Santilli delivers Pilla Lecture
on Italian-American identity

Psychology Professor Nick Santilli, under the sponsorship of the Bishop Anthony Pilla Program in Italian American Studies, delivered a lecture entitled, "Is There More to Italian American Identity? A Psychological Approach."

To hear audio streaming segments of the lecture and Q&A that followed, click on the corresponding image of computer speakers.  

 Dr. Nick Santilli

'Is There More to Italian American Identity? A Psychological Approach.'

The Lecture (28 min. 12 sec.)

Questions & Answers

1. Why do you consider the assimilation of Italian-Americans as a myth? I lived it. (1:12) 2. When you consider that the U.S. is basically a country of immigrants, why has there been discrimination against particular immigrant groups? (1:50)
3. You made several references to the "majority culture." Would you consider that the majority culture is the same today as it was at the turn of the last two centuries? (1:27) 4. Are there any particular virtues that the Italian-American community possesses that give it hope for the future? (1:19)
5. I see a lot of pride in people being Italian-American. Is that a reaction to the previous discrimination? (1:53) 6. The large wave of Italian immigration coincided with the rise of the theory of "superior ethnic intelligence." Did this have anything to do with emergence of discrimination? (1 min.)
7. Isn't there still a deeper pride that Italian-Americans have in being "sons and daughters of Rome?" (1:13) 8. Are there other ways people identify themselves, besides their ethnicity? (1 min.)
9. Do you think that something greater can come from the melting pot? (1 min.) 10. What is your view of prejudice toward Italian-Americans in the top tiers of business and education? (2:54)
11. Why is there only "Little Italy," and no similar pockets of other nationalities? (46 sec.) 12. Didn't the very strength of the Italian-American community hinder full assimilation into American culture? (1:08)
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