Event Details
Wed, February 12, 2020
18:00 – 19:00
VILLA SASSETTI
Villa La Pietra
Via Bolognese, 120
50139 Firenze, Italy
In Israel immigration and refuge are defining factors in Jewish identity and national political rhetoric; at the same time these very same words acquire a more complex connotation in light of the arrival and evolving condition of (documented and/or undocumented) non-Jewish migrants and asylum seekers from the African continent. In the last decades, their complex and diverse situation has been investigated at length from the legal, political and social viewpoints; it has appeared in literature and has also featured in films and documentaries. This talk is concerned with the latter aspect and will discuss the representation of mainly African (and a few Asian) migrants/asylum seekers in Israeli films and documentaries of the last decade or so.
A talk by Marcella Simoni, NYU Florence and Department of Asian and North African Studies Ca’ Foscari Univesity in Venice.
In connection with Black History Month Florence V Edition.
Featured Biographies
Marcella Simoni
NYU FLORENCE AND DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN AND NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES CA' FOSCARI UNIVERSITY
Marcella Simoni , Ph.D. (London 2004), lectures at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Between 2004 and 2010 she taught at NYU in Florence. Her field of expertise is the Middle East in general and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular about which she has published a number of books and articles in various scientific journals ; among them «Middle Eastern Studies», «Jewish History», «Passato e Presente» and others. She is currently working on the history of conscientious objection in Israel. She is also in the board of two journals “Passato e Presente” and “Quest – Issues in contemporary Jewish history”. Since 1998 she has extensive experience lecturing in international conferences and forums. Her research interests include civil society in Israeli-Palestinian history, history of medicine, and youth. She speaks English and Hebrew fluently and her Arabic reaches an intermediate level.