The Eleventh Biennial Conference of the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies will be held at The University of Western Australia on 12-14 December 2022. The 2022 conference theme is “Frontiers, Encounters and Futures”.

As mobility and encounter become more and more contested areas of cultural debate and political rhetoric, Italian Studies has a valuable contribution to make, from its many disciplinary perspectives. Italy’s long history is written in encounters at its internal frontiers –geographical, cultural, linguistic, political – and at its frontiers with the lands of the Mediterranean rim and continental Europe. Pertinent too are the movements and encounters of Italians beyond the sea and the Alps (and back again), and the movement of ‘others’ inside Italian frontiers. These experiences of internal and transnational disruption and transformation of constructed identities, along with the current challenges to our global futures, urge us to share opportunities, risks and solutions.

This conference welcomes critical reflections from all disciplines on the creation and evolution of frontiers, the dynamics of encounters and the shaping of futures for individuals, communities and collectivities that engage with Italy and Italians.

Keynote speakers are Professor Maurizio Ambrosini (University of Milan), Professor Carla Bagna (Università per stranieri di Siena), Professor Paolo Bartoloni (National University of Ireland), and Professor Victoria de Grazia (Columbia University).

ACIS held its first conference at the Australian National University in Canberra in 2001. The second conference was held at the University of Western Australia in 2003. Now, nearly two decades later, Italian Studies scholars will be welcomed once again to the beautiful campus of the University of Western Australia nestled against the picturesque Swan River. Explore this beautiful campus here.

The conference will be held in face-to-face mode, ‘in presenza’.