Created by a group of scholars from across the University of California, California Italian Studies (CIS) is a new digital, peer-reviewed journal, devoted to publishing innovative and influential research being done in Italian Studies across the world today. As spelled out in the journal’s Charter, CIS, which is assisted in its mission by a distinguished international advisory board, is especially committed to the principles of interdisciplinarity and comparativity. CIS wishes to promote outstanding critical work (on any period from the Middle Ages to today, and on any subject related to Italy) that engages in a theoretical reflection on its own approach, and on its implications within larger disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transnational contexts. The journal ultimately intends to foster new dialogues and stimulate intellectual exchanges among a broad spectrum of scholars and students within and outside of Italian Studies.
The digital medium, open access, full subject and name searchability, and cross-referencing of our journal are meant to facilitate and enhance this intellectual process. The creative use of the digital platform of CIS is also ideal for enhancing and sharing research in fields such as music, visual culture, and cinema and media studies, which may not be as well served by traditional print journals. CIS will be published annually online through the eScholarship, with a main section on a specific theme constituting the principal body of each annual issue, and a second, open-theme section devoted to a range of outstanding essays and articles on other topics. A small selection of texts, translations, documents, notes, survey articles, or work in progress deemed to be relevant and of exceptional interest (either for the thematic or for the open section) will also be included in each annual issue at the discretion of the editors.
“Open access is a key component of today’s efforts to integrate specialized-knowledge-production institutions with the wider network of information exchange generated by the digitalization of media culture,” said Editor Claudio Fogu. “We are proud and excited to connect Italian Studies with this global trend.” eScholarship (http://escholarship.org/) provides open access, scholarly digital publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide.