Martedì 26 novembre, ore 18:30 (5.30 pm GMT) Seminario della Humanities Society del Wolfson College, Università di Cambridge
Dr Selena Daly (University College London), ‘Salute! Italian immigrants’ experiences of birth, death and ill health in post-war Britain’
Chair: Bianca Gaudenzi (Libera Università di Bolzano; Wolfson College, Cambridge; Istituto Storico Germanico di Roma)

Per partecipare su zoom si prega di registrarsi al seguente link: https://wolfson-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrde2rrjotEtIJzmXC8JSy0mjY7D6Q4AG-#/registration

Abstract: Around the world, the immigrant body has long been deemed a potential site of disease that may taint the native population and, even today, medical exams are a standard requirement to obtain immigration visas and work permits. However, historically, immigrants’ experiences of ill-health and healthcare in their new homes are a much less-well documented aspect of the migratory trajectory. This talk will use Italian immigrants in Great Britain since 1945 as a case study through which to examine the interaction of immigration and healthcare provision. I will adopt a life-stages approach, examining key moments at which Italian immigrants engaged with healthcare settings – namely when giving birth, during periods of ill-health, and in old age. Of particular interest will be an exploration of factors impacting upon access to NHS care (e.g. gender, age, linguistic competence) and the role of community-specific services, e.g. the Italian Hospital, active in London until 1990, and the Villa Scalabrini Italian nursing home in Hertfordshire, which opened in the 1980s. Using a mixture of archival documents, community newspapers and oral history interviews, this research seeks to build a nuanced portrait of how Italians in England have experienced and confronted life, death and illness over the last 80 years.