Thursday September 22nd and Friday September 23rd 2011
Downing College, Cambridge

The Italian Department of the University of Cambridge and the Society of Italian Studies are very happy to announce that a conference entitled Desiring Divas: The Diva in Modern Italian Culture will take place at Downing College on September 22nd and 23rd 2011. The two-day conference will explore and attempt to account for the 'mythification' of performing female artists as a phenomenon of modernity in Italy, and will investigate the historical, cultural, regional, geo-political and social contexts in which the Italian diva has gained notoriety. Areas which will be addressed include: Hollywood divas; the female singer as diva; the diva's production, consumption and reception in local, regional, national and international contexts; drawing-room and concert hall divas; child divas; diva fandom; male divas; diva rivalry and solidarity; TV and internet divas; divas in literature, opera and theatre. Film screenings, generously sponsored by the 'Association for the Study of Modern Italy', of Febo Mari's Cenere and Peter Delpeut's Diva Dolorosa will be shown at the Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge, under the auspices of the Cambridge Film Festival 2011, during the course of the event.

The keynote speakers are: 

Dr Susan Rutherford (University of Manchester) 

Professor Lucia Re (University of California Los Angeles) 

Professor Mary Wood (Birkbeck College, University of London)

REGISTRATION DETAILS 

If you would like to register online for this event and pay the conference fee of £75 (£65 for student delegates) by credit card please go to this link: Diva conference registration. For those who prefer to register on paper and pay by cheque (made payable to 'University of Cambridge'), please download a  registration form. All registrations, together with the conference fee, must be received by September 20th. It will not be possible to accept late registrations. 

CONFERENCE VENUE 

The conference will be held in the West Range of Downing College, Cambridge.

PROGRAMME

Please click on this link to download the conference programme.