We are delighted to welcome Professor Eugenia Paulicelli to deliver the latest in the series of annual lectures on subjects of Italian interest made possible by a generous bequest from alumna, and former lecturer in French and Italian, Professor Lucrezia Zaina. The lecture will be followed by an Italian themed reception for all.

The significant role of cinema in Italy’s reconstruction and rehabilitation after the havoc left by WWII, a civil war and the fascist regime, has been studied extensively and continues to be studied today. Fashion played a crucial role not only in the nation’s process of rehabilitation and cultural and economic reconstruction, but also in the launch of the ‘Made in Italy’ on a global scale.

Professor Paulicelli’s lecture will focus on the post-war period and take into consideration new archival materials. In particular, she will critically examine a selection of newsreels on fashion that were produced by the ‘Settimana Incom’, which were distributed to movie theatres from 1946 until 1965. In all, they comprise 2,555 episodes that were screened before the main feature in two of the most crucial decades in Marshall planned Italy and during its process of modernization.

Professor Eugenia Paulicelli

Eugenia Paulicelli is Professor of Italian, Comparative Literature and Women and Gender Studies at The City University of New York (Queens College and The Graduate Center). She is the founder and director of the Fashion Studies concentration in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and the PhD Concentration at The Graduate Center. Her research has focused on the history and theory of fashion and especially on the intersections between fashion and national identity, globalization, the role of women and women’s movements, film, literature and the visual arts.

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Italian has been taught at this university since 1881 and today Italian Studies is housed within the Department of Languages, Cultures and Film (LCF). We are a small and friendly community of academic and teaching staff whose research and teaching interests cover contemporary fiction, linguistics, cultural history, film and transcultural studies.

Professor Lucrezia Zaina (also known as Lexie) was a remarkable personality. She was a valued alumna and colleague, who studied French and Italian at the University of Liverpool from 1939-1947. Professor Zaina then became a lecturer in those departments and later Head of Italian from 1964 to 1988. Sadly, she passed away in 2008, leaving the University a generous gift in her Will, which has made these wonderful lectures possible.

Professor Zaina’s Liverpool legacy has extended the knowledge of Italy and Italian culture in our city and, of course, promoted Italian Studies, a field she was passionate about and dedicated her life’s work to.

Legacy gifts, like Professor Zaina’s have a great impact at the University of Liverpool, all are celebrated – whatever their size! After making sure those closest to you are taken care of, you may consider remembering us in your Will. A legacy gift to the university is an extraordinary way to celebrate your life while supporting the causes that are important to you.

What will your Liverpool legacy be?

If you want to make a difference at Liverpool and to our student community through a gift in your Will, please contact Carolyn Jones, Legacy Officer by telephone: 0151 795 1067 or by email: [email protected]