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The following are some of the recent conferences that have been hosted by the Villa Le Balze and its Center for the Study of Italian History and Culture. For a more comprehensive list of the events that have taken place at the Villa, please visit the Publications page.

Click on the pictures below to find links to the event's program.


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.



Seminars

Villa Le Balze has also served as the site for seminars for scholars working on projects related to the goals of the Georgetown Study Center:

"American Historians and the Italian Renaissance" was co-organized with the Renaissance Society of America.

"The Perfect Captain and Military Culture in the Renaissance" was co-organized with Centro Studi Europa delle Corti.

"La Cour Comme Intitution Economique" was co-organized with Maison de Science de l'Homme (Paris) in March of 1997.

In January of 1997, a meeting which led to the foundation of the "Italian Association of Italianists" (an association of Italians devoted to the study of Italian art, literature, history, and culture) was held at the Villa.

"I Religiosi a Corte: Teologia, Politica e Diplomazia in Antico Regime" was co-organized with Centro Studi Europa delle Corti in October of 1995.

©2009 Villa Le Balze
©2009 Villa Le Balze