Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & LAS, University of Toronto

05/28/2026

Congratulations to ISPLAS PhD candidate Beatrice Bruno on the publication of her first book, “Il narratore inaspettato. Sciascia, Einaudi e la nascita di uno scrittore Italiano.” (The Unexpected Narrator. Sciascia, Einaudi and The Birth of an Italian Writer” (Editpress, Florence).

Through letters, publishing contracts, and previously unpublished archival materials, the book retraces the literary and editorial journey of Leonardo Sciascia (1921 – 1989), from an unknown elementary school teacher in Sicily to one of the most influential voices in twentieth-century Italian literature.

From Laterza to Einaudi, two major Italian publishing houses, and through figures such as the Italian novelists and writers Elio Vittorini (1908 – 1966) and Italo Calvino (1923 – 1985), Beatrice Bruno reconstructs the encounters, editorial choices, and unexpected turns that shaped the making of a writer.

Alongside her doctoral research at the University of Toronto, Beatrice contributes to the Sciascia Archive Project, an initiative dedicated to organizing and promoting archival and journalistic materials related to Sciascia in Canada.

A remarkable achievement and an important contribution to Italian literary and publishing history.

The book is available on the publisher’s website: https://www.editpress.it/catalogo/il-narratore-inaspettato/.

05/28/2026

The Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies at the University of Toronto, together with the Università per Stranieri di Siena and Christ Church College at the University of Oxford, is inviting submissions for the third international conference “Queer Kinship: Migrations, Diasporas, Communities.”

Scholars, activists, artists and community leaders are encouraged to submit proposals exploring q***r and trans kinship, migration, transnationalism, colonialism, racialization and ethnicity.

The conference will feature keynote speakers Dr. Joseph M. Pierce and Liana Cusmano (Luca/BiCurious George).

Submission deadline: June 20, 2026.

More information:
www.q***rkinshipnetwork.com/conferences

05/28/2026

✨Congratulations to all our undergraduate and graduate students whose dedication, passion, and hard work were recognized at the ISPLAS End-of-Year Party! ✨

We are proud to celebrate the incredible achievements of our students and the many awards and scholarships presented to close another successful academic year.

🏆 Award and Scholarship Recipients:

• Ambassador of Switzerland Prize in Italian: Cindy Staffieri
• Castrilli Family Scholarship: Nick Gianfelice
• Department of Italian Studies Grant: Blessed Udobor, Maria Orozco Chavarria, and Tiffany Chu
• Doris May Barker Scholarship: Romi Wilder
• Emilio Goggio Undergraduate Scholarship: Enna Rejc
• Gianrenzo Clivio Memorial Scholarship in Linguistics & Dialectology: Brianna Davidson and Vale Abbott
• Jean Arnold Tory Scholarship: Olivia Pontecorvo
• John A. Grohavaz Italo Canadian Youth Club Bursary: Vale Abbott
• Latin American Studies Fellowship: Natalia Rena Pena
• Michael Ukas Scholarship in Italian Studies: Alicia Butchko Guerrero, Carmina Cornacchia, Christopher Ryan, Oliver Kraeker, and Vale Abbott
• Milton A. Buchanan Scholarship in Spanish and Portuguese: Caitlin Correa (also recipient of the Pedro da Silva Award, sponsored by Caixa Geral de Depósitos) and Sarah Chen
• S. Bernard Chandler Scholarship in Italian Studies: Christopher Ryan

✨Your achievements inspire our community! ✨

04/29/2026

Dominican Republic Ambassador to Canada José A. Blanco visited ISPLAS on April 2 to donate a selection of volumes from the “Library of Dominican Classics” to the Latin American Studies Program.

The donation includes 30 volumes by prominent Dominican writers and is intended to support the study and appreciation of Dominican literature, history and intellectual thought among students, researchers and the broader academic community at the University of Toronto.

The Embassy of the Dominican Republic said the donation aims to strengthen cultural and academic ties between the Dominican Republic and Canada, and to encourage greater exchange between institutions in both countries.

The ambassador was accompanied by Bianca M. Báez Pearson, counsellor at the Embassy of the Dominican Republic.

The donation was received by Paula Karger, assistant professor, teaching stream, and program director, Latin American Studies, and Prof. Bob Davidson, associate chair, undergraduate, at ISPLAS.

04/22/2026

A new podcast in the Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies is opening space for Latino voices. Created by Prof. Juan Carlos Rocha Osornio, ‘More Than Tequila’ features interviews with students, faculty and community members, sharing reflections on identity, language and belonging in Canada.

Through spontaneous, unscripted conversations, the podcast highlights the diversity and lived experiences of Latino communities at U of T.

On the ISPLAS website, Rocha Osornio discusses building community through storytelling and what he has learned along the way.

🔗 Read the full interview at
https://uoft.me/morethantequila.

