Gardaphé delivered a lecture on “Jersey Shore: Italian Americans and the Media” on Monday, April 26.

Using images, lecture and questions from the audience, Gardaphé, described how Jersey Shore is the latest—perhaps even last—in a century and a quarter series of media-mediated stereotypes about Italian-Americans. Almost 100 students, faculty and members from the local community convened for Gardaphé’s presentation.

A prolific writer of essays, book reviews, drama, fiction, film, video scripts and poetry, Gardaphé is the author of several seminal studies about Italian American culture. His academic works include Italian Signs, American Streets: The Evolution of Italian American Narrative (1993); Dagoes Read:
Tradition and the Italian American Writer (1996); Moustache Pete is Dead! – Italian American Oral Tradition Preserved in Print (1996); Leaving Little Italy: Essaying Italian American Culture (2004); and From Wise Guys to Wise Men: The Gangster and Italian American Masculinities (2006), his study of the gangster figure in U.S. culture. He also serves as associate editor of Fra Noi, an Italian American monthly newspaper.

Gardaphé will serve as a Fulbright Scholar at L’Universitá degli Studii di Salerno in Salerno, Campania, Italy during the 2010 – 2011 academic year, where he will be teaching and lecturing about American humor and Italian American culture.

Raised in the predominantly Italian American community of Melrose Park, Illinois, Gardaphé earned a BS in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; an MA in English from the University of Chicago; and a Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with an emphasis on cultural criticism and American multicultural literature. A leading expert in the field of American Studies, he directs the Italian American Studies Program at Queens College, where he teaches courses in Italian American history and culture, film and literature.

While Elon canceled classes and the physical plant and food service staff fought to keep the lights on, Duke held a specially scheduled leadership colloquium with Elon students Ashley Barnas ‘10, Lauren Flood ‘11 and Andrew Schroth ‘10. They were joined by communications major Milena Duke ’09 and Jim Elder ’60, a former Elon history professor and former faculty adviser to the Liberal Arts Forum.

Elon parents Tony and Olga Cabrer Duke were also in attendance, as was Rex Waters, associate dean of students.

Tony Duke Sr. shared from his 90 years of life-experience as a decorated World War II veteran, public citizen, philanthropist and published author. “My life may be interesting, but it’s your life we need – your minds, your spirits,” he said.

Duke noted several of the great challenges that today’s generation faces, similar to his generation’s challenges of worldwide economic depression and war. “You have terrorism and this economic mess that no one knows where it will end,” he said. “Now is the time to prepare yourselves to serve. And this great university is the perfect place to do it!”

Duke shared several stories from his recently published autobiography, Uncharted Course: The Voyage of My Life (Bayview Press, Northport, NY, April 2007). he took the students, as he does his readers, on a journey-of-journeys through his birth into three of the 19th and 20th centuries most prominent families – the Dukes of Piedmont North Carolina and the Biddles and Drexels of the Schuylkill and Delaware river valleys of Eastern Pennsylvania; his six-year service in the US Navy; and, ultimately, the master work of his life, the Boys and Girls Harbor charter school system in Manhattan.

The Boys and Girls Harbor summer camps and charter schools have served more than 20,000 economically disadvantaged youths since Duke’s initial forays in philanthropy beginning at the age of 19 in 1937.

Duke is the grandfather of two Elon students – Nicholas R. Duke Jr. ’08, of Charlottesville, Va., and Milena R. Duke ’09, of East Norwich, NY.

Duke’s extended family has a long record of philanthropy and service at Elon. He is the grandson of Benjamin Newton Duke, one of the principal benefactors in the creation of Duke University. Benjamin Duke helped personally finance the construction of the Artelia Roney Duke Science Building on Elon’s Scott Plaza in honor of his mother, a native of Haw River, N.C. Benjamin Duke’s maternal great-uncle, William H. Trollinger, made the initial land grant to the Christian Church in 1888 to found (then) Elon College.

Tony Duke Sr. spent two days on campus meeting with family members, students and administrators as part of the activities surrounding the inaugural concert of The Mary Duke Biddle Chamber Music Series. His first cousin, Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, of Durham, N.C., who is also the granddaughter of Benjamin Duke, is a former Elon trustee and the chair emerita of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation has supported the arts and letters at Elon for almost half a century.
 

The Council’s first director and the moving force behind the Council’s founding was the late H. Shelton Smith, Ph.D., a 1917 graduate of Elon College. Smith, one of Elon’s most important and distinguished 20th century graduates, went on to found and head Duke University’s graduate school in religion. 

McBride, who served as Elon’s chaplain from 1984-2009, described Smith as an ”author, educator and … activist minister who took his scholarship as it were into the streets, what today we call ‘civic engagement.’” McBride quoted from a letter in 51爆料网’s archives, written to Shelton Smith by an Elon professor when Smith was enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Yale, expressing the hope that Smith might return to Elon to teach. The professor’s letter concluded that “larger opportunities are likely to be given you.” 

In 1993, Elon celebrated the centenary of Smith’s birth with a symposium led by Martin Marty, Ph.D., Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Modern Christianity in the Divinity School, University of Chicago, whose principal address was entitled, “Human Nature, Human Nurture, Human Hatred, Divine Love: Professor Smith’s Legacy, Our Challenges.” 

