Dear Members and Friends of CAIS,

The CAIS Executive and the Sant’Anna Institute are closely monitoring the developments connected to the coronavirus epidemics in Italy.

As of now, the Executive of CAIS and the Organizing Committee are continuing to plan for the Annual Conference to be held at the Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento in June. We still have hopes to hold the conference, barring a worsening of the situation in Southern Italy, or any injunctions from the region of Campania or from the Italian Government to cancel large gatherings for that time period.

For this reason, CAIS will soon open conference enrollment on the CAIS web site. Should we decide to postpone our conference this year, we will let you know immediately.

As far as your plans to come to Sorrento are concerned, we suggest that you book your accommodation, provided that the booking is fully refundable, and that you wait to book your flight until you are sure that it is safe for you to come to Italy.

Should you become unable to travel, CAIS will issue a refund of the conference fees.

For information on the situation in Campania members are invited to contact the Sant'Anna Institute, or visit their web page: https://www.santannainstitute.com/health-and-safety/, which is updated weekly.

To respond to a growing need for critical reflection, we also decided to organize a round table entitled Pandemics in Italian History and Literature to be held at the conference. It will be a way to discuss this emergency and to put it in historical and theoretical perspective.

If you wish to participate in the round table, please send an email to italian.studies.canada@gmail.com.

Wishing everyone good health and safe travels,

Cristina Perissinotto

President

Canadian Association for Italian Studies

Cristiana Panicco

President

Sant’Anna Institute, Sorrento