L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURS DAY,   AUGUS T  29,   2013 PAGE  17 How Italian are you? Let your voice be heard in a new research project Even if nowadays young people are considered to be "citizens of the world", our family origins are something we can't and maybe shouldn't - escape. Nevertheless, there are many ways of preserving our cultural heritage and sometimes it can be a difficult task, especially for third or fourth-generation immigrants who have never visited their ancestors' native country or learned to speak their language. This is the main theme of a very interesting research study conducted by sociologist Rosemary Serra from the University of Trieste in Italy, whose objective is to investigate through a survey whether and how the young generation of Italian Americans has managed to keep its original identity. Dr. Rosemary Serra has come to New York as a visiting research scholar at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College, City University of New York, to investigate the status of Italian American identity within the greater New York area. The tool used to gather the data is a self-administered questionnaire, designed by Dr. Serra who hopes to receive responses from hundreds of young Italian Americans falling within the age ranges 18-34. Serra asks the important questions that have been avoided, ignored, or forgotten as Italian Americans quickly Dr. Rosemary Serra Families of Italian Lineage Summer Picnic VeNuS MAzzoNI FRANceScHI On July 14, 2013 Families of Italian Lineage held its first annual picnic in the private area of the Regional Park in Laguna Niguel. With gentle breezes coming from the Lake surrounding the Lower: JoAnne Wallar, Franca Muriella, Eugene Leo Upper: Venus Franceschi; Chairpersons JoAnne & Mel Gienapp; Joe Calandro. Angelo J. Di Fusco, CPA Tax preparation & planning Financial statements & accounting Financial planning & budgeting Quickbooks professional advisor & small business consulting Let's team up to cut your taxes 25 years experience Parliamo italiano 818/248-9779 www.difusco.com picnic area, members enjoyed a day of excellent food, Bocce, card games, walking through the beautiful area or "just socializing" getting to know each other. The chairpersons JoAnne and Mel Gienapp really "WENT ALL THE WAY" to assure a successful picnic, which it was. Co-Chairlady Alice Leo, unfortunately was in an accident, but she helped as much as she could. However Eugene Leo helped "setting up" and barbecuing. When the food was ready to be served, always the first who is eager to help was Franca Muriella, also JoAnne Wallar, Franca Masdea, Joe Calandro, Venus and Roger Franceschi. Others offered to help which is one of the reasons that F.I.L. is so successful. assimilated into American culture. Yet, as she says, they have managed to maintain a unique identity. Determining just what that is will be the focus of her research. "Gathering and interpreting this information," she says, " is crucial for the future of the Italian American community. I want to see what changes have occurred in the ways people identify with their Italian background and heritages." Indeed, never has such an ambitious project been launched, especially by an Italian scholar, who has independently funded her work. Dr. Serra has also sought and received some support from within the Italian American community, and she is continually looking for the funds to help elaborate her project. "I'd like to take this project to other major cities to obtain comparative data, but that would require thousands of dollars. For now I will start with the New York area and see if we can create a model for the rest of the country from my work here." Through the understanding of factors that influence Italian American identity and the ways in which they affect individuals' daily lives, the sociologist plans to analyze her subjects' self-representations and self-perceptions of representations suggested by others of the Italian American community. She also hopes to determine the meaning that Italian heritage has in the daily lives of the younger generations and how it affects their values, behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and images of Italy and Italians. Dr. Serra plans to produce a clear picture that will help clarify, define and better understand how to maintain and develop the feeling of belonging to the Italian American culture, how to improve the interaction between Italy and Italian Americans based on knowledge rather than on stereotypes and, lastly, how to provide culturally relevant services that can better reach and meet the requirements and needs of the younger generations. Dr. Serra will be providing questionnaires beginning now and through September. Volunteering for this research is a way to express your connection to your culture and offer suggestions about what needs to be done for the future of Italian American identity. Upon completion of her analyses, Dr. Serra will publish the results of her work in articles and eventually in book form. Interested volunteers can contribute to this ground-breaking and relevant research project through your voluntary participation. Please contact Dr. Rosemary Serra, by email rosemaryserra@libero.it or by telephone (212) 951-0704. Upon receipt of your email or call, Dr. Serra will provide you with a survey questionnaire that can be completed online or in person in a location of your choice.

• Cover