This event is currently sold out. We expect to admit stand-by guests, space permitting, from 6:20PM.
(Registration does not guarantee a seat. Doors open at 6:00PM.)

In this discussion, Carlo Ginzburg, a widely admired and influential historian, will reflect on his life’s work and his contributions to the field of history, including his pioneering work in microhistory and the history of mentalities, in conversation with Emmanuelle Saada, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Carlo Ginzburg is an Italian historian and a pioneer of the field of microhistory. He is best known for The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century (Il formaggio e i vermi, 1976) which examined the unique beliefs of Italian heretic, Menocchio. The book is a notable example of the history of mentalities, microhistory, and cultural history, and has been called “probably the most popular and widely read work of microhistory.”

Carlo Ginzburg has taught at the University of Bologna, UCLA, and the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. He has been a Senior Fellow of Columbia’s Italian Academy since its inception. His interests range from the Italian Renaissance to early modern European history, to important contributions to the theory of historiography, art history and literary studies.

Emmanuelle Saada is Professor of History and French and Chair of the Department of French.

The Eugene Sheffer Distinguished Speaker series honors eminent scholars whose work has had an important impact on their field of study. This series was created by the family of Eugene Sheffer to honor his commitment to the Columbia Maison Française, which he directed from 1942 to 1966.

This event is co-sponsored by Columbia’s Maison Française, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Department of History, and the American Academy in Rome.