Online Exhibits of Italian American Cultural History in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond
Page Authors and Editors:
Evelyn Ferraro – Assistant Professor of Italian Studies at Santa Clara University | Modern Languages and Literatures
Agustin Pace – Santa Clara University, Class of 2025
This ongoing project showcases the work of Italian Studies students at Santa Clara University as creators of research-based digital storytelling that brings to light the interwoven histories of Italian Americans in California and questions of diversity. Developed through ITAL 185: The Italian American Experience, the project invites students each year to conduct original research and transform their findings into curated online exhibits using Omeka, a digital platform for public scholarship. Through close collaboration with faculty, librarians, and instructional technologists, students collect and interpret digital artifacts, articles, oral histories, and multimedia content to build exhibits that are both scholarly and accessible. This collective, multi-year effort not only preserves underrepresented narratives of Italian Americans in the larger Bay Area but also demonstrates the power of undergraduate students to produce meaningful, collaborative, and publicly engaged research.
Found below are detailed examples of these exhibits.