Across Oceans, Shared Dreams: Italy and America in Dialogue

From the birth of revolutionary ideas to the lived experiences of generations, this event explores the deep cultural bond that has united Italy and the United States across centuries.

Exhibition and Conference

Join Us on June 14, 2026, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Where: TBD

The events are free and open to the public, but registration is required.

3:00 PM
We will open with the inauguration of an exhibition organized by the Consolato d’Italia in Detroit in collaboration with the Archivio Storico Diplomatico del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, and the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan.

The exhibition retraces key milestones in the history of the United States, from Independence to the present day, with a special focus on the pivotal role of Detroit and Michigan in shaping these chapters. These include the struggle for African American emancipation, the decisive contribution of Detroit’s industrial power to the Allied victory in World War II, and the broader social transformations that shaped modern America.

A central section of the exhibition highlights the fundamental role of Italian communities in the United States, along with significant moments in the history of  Italy–U.S. bilateral relations, illustrating how migration, diplomacy, and cultural exchange have long connected the two nations.

4:00 PM
Zoom conference with Amedeo Arena: Enlightening Exchanges between America and Italy: Linking Minds Across Cultures Since 1776

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Fulbright Program and the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, this talk explores the deep intellectual dialogue between America and Italy around the values that shaped both nations.

The lecture highlights how the core principles of the Declaration, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”,  emerged within a wider Atlantic debate that included influential Italian thinkers.

Through three emblematic figures of the Italian Enlightenment, the talk reconstructs this transatlantic exchange of ideas:
Pasquale Paoli, whose Corsican constitutional experiment framed happiness as the purpose of government;
Philip Mazzei, a close associate of Thomas Jefferson, whose ideas resonated with the language of equality, and the correspondence between Gaetano Filangieri and Benjamin Franklin, centered on public education as a foundation for national happiness.

The talk reveals a shared Enlightenment vision in which the pursuit of happiness, civic virtue, and education formed a lasting moral bridge between Italy and the United States.

The Exhibition will also be available to the public from June 15-17, 2026, at:
DAS School Center: 30100 Telegraph Rd- Ste 322 – Bingham Farms, MI 48025 (East entrance)

Amedeo Arena is a Full Professor of European Law at the University of Naples Federico II. His research focuses on the history of European integration and on the transatlantic circulation of Enlightenment ideas. He has lectured at universities and academies in Europe and the United States on the correspondence between Gaetano Filangieri and Benjamin Franklin, edited a volume based on original manuscripts preserved in Naples and Philadelphia, and curated a panel exhibition on that correspondence, which was displayed in San Francisco and Philadelphia. He is a Fulbright alumnus and a co-founder of FulFred, the Fulbright Alumni Network at the University of Naples Federico II.