Study Center Conferences and Publications

Emotions, Passions and Power in Renaissance Italy

May 7-8, 2012

Georgetown is happy to host and co-sponsor, along with Georgetown Univeresity and the Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, this conference. The physical and mental capacity of having emotions is universal. The methods through which these emotions are perceived, expressed, and shared are always depending by the codified rules imposed by the society and the personal background. Emotions depend on language, cultural practices, expectations, and moral beliefs. This means that every culture has its rules for feelings and behavior; every culture thus exerts certain restraints while favoring certain forms of expressivity. Hate, fear, cruelty, and love are always turning history into the history of passion and lust, because emotional life is always ready to overflow intellectual life. The two-day international conference held at the Fiesole campus of Georgetown University at Villa Le Balze (7-8 May, 2012) will show that emotions are built and created by the society in which they are expressed and conditioned by passions.

Translating the Past: A Workshop on Medieval and Renaissance Sources devoted to Art, History and Literature

June 2011

Georgetown is happy to once again co-sponsor this workshop. Throughout June 2011, students attending the workshop will acquire both a methodological and a practical introduction to the subjects, through lectures, seminars and hands-on assignments, and will explore the Florentine collections in the famous local libraries and archives, such as the Archivio di Stato, the Biblioteca Nazionale and the Biblioteca Riccardiana. Classes will be held at the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai, which has been among the first and most active sponsors of this initiative, thanks to the efforts of Director Andreina Bianchini and Professor Stefano U. Baldassarri. For more information see the complete WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION and/or email Prof. Baldassarri (sbaldassarri@palazzorucellai.org).

Umanesimo e università in Toscana (1400-1600)

May 25-26, 2011

Georgetown University, The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai and The Society for Renaissance Studies are pleased to announce a two day conference on Umanesimo r universita' in Toscana between 1400 and 1600. Please click here for the complete conference program.

The Culture of Violence In Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy

June, 2010

Georgetown University, in collaboration with the Society for Renaissance Studies, will hold a 2-day conference on the Culture of Violence in Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy. Organized by Fabrizio Ricciardelli (GU, Fiesole) and Samuel Cohn, Jr. (University of Glasgow).

Processi di apprendimento linguistico in un mondo che cambia

22 - 23 Maggio, 2009

Poiché negli studi sull’apprendimento di una seconda lingua, si è sempre posto  grande attenzione   all’acquisizione del verbo e delle categorie del tempo e dell’aspetto, abbiamo pensato di focalizzare le nostre giornate di studio,  su un campo  quale lo sviluppo del sistema delle espressioni della temporalità, sia sul versante della  morfologia verbale sia  su quello, più analitico, di una temporalità determinata con mezzi lessicali. Il convegno si articolerà in due parti  con  due contributi teorici  di Emanuele Banfi  professore ordinario di Linguistica dell’ Università  degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca,  a cui si devono importanti studi  sull’italiano/L2 da parte di apprendenti sinofoni e di Anna Giacalone Ramat professore ordinario di Linguistica generale presso l'Università  di Pavia, che si è molto occupata di italiano L2 anche in  anglofoni, attraverso la sua esperienza d'insegnamento  in  varie  sedi universitarie italiane e americane. Seguiranno 4 workshop, in cui i partecipanti avranno la possibilità di confrontarsi attivamente con alcune problematiche relative al tema generale. Il convegno è rivolto principalmente ad insegnanti di italiano lingua seconda operanti in Italia in ambiti accademici e scolastici pubblici e privati. Il Convegno avrà  la durata di due giorni e si articolerà  in una sessione pomeridiana di approfondimento teorico e quattro sessioni parallele di workshop di gruppi ristretti, la mattina seguente.

