Stephen J. Cerulli

M.A. Liberal studies, concentration in American studies, The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. 2019
Thesis: Italian/Americans and the American Racial System: Contadini to Settler Colonists?

B.A. History, honors’ degree, minor in English, magna cum laude, University of Connecticut. 2015
Thesis: The Agitator and The Professor: Carlo Tresca & Gaetano Salvemini: Formation, Careers, Ideas, Anti-Fascism

A.A. Liberal Arts and Sciences, cum laude, Norwalk Community College. 2012

Books

Educating America and the Contributions of Italian Americans. Milione, Vincenzo; Cerulli, Stephen J.; Pelizzoli, Itala; Pizzirusso, Carmine; the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute Press. New York, New York. 2026

Prefaces, Introductions, Etc.

(Forthcoming 2027) With Anthony Julian Tamburri, “Italian America Organizations” The Routledge History of Italian Americans, 2nd Edition. Edited by William Connel and Stanislao Pugliese. Routledge, New York. 2027

(Forthcoming Fall 2026) “Erasing Themselves or Contextualizing Themselves: The Meridionale Diaspora, Spanish Imperialism, and the Inappropriateness of Columbus as a Collective Symbol of Identity” in Sicily by Sicilians: From Megale Hellas to the Two Sicilies, edited by Louis Mendola. Trinacria Editions. Palermo, Italy. 2026

“Giovani Schiavo, The Great Chronicler of Italian America: A Critical Re-Introduction” in The Italians in America Before the Revolution by Giovani Schiavo. Bordighera Press. New York, NY. 2023

-Small Press Distribution nonfiction best-seller

Essays/Articles

“A Sort of Accumulation Effect: Readings in the Rivers of the Italian Diaspora" VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, Volume 35, Number 1. 2024

"Italian/Americans and the American Racial System: Contadini to Settler Colonists?" (Master's thesis) Colonists (2019). CUNY Academic Works. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3178. May 2019

“Just Another Travel Memoir: An Italian/American's Journey in Italy as He Remembers It." Ovunque Siamo Vol. l, No.2. 2017

Papers Presented 

“Columbus: The Settling of Italian America,” Coming to Terms with Columbus, Caboto and Other Colonial Myths. University of Toronto. November 21, 2025.

“Convenient Narratives for Inconvenient Histories: Saving Columbus from Himself and The Italian American Settler Colonial Project,” Italian American Studies Association 49^th Annual Conference. Montclair State University. November 07, 2025.

“The State of Italian-Italian/American Studies in the American University,” Transcending Borders, Bridging Gaps Italian Americana, Diasporic Studies, and the University Curriculum. The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. January 30, 2025. 

“Italian Americans: Ambiguously White, But Certainly Not People of Color,” Italian American Studies Program, Hofstra University. November 20, 2024.

“What is Italian American studies?: Origins, Concepts, and CUNY,” Italian Heritage Month | Exploring Italian-American Identity. Hostos Community College, the City University of New York. October 10, 2024.

“Abasso Bottai: Interwar Little Italies and the War for Italian America.” Presented at The First Annual Rossini Symposium. Yale University. March 1, 2024.

“A Seat at the Table: Countering Stigmas against Italian Americans in Higher Education.” Presented at The Illusion of Inclusion – Collaborative Solutions for Performative Diversity. The Graduate Center, the City University of New York. April 6, 2023

“Wyckoff Heights? Italian American Borderland on the Brooklyn/Queens Line.” Presented at Italian Borderlands: Restrictions, Breaches, Encounters. The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute Virtual Conference. April 5, 2021

"The Agitator and the Professor: Gaetano Salvemini and Carlo Tresca, Contesting Italian Identity Abroad." Diaspore Italiane: Italy in Movement conference. The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. November 2, 2018

Reviews

Exhibition Review: “The Andrea Doria Rescue at Sea” The Italian American Review, Volume 15, Number 2. 2024

“Cerulli on De Michele, 'Anti-Southern Racism and Education in Post-War Italy.” H-Italy https://networks.h-net.org/group/reviews/20025582/cerulli-de-michele-anti-southern-racism-and-education-post-war-italy. February 2024

Journalism

“Café Mars.” Italics – CUNY TV. September 23, 2025.

