Potentially Dangerous, Film Screening & Panel Discussion
This event is sponsored by Boston University Kilachand Honors College and Italian Heritage – BU
Date & Time: Wednesday, April 5, 2023 5-7 pm
Location: Kilachand Hall Commons, Rm 101 91 Bay State Rd, Boston, MA
Film Synopsis: During World War II, the U.S Government restricted the actions and freedoms of 600,000 Italian residents of the United States. All were declared “Enemy Aliens,” and many were placed under curfew, banned from their workplaces, evacuated from their homes and communities, and even placed in internment camps.
Many of these people had been in the United States for decades, had children born in their adopted country, and had sons serving in the U.S. Military.
During that era, Italians made up the biggest foreign-born group in the country. As the Department of Justice would later say, “The impact of the wartime experience was devastating to the Italian American communities in the United States, and its effects are still being felt.”
Interned Italians were not charged with a crime or allowed legal representation. They were subjected to “loyalty hearings” and held for the duration of the war. The United States government considered them “Potentially Dangerous” not based on anything they had done, but on where they were born.
Most Italians refused to speak about what happened to them. Even 80 years later, many have remained silent. Until now. Hear their stories for the first time in Potentially Dangerous.
Attendance: (For Kilachand Honors College Students) At the event, a QR will be posted for you to check-in. This QR will expire so please complete the check-in form immediately. You must check-in to earn co-curricular attendance credit for this event.
Meet our Panelists
Violetta Ravagnoli
Violetta Ravagnoli Associate Professor of History, Emmanuel College
I was born and raised in Rome, Italy, where I graduated with a B.A. inAsian Studiesfrom the University of Rome “La Sapienza.” I also hold an M.S. in International Affairs from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. degree in History from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
My research focuses on Asian History as well as Migrations and Diaspora.I coordinate the COF Minor in Migration Studies.
Paul Watanabe Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies, College of Liberal Arts, UMass Boston
Paul is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is the author of Ethnic Groups, Congress, and American Foreign Policy and principal author of A Dream Deferred: Changing Demographics, New Opportunities, and Challenges for Boston. His scholarly articles on ethnic studies, Asian Americans, public policy, political behavior, foreign policy, and health disparities have appeared in major academic journals and edited volumes. He currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund; Board of Directors of the South Shore Health System; Board of Directors of North Hill Communities; Board of Trustees of the Harry H. Dow Memorial Legal Assistance Fund; Board of Trustees of the town of Weymouth Libraries Foundation; Redistricting Data Hub’s Advisory Data Council, and the City of Boston’s COVID-19 Health Disparities Task Force. He was appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and served as the first Chair of the U.S. Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations. The Emperor and Government of Japan have awarded Paul the Order of the Rising Sun. Paul received his B.S. in Political Science from the University of Utah and Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University.
Associate Professor of History, University of Massachusetts Boston
Vincent J. Cannato is associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Boston where he teaches courses on New York City history, Boston history, immigration history, and twentieth-century American history.
He is the author ofAmerican Passage: The History of Ellis Island(HarperCollins, 2009);The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and his Struggle to Save New York(Basic Books, 2001); and co-editor ofLiving in the Eighties(Oxford University Press, 2009).
Apart from his academic career, Prof. Cannato was also managing editor ofThe Public Interest, co-edited by Irving Kristol and Nathan Glazer; co-producer of the PBS documentary “The First Measured Century”; an aide to former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler; and a speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
We are excited for our panel to be joined by the Potentially Dangerous director Zach Baliva.
Director and producer Zach Baliva started his career working for the writers and producers of the hit TV show ER. He left to produce My Name is Jerry, the feature film that gave Steven Yeun (Minari) his first on-screen role. Baliva traces his roots to Italy’s Abruzzo region and has lived and worked in Rome and Venice.
We are excited for our panel to be joined by the Potentially Dangerous director Zach Baliva.