New Book Coming Soon:
Embracing Our Roots
Rediscovering the Value of Faith, Family, and Tradition
Family portrait of the Tosettos (paternal ancestors), 1927
I am pleased to announce that this book is now under contract with Wipf and Stock (Eugene, OR) and due for publication in 2021.
America has provided a platform for countless immigrant peoples who, in turn, have contributed to the nation’s landscape as a multicultural, inclusive land of possibilities. Still, the waves of assimilation work to obscure and suppress the distinctive customs and beliefs of immigrants and refugees, many feeling coerced to conform to American attitudes towards race, the economy, and politics. Others, inundated with American media, consumerism, and secularity have forgotten those aspects about their family heritage and background that make them unique.
Drawing from my background as an Italian American evangelical and years of research, Embracing Our Roots considers the significance of rediscovering our ancestral history in a society where many are forced to repress, ignore, or even reject their heritage. As a nation of immigrants, every American is an “ethnic” American and stands to gain from considering the people and places they come from as well as the customs and beliefs that make them, and their family line, unique. In an age of immediate access, electronic devices, and virtual social networks, I maintain the most promising path for unearthing our roots is thumbing through the family archives, hearty conversations with loved ones, and building our family tree. This book is for laypersons and scholars alike with interest in the themes of biblical living, faith-based traditions, food culture, immigration, social class, race, family dynamics, and mental health.
BOOK:
Italian American Pentecostalism and the Struggle for Religious Identity. London: Routledge, 2020.
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** For a complete list of publications, see my CV.