March 2011President's PageOur Name and Our WorkWhat’s in a name? And what isn’t? For over forty years the American Italian Historical Association has called itself by the same name. Over the years, however, AIHA has become something other than its name suggests: an American association dedicated to the study of Italian history. It is now, in fact, an association concerned mainly with the study and promulgation of Italian American history and culture. Of course the association continues to sponsor presentations and publications on Italian history, but usually as this history relates to Italian American experience. Not to mention that we share the acronym AIHA with the American Italian Heritage Association and the very Googleable American Industrial Hygiene Association. So to the question of naming. And renaming. In 1997 AIHA’s membership voted down a proposal to change the association’s name. Since then, as one might expect, the membership itself has changed. In recent years talk of renaming has reemerged. Last year AIHA’s Executive Council, led by President Josephine Gattuso Hendin, once again broached the topic and considered alternatives. The consensus choice of Council members was the Italian American Studies Association. This year I will encourage the Council put to another vote a proposal for changing our association’s name to the Italian American Studies Association; and, as I am here, I will be encouraging all AIHA members to vote for the change, which will make the nature of our work a little clearer to the world. That work continues this year with our forty-forth annual conference in Tampa, Florida, from October 20th to October 22nd. Please plan to take part in what promises to be a lively gathering of minds and spirits, by submitting an individual presentation, panel or roundtable proposal by the June 15th deadline. And please remember that participants need to become members of AIHA, which they can do by visiting our Web site, www.aihaweb.org. The sites of the conference, the Tampa Waterside Marriott and Tampa Convention Center, overlooking Tampa Bay and the Hillsborough River, are both beautiful and connected by trolley to Tampa’s unique Italian American enclave of Ybor City. And the sun and nearby beaches complement, even if peripherally, this year’s theme, “Italian American Body Politics: Private Lives and Public Sphere.” The call for presentation proposals has been posted to our Web site, to our Facebook page, and to our blog, italianamericanstudies.blogspot.com. It has also been sent for listing with scholarly associations across the disciplines, and will soon be sent to a few key journals and to colleges and universities located near the conference city. For conference work done and work to come, thanks to the members of the Conference Committee, Nancy Carnevale and Joe Sciorra, and thanks to Tampa-based consulting members Rita Ciresi and Denise Scannell. As in the past, this year our Executive Council will focus on attracting new members, by publicizing the conference, by promoting the scholarship and other work we have produced, and by reaching out directly to scholars, artists and intellectuals working in other fields. Of course the best word of AIHA is word of mouth. If you have had the many wonderful experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to have as a member of this extended family, I hope you’ll take the time to suggest to your friends and colleagues that they check out what we do, submit conferences proposals, and join. In the meantime vi auguro tante belle cose. Ci vediamo a Tampa. George Guida |