The wide-ranging ideas of Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) on history, culture and myth have had a profound influence on the humanities and social sciences.
In 2000, Canadian Senator Jerry Grafstein donated to York two rare, Italian volumes of Vico’s works that were originally published in 1746. Senator Grafstein garnered the support of Elvio DelZotto (LLB Osgoode and senior partner of DelZotto, Zorzi) who rallied Italian-Canadian business leaders to fund an annual lecture at York in memory of his law partner Fred Zorzi. This lecture series remains an important link between York University and the community, and particularly the Italian-Canadian community.
2023 Vico Lecture
Italy and the Black Mediterranean: Race, identity and citizenship
Date: Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Dr. Angelica Pesarini's lecture explored the presence of Italy within the Black Mediterranean, considered a racialised physical and symbolic space marked by histories of colonialism and diasporic memories.
Angelica Pesarini is an Assistant Professor in Race and Cultural Studies/ Race and Diaspora and Italian Studies at the University of Toronto. Her work seeks to expand the field of Black Italia focusing on dynamics of race, gender, identity, and citizenship in colonial and (post)colonial Italy.
Interested in the racialization of the political discourse on immigration, she is among the co-founders of The Black Mediterranean Collective, which published in 2021 "The Black Mediterranean: Bodies, Borders, and Citizenship". Dr Pesarini is the author of several essays and articles on issues of race in Italy and she co-translated into Italian "Undercommons. Fugitive Planning and Black Study" (Fred Moten and Stefano Harney) and "Blues Legacies and Black feminism" (Angela Y. Davis).
She’s active in the Italian anti-racist movement, and she is interested in the impacts of the Black Lives Matter movement in Italy. She is currently writing a monograph on the negotiations of race, gender and identity in former Italia colonies in East Africa.