The Jesuits & Music: Scholarship, Patronage and Performance

August 31-September 2, 2008

The Center for the Study of Italian History & Culture of Villa Le Balze and Georgetown University's Music Department held a 3-day conference on The Jesuits and Music: Scholarship, Patronage, and Performance. Organized by Anna Celenza and Anthony R. DelDonna, the conference opened with a concert featuring soloists of the American Opera Theatre performing Jesuit Voices: Music from Italy, France, and South America.

Dignitas Et Excellentia Hominis

June 18-20, 2007

Georgetown University and Kent State University cohosted this three day conference on Giannozzo Manetti. Manetti was a Florentine politician and and a humanist scholar during the Italian Renaissance. Papers at the conference covered his life and his role during the Renaissance.  The proceedings of this conference have recently been published by the Lila Wallace Reader's Fund through Harvard University's Villa I Tatti. Click here to view the cover and table of contents.

Greek Poetry in Italy

June 11-12, 2007

A two-day conference held at Villa Le Balze discussing the influence Greek poetry had on Italy.

I Luoghi del Sacro

June 12-13, 2006

Georgetown University arranged this two-day conference that discussed the construction of sacred places around Florence since the 11th century. This conference featured speakers from many different universities around the world.

Italian Literature and England

June 20-21, 2005

Georgetown University and Kent State University held a two day conference where scholars presented their latest work on the effects Italian culture has had on the writings of English authors and travelers.

Speakers included professors from both Georgetown and Kent State. This conference marked the first collaboration between the two Universities and was not to be missed. The two day conference was held in both Fiesole and downtown Florence.

Catholic Scholarship & National Identities

June 9, 2003

Held at Villa Le Balze. The papers from this conference, together with those of Catholicism as Decadence conference, are published in the 12th edition of the Journal of Italian History and Culture.

Catholicism as Decadence

June 5, 2004

Held at Villa Le Balze.The papers from this conference, together with those of Catholic Scholarship & National Identities conference, are published in the 12th edition of the Journal of Italian History and Culture.

The Jesuits and the Education of the Western World

June 21-22, 2002

Professors from the US and around Europe came together to discuss the education and customs of the Jesuits in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Il Terzo (in) Comodo: Mediation and Marriage in Italy and in Europe

March, 2002

This conference was organized by former and current directors of the Villa, Marcelo Fantoni and Bruno Wanrooij. It welcomed scholars from such places as the European University Institute, Cambridge University, the University of Rouen, and, from Italy, the Universities of Siena, Trieste, and Trento.

Carlo V e l'Italia

December, 2000

This conference focused on the diplomatic, economic, cultural and artistic influence of Emperor Charles V on 16th century Italy. It was co-sponsored by Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V.S.A (The Royal Spanish Society for the Centenary of Phillip II and Charles V).

The Art Market in Italy

June 19-21, 2000

This conference was sponsored by Georgetown University, Syracuse University, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies at Villa I Tatti, the Gucci Group, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the Assessorato alla Cultura della Provincia di Firenze. The Villa hosted one day of the conference, which focused on the art market in Italy from the 15th through 17th centuries.

La Bella Libertà:

Women and the Flight to Italy

June 22-23, 1999

This two day conference,  co-hosted by Georgetown University and Monash University, discussed women and their attraction to Italy.

Suor Plautilla Nelli

May 27, 1998

This symposium, hosted by the Georgetown University campus in Fiesole and the Syracuse University Center in Florence, focused on the life of the first woman painter of Florence.

The Anglo-Americans in Florence: Idea and Construction of the Renaissance

June, 1997

This conference focused on the contributions of Anglo-Americans in literature, historiography, art collecting and aesthetics to the concept and myth of the Florentine Renaissance. The proceedings of the conference are contained in Gli Anglo-Americani a Firenze.

Cecil Pinsent and his Gardens in Tuscany

June, 1995

This conference focused on the life and work of the English architect who, besides designing Villa Le Balze, was one of the most active contributors to rebuilding and restoring the residences of members of the Anglo-American community in Italy.

©2009 Villa Le Balze