04/22/2026

We are pleased to announce the third event in “Carte vive. Archivi di scrittrici tra letteratura e editoria,” a new online seminar series organized by the Contemporary Italian Women Authors (CIWA) study group, founded by Eloisa Morra and Annunziata Zevola. CIWA is dedicated to the study of women’s writing in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Italian literature and aims to encourage a critical reappraisal of Italian literary history through renewed attention to women’s voices, texts, and archival materials.
 
The third event will feature Daniela Brogi (Università per Stranieri di Siena) and Elisabetta Risari (Oscar Mondadori), who will deliver a talk entitled “Lavorare insieme per gli spazi d’autrice: l’esperienza “coraggiosa” del .” The session will focus on the collaborative work behind and consider how archival, editorial, and critical practices can contribute to the recovery and reinterpretation of women’s writing. It will also open onto a broader conversation about women’s authorial spaces and the role of archives, publishing, and scholarship in redefining the place of women writers in modern Italian literary culture.
 
🗓️ 5 May 2026
🕛 12:00 pm (Toronto) | 6:00 pm (Rome)
🎥 online via Zoom

We warmly invite you to join us and to follow the future activities of the Contemporary Italian Women Authors study group.

To attend the event, please register on Zoom using the link in our bio.

04/20/2026

04/17/2026

Fanzine e fumetti: a conversation with gianLuca Umiliacchi.

🗓️ Wednesday, April 22

🕚 11:00 AM (EDT)

This event will take place on Teams, in Italian. It is hosted and sponsored by the Toronto Italian Comics Studies (TICS) and the Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies (ISPLAS) / Emilio Goggio Chair in Italian Studies.

Registration on Eventbrite. Link in our bio.

GianLuca Umiliacchi è un operatore culturale, sociologo della comunicazione in fieri e saggista italiano, nazionalmente riconosciuto come uno dei principali custodi e teorici della produzione indipendente in particolare modo delle auto-edizioni fanzinare italiane. È il fondatore e l’anima della Fanzinoteca d’Italia 0.2, il primo (e unico) Centro Nazionale Studi Fanzine dedicato alla conservazione, catalogazione e valorizzazione delle auto-edizioni fanzinare italiane.
La sua attività ha trasformato quello che molti consideravano un hobby di nicchia - le auto-edizioni fanzinare - in un vero e proprio patrimonio documentale nazionale, salvando dall’oblio oltre mezzo secolo di creatività sommersa. L’operato di Umiliacchi si muove lungo tre direttrici principali, l’editoria e il fumetto, come esperto conoscitore della nona arte, ha collaborato a testate e progetti legati alla fumettoconomia sociale, vedendo nel fumetto un linguaggio universale capace di abbattere le barriere comunicative. Con l’associazionismo, attraverso l’Associazione Culturale di Volontariato Fanzine Italiane, realtà unica a livello internazionale, promuove la creatività giovanile e il recupero della memoria storica. Infine con la divulgazione, autore di saggi, articoli e consulenze per enti pubblici e università, focalizzandosi sul valore della “comunicazione dal basso” come termometro dei mutamenti sociali e sul ruolo delle auto-edizioni fanzinare come fonte primaria per la sociologia della comunicazione.

04/14/2026

A recap from “My Research In 5 Minutes,” held by ISPLAS and the Department of French on March 20, 2026, in the Romero Room (Loretto College).

We welcomed ISPLAS graduate students for a new and exciting experience: an academic elevator pitch session, where they had the opportunity to present their research projects succinctly and engagingly.

The program included 19 presentations across four panels, spanning from linguistics, literary studies, studies, cultural analysis, and more, reflecting the breadth and vitality of research in our departments.

This event was particularly meaningful for us, as it marked the first time that graduate students from three programs — French, Italian, and Spanish—have come together in a shared forum to present their research. It was an important step toward strengthening connections across our programs and fostering a collaborative graduate community. It also provided a valuable platform for graduate students to refine their presentation skills, think critically about their research narrative, connect with peers from different disciplines, receive constructive feedback, and gain confidence in communicating their work.

12/11/2025

The screening of “Bodies in Crisis” last Saturday, December 6, was a wonderful success! We had an amazing audience and a rich, heartfelt Q&A with María Teresa Larraín, the director of this powerful documentary.

A huge thank you to all our partners who helped the Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies (ISPLAS) bring this event to life:
Cinema Studies Institute, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and the Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio del Gobierno de Chile.

We’re grateful for your support and for everyone who joined us for such an inspiring evening. 💙🎬

Image Description:
A vertical collage of four photos.

The first photo shows Susan Antebi, Professor of Latin American Literature at ISPLAS.

The second photo shows Professor Antebi with filmmaker María Teresa Larraín and the Chilean political scientist Dr. Noam Titelman, postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary.

The third photo shows Dr. Titelman and María Teresa Larraín speaking during the Q&A session at Innis College.

The fourth photo shows the audience seated and facing the speakers.