian Program in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University is hosting an international conference on the “History and Geography of the Jewish Population in Italy and the Establishment of the Casa Editrice Giuntina in Florence” as well as a translation workshop from Italian to English. Both events will be in English, are free and open to the public, and will take place on Monday, March 20, in Wells Hall.

The events are being organized by Carmen De Lorenzo, Instructor and Coordinator of the Italian Program, and Valentina Denzel, Associate Professor of French.

The conference, scheduled for 3-4:30 p.m. March 20 in Wells Hall B243, will be offered in-person and virtually. The guest speakers for the conference are Gabriele Boccaccini, Professor of Second Temple Judaism and Early Rabbinic Literature at the University of Michigan, and Daniel Vogelmann, Founder of the Jewish publishing house Casa Editrice Giuntina in Florence, Italy.

During the conference, Boccaccini will give a historical and geographical overview of Judaism in Italy with an emphasis on fascism. Vogelmann will discuss the history and founding of Casa Editrice Giuntina, focusing on the goals and vision of this publishing house and the current intellectual and editorial situation of Jewish entrepreneurs and writers in Italy.

Prior to the conference, the translation workshop will be held from 10:20 to 11:30 a.m. March 20 in Wells Hall A334. Italian speakers and students with an intermediate to advanced-low level are invited to attend this workshop with language instructor and translator Anna Denzel, which will offer a short lesson on translation from Italian into English. During the workshop, a passage from Shulim Vogelmann’s biographical essay, “Mentre la città bruciava” (2004), on his life in Jerusalem published by Casa Editrice Giuntina will be translated.

Event Registration

Registration is required to attend either event.

For the international conference, please register at https://msu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJModOuqrT8iH9QpSmTLd1q7XYw-i7IOlvht.

For the translation workshop, please register at https://msu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcucO2vrjMrEtzwlEH-1Teb7c4YwbJtWhf_.

For more information on either the international conference or the translation workshop, email Carmen De Lorenzo at deloren5@msu.edu or Valentina Denzel at vdenzel@msu.edu.