AAIS 2026 CONFERENCE

SASSARI, ITALY

JUNE 3-5

REGISTER HERE!

AAIS 2026: 

University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

June 3-5, 2026

Call for Conference Sessions (Now Closed)

The American Association for Italian Studies invites members to help shape the intellectual trajectory of the next annual conference by proposing panels and roundtables for AAIS 2026.

AAIS Theme: Precarity/Care/Liberation


Against the backdrop of an island with a rich history of resilience, migration, and cultural negotiation, the conference invites scholars to reflect on how Italian literature, cinema, art, politics, and history engage with conditions of vulnerability and instability, the ethics and practices of care, and the possibilities of collective and individual liberation. By gathering voices from across disciplines, the conference aims to foster dialogue about how these themes shape both Italy’s past and present, and how they resonate globally in times of uncertainty, inequality, and transformation.

Programming runs June 3-5th.

Keynote Presentation, Performances, and Addresses: "From Oblivion to Memory: Reckoning with Italian Colonialism and the Ethics of Listening"

Queen of Flower and Pearls: A Choreopoem: Performance by Gabriella Ghermandi  (Thursday June 4,2026)

Based on Gabriella Ghermandi’s acclaimed novel Regina di fiori e di perle (Queen of Flowers and Pearls), this narrative talk begins with the Ethiopian culture of storytelling, and continues the journey over time from Ethiopia to Italy. This event centers stories of Ethiopian resistance in the struggle against Italian colonial expansion under Fascism, and features readings, monologues, and songs performed by Ghermandi. 
Gabriella Ghermandi is a singer, performer, novelist and short-story writer, who uses storytelling and live performance to reach diverse audiences and foster mutual empathy. She was born and raised in Addis Ababa to an Italian father and Ethiopian mother. She later relocated to Bologna, Italy. Ghermandi is also the creator and lead singer of The Atse Tewodros Project, an artistic collaboration between Ethiopian and Italian musicians.

Yekatit 12 and the Descendants of Ethiopian Prisoners Of War in Asinara: Plenary Roundtable  (Friday June 5,2026)

This plenary roundtable illuminates the intertwined memories of the Yekatit 12 massacre, the deportation of Ethiopian prisoners to the island of Asinara and their histories of resilience. The event creates an unprecedented space where archival research, intergenerational testimony, and place-based memory meet. Participants include four descendants whose families lived the violence of Yekatit 12 and its aftermath: Sarah Nouvellon, whose family’s search in Sassari rekindled public awareness of the deportations; Meqdes Mesfin, bearer of a lineage scarred by imprisonment, torture, and survival; Yitna Firdyiwek, translator of his grandfather’s diary from Asinara; and Wassy Tesfà, whose ancestor endured deportation under extreme physical duress; Paola Fontecchio, an Asinara National Park guide whose historical stewardship enabled the recent return of prisoners’ descendants; writer and cultural mediator Gabriella Ghermandi. Moderated by Professor Loredana Polezzi.

 

AAIS 2026: Deadlines at a glance

  • November 15, 2025: open call for panels and roundtables (not pre-constituted panels or roundtables) must be posted DIRECTLY to the dedicated page on the AAIS website: please go to the Member Center and click on the Listings tab to start posting. Weekly reminders about CFPs will be sent to all members.

  • January 03, 2026: All proposals due to panel and roundtable organizers with title, brief abstract (150-200 words), and short bio.  

  • February 1, 2026: All completed panels and roundtables, as well as single paper proposals, are due here.

  • February 1, 2026: All proposed Conference participants must have renewed and current, active membership (with paid membership dues). 

  • March 1, 2026: Organizers will receive notification of panel acceptances 

  • Registration Deadlines TBD

 

In order for panels, roundtable and individual proposals to be considered, your AAIS membership must be current and active. 

  • You must renew your AAIS membership by February 1, 2026. 

  • Your Association membership will be valid until January 31, 2027. 

  • No panels will be accepted with participants who do not have active membership. 

  • All participants must register for the conference, and pay registration fees (different from membership dues). 

Please consult the Conference Guidelines for complete norms for organizers, chairs, and speaker. 

 

Conference Directors:

Lucia Cardone, Università di Sassari

Giulia Simi, Università di Sassari

 

AAIS 2026 Conference Planning Committee

Emanuele Carlenzi (Queer Studies Caucus; IMT, Lucca)

Cosetta Gaudenzi (Vice President, AAIS; University of Memphis)

Alessandro Giammei (Queer Studies Caucus, Yale University)

Claudia Karagoz (Women’s Studies Caucus, Saint Louis University)

Qian Liu (Critical Race, Migrations and Diasporas Caucus; Ohio State)

Nicoletta Marini Maio (Film and Media Studies Caucus; Dickinson College) 

Alessandra Montalbano (Queer Studies Caucus; University of Alabama)

Ellen Nerenberg (Past President, AAIS; Wesleyan University) 

Alessio Ponzio (Queer Studies Caucus; MacEwan University)

Jacqueline Reich (President, AAIS; Marist University)

Giulia Riccò (Critical Race Diasporas Migrations Caucus; University of Michigan)

Tania Rispoli (Women’s Studies Caucus; Duke University)

Robert Rushing (Executive Secretary, AAIS; UCLA)

Giulia Sbaffi (Queer Studies Caucus, University of Sterling) 

Carmela Scala (Treasurer, AAIS; Rutgers University)

Cristian Uva (Film and Media Studies Caucus; Roma Tre)