Pasolini Symposium Presentation
Author: Thomas Consolino | Major: International Business | Semester: Fall 2022
My name is Thomas Consolino, and I study International Business with a focus in Supply Chain Management at the Walton College of Business. This past semester I worked with Dr. Ryan Calabretta-Sajder of the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences as well as three other University of Arkansas students on a Digital Humanities Project about the life and works of Pier Paolo Pasolini, an Italian filmmaker, author, and activist.
For this project, I was lucky that I didn’t have to search for a mentor. In fact, my mentor, Dr. Calabretta-Sajder, came to me and asked if I would like to be a part of the project. Dr. Calabretta-Sajder is a professor that I have known since my sophomore year and have gotten to know very well. I have taken a couple of his Italian courses, participated with the Italian Club of which he heads, and been invited to dinners with guest speakers that the Italian department brings to the University of Arkansas. So, I believe the best way to find a mentor would be to think of a professor that you actually interact with outside of class.
When it came to choosing Pasolini as the topic of our project, I wasn’t a part of the process. Because Dr. Calabretta-Sajder had the idea of doing a project over Pasolini, the subject was already chosen when I was asked to be a part of the project. Prior to Dr. Calabretta-Sajder asking me to participate, I had never even heard of Pasolini nor any of his work. So, Dr. Calabretta-Sajder had to give me a short summary of some of Pasolini’s poetry, films, and his social impacts in Italy. Furthermore, Dr. Calabretta-Sajder told me exactly what I would be doing for the project, which was focusing on a certain handful of Pasolini’s films and discussing how Pasolini views and represents different ethnic, racial, and cultural groups in these films. Because Pasolini’s overall life seemed interesting as well as my part in the project, I accepted his invitation to be a member of the project.
I wouldn’t describe this as a difficult project, but, at the beginning, it was hard for me to get into it. Because the films I needed to watch were almost the polar opposite of the types of movies I enjoy in my free time, I had trouble concentrating and kept having to rewind the films.. However, after watching a few of Pasolini’s films, I actually began to enjoy what I was watching. I believe that my interest and concentration towards what I was doing changed once I began to recognize the symbolism, hidden messages, and other intricate parts of Pasolini’s films. These complexities- once understood- are made his films entertaining. Also, I began to understand why his films are so special and why there are many people who do research over them.
During the entirety of the project, Dr. Calabretta-Sajder was present. At the end of the Spring 2022 semester, he coordinated a meeting for our group to get together to discuss what the project would look like and what we each would specifically be doing. Furthermore, he assigned us a couple of Pasolini’s films to watch over the summer in order to get an idea of his films. Then in September of the 2022 Fall semester, we had a meeting to go over what our individual projects would be as well as a symposium that would occur in late October. At this symposium, we each would be presenting over a topic that derived from Pasolini’s works. In the weeks leading up to the symposium, Dr. Calabretta-Sajder would meet with us individually to get a feel for where we were progress-wise in our presentations and to get an idea of how we were interpreting Pasolini’s work. After our symposium, Dr. Calabretta-Sajder coordinated a meeting with Dr. Curtis Maughan of the Fulbright College so our group could discuss possible software that we could use for a digital timeline of Pasolini’s life. Since the meeting with Dr. Maughan, we have not had an in-person group meeting. However, I have kept in touch with Dr. Calabretta-Sajder to see what I can be doing on my own for this project.
Most of my research came in the form of watching films or reading contemporary articles over Pasolini’s work. Although it seems as though it would be easy doing a project where all you do is watch films and read, it is not. While watching his films you constantly have to be paying attention to symbolism. You have to know background information about art, religion, and political/social interests of Pasolini in order to understand what his films represent. Because of this, I would recommend to anyone doing a project similar to this one to not always take things exactly as they are and pay attention/be present to understand the true meanings of the things you are seeing. Additionally, I would recommend knowing a lot of background information about your subject.
Because I committed to doing the project for the Fall 2022 semester, I am leaving at the halfway point of the project. However, I believe the remaining members will do an excellent job on the remainder of the project. My team members have a diverse set of major and interests, such as: anthropology, studio art, political science, and more. Which I believe having a diverse team is perfect for a man as complex as Pasolini.