Renowned international artists to share artwork and give lectures at ASU

The School of International Letters and Cultures welcomes international artists from Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Italy to ASU for a lecture series this spring.

The brainchild of Juliann Vitullo, the school's associate director, the International Artists Lecture Series featured novelists, activists, filmmakers and other artists from Japan, Austria, Mexico, Italy, Romania, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt and the United States last year.

This semester the series will include an Argentine journalist, an American photographer whose subject matter is Mexican immigration, a Brazilian filmmaker and an Italian crime writer. All events are free and open to the public.

Students in the School of International Letters and Cultures are provided with a variety of educational experiences that prepare them for life and citizenship in the modern world. In addition to attending courses taught by world-class faculty in both ancient and modern languages and cultures, students are exposed to a wide variety of world languages and cultures via study abroad programs, full-year or semester-long language and cultural immersion programs, on-campus international guest speakers, international student organizations, opportunities for intensive study through language flagship programs and mentorship by international faculty.

Events in this semester’s International Artists Lecture Series include:

Diego Fonseca, journalism, 4:30-5:30 p.m., Feb. 19, LL 165, Tempe campus

Diego Fonseca is an Argentine journalist and author. He serves as an editor of the magazine “Etiqueta Negra,” and is the author of the anthology “Sam is Not My Uncle: Twenty-four Migrant Chronicles and One American Dream.” His other books include “Joseph Stiglitz Stops Time,” “The Last Communist of Miami” and “Beaten By Coups: Latin American Growing Pains Since the Era of Dictatorships.”

Emily Matyas, photography, 12-1:30 p.m., Feb. 28, Hayden Library C-6, Tempe campus

Emily Matyas’ photographic project started over 25 years ago when she went to work for a non-profit, community development program in Sonora, Mexico. Over the years, Matyas kept in contact. As the current immigration debate escalated, she became concerned about its lack of balance and compassion. In 2007, Matyas decided to return to Mexico to photograph and interview people whose family members have left for the United States.

This event is co-sponsored by the Latin American Research Cluster, which is funded by the Institute for Humanities Research and supported by the School of International Letters and Cultures. The lecture is also part of the Latin American Research Cluster Lecture Series.

Joel Zito Araújo, film, 2-4:30 p.m., Feb. 28, LL 60, Tempe campus

Joel Zito Araújo is an award-winning Afro-Brazilian filmmaker, director, writer and executive producer of feature films, documentaries, television shows and educational videos. He is currently artist-in-residence at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

This event will feature a screening of the film “Denying Brazil” followed by a talk by Araújo about the film topic and a talk by Sumaya Machado Lima, titled “Daughters of the Wind: African Diasporic Cartographies Beyond the Screen.”

This event is co-sponsored by the Brazilian Studies and Latin American Studies Certificates in the School of International Letters and Cultures, the Theatre and Performance of the Americas Program in the School of Film, Dance and Theatre and the School of Politics and Global Studies.

Grazia Verasani, literature, 7-9:30 p.m., March 4, Wrigley Hall 101, Tempe campus

Grazia Verasani lives in Bologna, Italy. She is an Italian writer and singer, particularly known for her crime fiction series centered on the investigations of the female P.I. Giorgia Cantini. The first novel of this series has been adapted into a successful movie by the Oscar Academy winner Gabriele Salvatores (“Quo Vadis, Baby?” 2005), and subsequently into a TV series. She has published eight novels and two plays. Her 2004 play, “From Medea," has been recently adapted into a movie by director Fabrizio Cattani (“Maternity Blues” 2012), and presented at the Venice Film Festival in the same year. Three of her novels have been translated into German and French. She has also released two CDs and collaborated with some of the most successful Italian female singers (Paola Turci and Silvia Mezzanotte).

This event will feature a screening of the film “Quo Vadis, Baby?” followed by a talk by Verasani.

Verasani’s visit to ASU is presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles, and is co-sponsored by the Department of English, the Institute for Humanities Research and the School of International Letters and Cultures, units in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.