The newly founded Diversity, Transformation and Italian Studies by Ryan Calabretta-Sajder and four colleagues in Italian studies (Syndey Conrad, Virginia Commonwealth University; Rosetta Giuliani Caponetto, Auburn University; Marina "Maureen" Melita, Marist College; Vetri Nathan, University of Massachusetts, Boston) is happy to announce its inaugural event this at 6 p.m. CDT Thursday, Sept. 24. 

Diversity, Transformation and Italian Studies is a collective conceived of as a necessary response to those contemporary issues facing both academia in general, and Italian studies in particular, such as decreasing enrollment, diversifying and promoting the curriculum, rethinking the literary canon, and uplifting, while also promoting 'othered' voices.