Mission Statement:

California Italian Studies is a digital, peer-reviewed scholarly journal committed to publishing the finest, the most innovative, and the most potentially influential scholarly work being done in the field of Italian Studies today. CIS seeks contributions which meet one or more of the following criteria: interdisciplinarity; comparativity; criticality. Submissions should be of interest to a broad spectrum of scholars in and outside of Italian Studies. Contributions that make the best and most creative use of the journal's digital format will be especially encouraged.

By interdisciplinarity we mean work that combines within itself the practices of multiple disciplines, makes significant use of the tools of one discipline in the service of another, or relates to a cluster of other scholarly works, representing the approaches of multiple disciplines to a single topic. Relevant disciplines: medieval, early modern, modern, and contemporary studies, visual studies, history of art and architecture, cultural and political geography, environmental studies, philosophy, religious studies, history of science, musicology, literary studies, film, media and new media studies, theater and performance studies, gender studies, political science, anthropology, sociology, migration and diaspora studies, classical studies, rhetoric, linguistics, ethnography and popular culture studies, and any other cross-disciplinary and comparative field of inquiry.

By comparativity we mean placing the study of the history, culture, society, artistic products, and languages of the Italian peninsula and islands, and of Italian diasporas, in relation to other geographical, cultural, and linguistic formations—for instance in the areas of Mediterranean and European studies; the study of migration to and from Italy and of regional and dialect cultures; as well as colonial, post-colonial and transnational studies.

By criticality we mean work that not only studies a given object but also engages in theoretical and/or methodological reflection on its own approach and on its implications within larger disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts.

Organization and Procedures:

This journal will be published online, through the California Digital Library, and will be managed by an Editorial Board and an Executive Committee (see below). Submissions may be in either English or Italian. The initial expectation is to publish one issue per calendar year and to consider more frequent publication if the number and quality of submissions should warrant an increase. Each issue will be edited by one or more members of the editorial board or by a member of the editorial board and a guest editor—referred to here as the “issue editor(s)”—who will propose a theme for the issue to be approved by the Executive Committee. The issue editor(s), in conjunction with the Managing Editor (see below) and the Executive Committee, will be responsible for the administration of the issue's production / journal's production (including: distribution of submitted and solicited material to Editorial Board members for review; correspondence with contributors; supervision of staff person(s) and graduate assistant(s); calling and coordination of meetings; management of journal finances). Solicitation of contents for each issue will be the responsibility of the issue editor(s). Of these solicitations, a certain number, comprising between one half and two thirds of the issue will focus on the theme proposed by the issue editor(s) and approved by the Editorial Board; this cluster will typically be introduced by a preface written by the issue editor or a person designated by her / him. Each solicited or submitted article will be reviewed by the issue editors and forwarded to one other member of the editorial board and to an appropriate external reviewer. Before going into production the issue editor(s) will present the whole issue to a meeting of the Executive Committee for final approval. A submission may be rejected at this stage only by a majority vote of the Executive Committee. The balance of items published in each issue should meet the overall criteria for publication in CIS. Primary criteria for publication include: appropriateness to the journal's mission (as well as, in specific cases, to the focal theme or problem addressed by an issue), potential importance for the field of Italian Studies, and intrinsic interest and excellence. Some consideration may be given to presenting an adequately diverse range of topics, approaches, etc. in choosing which essays will appear in which issues. Articles based on papers from the annual conference of the California Interdisciplinary Consortium for Italian Studies (CICIS) may be considered but have no special claim on publication in CIS. Other appropriate publications include critical reviews of recent work in sub-fields of Italian Studies, and translations of texts of especially high quality or relevance which are not readily available in English.

Editorial Board and Executive Committee:

The Editorial Board will consist of three representatives for each UC campus member of the Italian Studies Multi Campus Research Group (ISMRG). Of these three, one will be designated by each campus to be the campus representative on the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee will make all final decisions regarding the ordinary administration of the journal, by a majority vote, excepting changes to the charter which will require unanimity. Each campus representative on the Executive Committee will consult with the other two Editorial Board members from her / his campus on all major issues discussed in the Executive Committee. Tenure in the Executive Committee is for a minimum of one year and a maximum of four. Decisions about tenure and rotation in the Executive Committee will be made by the representatives of each campus on the Editorial Board. All campuses will seek to choose their representatives on the Editorial Board among professors distributed across different disciplines and historical periods. The Editorial Board will seek and accept advice on these matters from members of the Italian Studies MRG, the Advisory Board, and whomever else it deems appropriate. Members of the Editorial Board who have participated insufficiently for two years may be asked to leave the board and be replaced (insufficient participation consists of: failure to attend in person or through teleconference regularly scheduled meetings; failure to participate in the editorial and peer review process; and / or failure to assume regularly responsibility as “issue editor”).

Advisory Board:

The Editorial Board will nominate a number of distinguished Italianists in appropriate fields from outside the UC system and California to serve as an International Advisory Board to serve for three-year renewable terms. All nominations must be approved by the majority of the Executive Committee members. Changes to the Advisory Board may be made from time to time by the Executive Committee.

Staff:

In addition to the Editorial Board the journal has a Managing Editor, and a part-time Web designer. The responsibility of the Managing Editor is to assist the issue editor(s) in all aspects of the journal's production. All members of the board shall participate in seeking the necessary funding to support these staffing needs from within and without the UC system.

May 21, 2008