This collection of essays seeks to restore and recover a misunderstood ethnic intellectual heritage through the integration of Italian American texts with other studies of American culture. Targeted towards educators of high school students and beyond, the volume is divided into five sections. The first outlines a general introduction to Italian American Studies. The essays in the next two sections pertain to the teaching of Italian American literature, film, theater, memoir, and poetry. Section four focuses on pedagogy, and the last section contains reviews of anthologies useful to the teaching of Italian American Studies. Contributors include academics from US universities, as well as independent scholars. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)