2011-2012 - The Italian Academy - Columbia University

often so critical to both art and politics in our complex times.
Assistant Director Allison Jeffrey continued to organize the Italy
at Columbia series, consisting of lectures given by distinguished
Columbia professors as part of their own classes but held in the
Academy’s theatre. It also continues to draw large crowds (so much
so that the lectures, once held in the library, have now had to be
moved to the theatre to cater to the large demand), and we are grateful
to our colleagues, Professors Elaine Sisman, Teodolinda Barolini,
Anna Ottani Cavina, Kristina Milnor, Joel Kaye and Richard Howard,
for their outstanding contributions to it. All of the lectures, of course,
relate to the continuing importance of aspects of Italian culture and
history in the modern world, as will be clear from the lists attached to
this report.
These lectures were supplemented by further well-attended
ones, organized by the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean,
which, under the direction of Professor William Harris, the noted
ancient historian, continues to be a valuable partner in the work of
the Italian Academy, as does the Columbia Seminar in Modern Italian
History under the very able direction of Professor Michael Blim.
Both institutions play a fundamental role in the study and understanding
of ancient and contemporary Italy respectively.
The symposium for the 2012 Holocaust Remembrance Day, our
annual tribute to those lost in the Holocaust, examined Nazi and
Fascist persecution of
homosexuals, and drew a
huge crowd who listened
to stimulating talks by
Edward Phillips of the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum and our own
Elizabeth Leake, Professor
of Italian at Columbia.
This event brought new
and broader audiences
to the Academy and we
received many compli-
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