The Villanova community is cordially invited to join us on Wednesday, October 25 at 1:00 p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s Speakers’ Corner for the annual Alfred F. Mannella and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Endowed Distinguished Speaker Series lecture.

This year’s featured speaker will be Spencer M. Di Scala, PhD, Professor, Department of History, University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Di Scala will present a talk titled “Issues on US- Italy Relations,” which will incorporate a discussion of World War I and its aftermath.

Dr. Di Scala holds a PhD from Columbia University, New York. His research interests include modern Italian and European history, on which he has published ten books and over 250 articles in scholarly journals, newspapers and magazines in the United States and Italy and has served on the editorial boards of scholarly reviews in both countries. (spencerdiscala.com)

Di Scala, of UMass Boston, poses for a photo.

Dr. Di Scala’s lecture will mark the tenth in the Alfred F. Mannella and Rose T. Lauria-Mannella Endowed Distinguished Speaker Series, which began back in 2009. It showcases scholars who have a particular interest in the field of Italian-American Studies. Over the years, event topics have ranged greatly, from the Italian experience in Philadelphia, to Italian-American Identity, the Italian immigrant experience, and even to the Jewish-Italian author and Auschwitz survivor, Primo Levi. Each event has delicately highlighted an important piece of Italian-American history or culture in a unique way. We have been fortunate to welcome a diverse group of speakers, including filmmakers, historians, sociologists, biographers and others, each offering their own perspective.

The speaker series is made possible by the generous support of Alfred S. Mannella, ’58 VSB. He presented Falvey with endowed funds in honor of his late parents, Alfred F. and Rose, as well as his nephew, Michael, in recognition of their Italian-American heritage. We are proud to count Mr. Mannella as longtime friend and supporter of Falvey. With his gifts to the Library, we have been able to hold these lectures as well as add an assortment of resources to our collections.

Alfred S. Mannella with his mom and dad

This event, sponsored by Falvey Memorial Library and Ciao Philadelphia, is free and open to the public. Light refreshments (including some very delicious bruschetta!) will be served. Don’t miss it!