“Italy, Italians, and Italian Americans are Multifaceted,” with Louis Mendola, American Italian Cultural Roundtable, Volume 3: Issue 2. October 2024.

“Italian Enclaves: The Hill – St. Louis, Little Italy Omaha, The West Side – Stamford” with Raymond Guarini. Italian America Spring 2024. April 15, 2024.

“Why the Multi-culturalism of Italy and its diaspora Remains a Secret,” with Louis Mendola. La Voce di New York. February 16, 2024.

“A Conversation with Michael Dante,” with Anthony Julian Tamburri. Italics – CUNY TV. February 14, 2024.

“Italian Enclaves: East Harlem, Columbus Park, Sonoratown -Los Angeles,” with Raymond Guarini. Italian America Winter 2024. January 15, 2024.

“Italian Enclaves: Ridgewood, Richmond, Frontenac.” Italian America Fall 2023. October 15, 2023.

“All The Right Enemies Couldn’t Cancel the Legend of Carlo Tresca.” La Voce di New York. May 24, 2023

“The Future of the Diaspora?”  La Voce di New York. January 20, 2023

"Living Remnants: Arpitan in Southern Italy.” Pummarolə. August 21, 2020

"If we do not remove them, someone else will do it for us: Why Italian Americans need to be leaders in removing Columbus monuments." Italian Enclaves Historical Society. June 30, 2020

"GrowingUpItalian: Where the Millennial and Gen Z Ethos Meets Italian America." La Voce di New York. February 4, 2020

“That's Amore Festival: An Italian American Alternative to Columbus Day Parades." La Voce di New York. October 15, 2019

"In Memory of Carlo Tresca, the Italian Vanguard of Anti-Fascism in New York." La Voce di New York. January 12, 2018

"Down with Columbus! Then What?" La Voce Di New York. October 12, 2017

"The assassination of the Rosselli brothers." Libcom.org: https://libcom.org/history/assassinationrosselli-brothers. June 2017

“Las trobairitz." 1 University Place Vol. 1 No.2. Spring 2015

"Is it worth it? Separatist Movements: A Case in Italy." 1 University Place Vol. l No.l. Fall 2014

Projects

Primary Researcher, “Italian Programs in the United States,” Calanda Institute Data Snapshot 12 (September 2025). Cerulli, Stephen; Pelizzoli, Itala; Chirico, Donna. 

Writer and guide, “Making Little Italy Tour,” Italian Enclaves Historical Society. Fall 2025

Consulted on “Global Italian,” an exploration of Italian diasporic foodways, with Café Mars, Brooklyn, NY. 2025

Consulted, Nuova York: Hidden in Plain Sight, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, NYU. 2024-2026

Contributor, “Syncretic Religious Expressions in Italian American Ridgewood, Queens” Interwoven: Artistic Expressions of the Italian American Experience, Queens College, the City University of New York. 2024. 

Contributor, Italian Enclaves Historical Society’s Italian Neighborhoods and Parishes Database. 2023- 2025

Consulted, Stonebreakers. Awen Films 2022.

Co-creator, Bronx: Wealth and Poverty Syllabus. Fordham University 2022. 

Co-creator and custodian of the Calandra Italian American and Italian Diaspora Studies Bibliography, June 2021- Present.

Co-organizer, Joseph Sciorra’s archive on “Italian-American Folklore” for the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, October 12, 2017.

CUNY K16 Pedagogy Fellowship, 2026

GSAS Teaching Fellowship, Fordham University, 2024-2026

Bennett Supplementary Scholarship, Fordham University, 2024-2026

Contested Spaces Fellowship, National Endowment for the Humanities and The Fashion Institute of Technology/State University of New York, 2024  

Phi Kappa Phi, Fordham University, 2024

Future Leader Fellow, Italian American Future Leaders Conference, 2023

New Student Distinguished Fellowship/Richard and Eileen Bennett Graduate Assistant Award, Fordham University, 2022-2024

GSAS Centennial Scholarship, Fordham University 2022-2024

Featured Professor, Hostos Early College Initiative’s Meet Our Professors Hostos-Lincoln Academy's Early College Program, 2022

Teacher Appreciation Award, Student Government Association at Hostos Community College, City University of New York, 2021