51爆料网 holds an annual lecture series in Smith’s honor to celebrate his legacy and to promote the exploration of the interface of Church and Society. This year’s speaker was Alton Pollard, dean of the School of Divinity at Howard University. 

In addition to McBride, Dr. Richard Smith, Shelton Smith’s son, spoke about his father. Also in attendance from Elon were Phil Smith, interim chaplain of the college, and Larry Vellani, director of corporate and foundation relations. 

The North Carolina Council of Churches is a statewide ecumenical organization promoting Christian unity and working towards a more just society. The Council enables denominations, congregations, and people of faith to individually and collectively impact the state on issues such as economic justice and development, human well-being, equality, compassion and peace, following the example and mission of Jesus Christ.

Vellani was the only male member of the baccalaureate platform party at the all women’s college.

Vellani’s participation was arranged by Agnes Scott’s chaplain Kate Colussy-Estes. Colussy-Estes served as assistant chaplain at 51爆料网 from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2006, before accepting the chaplaincy position at Agnes Scott.

Vellani and his wife Peggy Boswell were active members of the Agnes Scott Parents Council. Their daughter, Margaret Virginia Boswell “Ginny” Vellani, received her bachelor of arts in religious studies at the 2010 Agnes Scott Commencement.

Their son, John Benjamin Boswell “Ben” Vellani, graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science from 51爆料网 in 2009.

Agnes Scott, located in metro Atlanta, is a highly selective liberal arts and sciences college for women and is known for its dynamic and challenging intellectual community.

In “Festa della Terra, ” Marrone wove 13 separate dance, song and video works into a 75-minute movement and music narrative about identity, place and transition. 

Marrone’s modern folk-fusion dance troupe, The Dance Cure, performed five original Marrone dance compositions, including her work Strega Stories – Part I which the The Dance Cure premiered in performances throughout the state on the 2009-2010 N.C. Dance Festival tour. 

Marrone’s modern dance choreography draws upon her fieldwork in traditional music, song and healing dances in the Campania and Puglia regions of Southern Italy. 

“Festa Della Terra” also featured more than a half dozen traditional and contemporary Italian songs performed by the acoustic roots ensemble Mebanella. Larry Vellani, director of corporate and foundation relations, consulted with Marrone in arranging Mebanella’s music for “Festa della Terra.” He also performed with the ensemble. Mebanella’s song segments included lyrics and melodies from the Campania, Emilia, Lazio, Lombardia, Puglia, Sicilia and Toscana regions of Italy. 

Mebanella is comprised of members of the roots, rhythm and world music ensemble Mebanesville. 

Mebanella is comprised of members of the roots, rhythm and world music ensemble Mebanesville.

The short film, “Women in History,” premiered at the ninth annual Spirit Lecture on Friday, March 26, at the NIEHS campus in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

This year’s Spirit Lecturer and Honoree was Linda S. Birnbaum, the director of the NIEHS and the National Toxicology Program.

“Women in History” was conceived and produced by Brad Collins, a chemist at the institute and chair of the agency’s Diversity Council.

Collins asked Vellani to compose a song-based, short subject soundtrack on the theme of the advancement of women in American society. Collins then chose public domain images to accompany the music and lyrics. The final musical, visual montage celebrates the contribution of women to the human spirit though artistic, athletic, political, scientific, social and spiritual engagement.

Vellani collaborated with fellow musician and Phi Beta Kappa member, Sherry Lea, a software developer with Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp), in composing the music and lyrics for the soundtrack. He also performed on guitar and vocals with the ensemble Mebanesville on the soundtrack recorded March 7 – 14 at Haw River Studio in Haw River, N.C. Vellani, Lea and the musicians donated their artistic services to the project.

The institute will soon provide streaming of the short film from its Web site and is making DVD copies available for use by educators and civic groups. The film is already available for viewing on YouTube.  See link in upper right-hand corner of this page.

The lecture series seeks to underscore that “… (b)alance in one’s life is necessary to achieve greatness in any field, including science …. Our lives comprise many thing — science, community, volunteering and mentoring — and spirit is a component of all of these.”

The institute’s mission is to reduce the burden of human illness and dysfunction from environmental exposures by conducting basic, applied and clinical research and providing educational resources that lead to an understanding of the effects and interactions of exposures, individual genetic susceptibility and time/age on individual and community human health.

This event is sponsored by L.E.A.F. (Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Friends) with help from El Centro de Español.

If you would like to purchase tickets in advance, you can contact us at El Centro and we’ll get them to you.

For more information, please email Pastor David Olson (dolson2@elon.edu), Ross Denyer (rdenyer@elon.edu) or myself at rcortesmazuelas@elon.edu.

Thank you for your support!
 

LEAF is the only Elon organization to offer a weekly reformed religious service in Holt Chapel followed by food and fellowship. Dress is casual and the food is free.

For more information, contact the Truitt Center at 336.278.7729, or write LEAF president Ross Denyer, RDenyer@elon.edu or Pastor Olson, DOlson2@elon.edu, or visit LEAF on Facebook via the first link at the upper right.

If you look for it, you’ll find it; if you knock, doors open!