CHRISTINE FRANCES ZINNI, PhD
Educator, ethnographer, folklorist, media artist
Adjunct Professor, College at Brockport/State University of New York
Department of Anthropology
College at Brockport
Brockport, New York 14420
(585) 395-2682 or (585) 300-3255 (cell)
FAX: 585-395-2684
czinni@brockport.edu
Education
Ph.D. in American Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo (2007)
Thesis Advisor: Dennis Tedlock, Distinguished Professor of English & Poetics
and Research Professor of Anthropology
M.A. in American Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo (2000)
Teaching Positions
College at Brockport/ State University of New York: Adjunct Professor in
Anthropology Department (2007-Present)
University at Fredonia/State University of New York: Adjunct Professor in
History Department (Winter, 2013)
Buffalo State College: Adjunct Professor in Sociology Department (2007-08)
University at Buffalo/State University of New York: Adjunct Professor in
American Studies (2004) and Media Studies (2001)
University of Buffalo/State University of New York: Teaching Assistantship in
American Studies/Women Studies (1998-2000)
Study Abroad Summer Program Initiated and Administered
Food and Culture of the Aegean Study Abroad Program in Greece and Turkey.
through State University of New York, in collaboration with the Athens Centre
(two weeks, 2012 & 2014)
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Undergraduate Courses: (Designed and Taught):
American Lives and Environments (ANT 113), Cultural Anthropology (ANT 100),
Media theory (DMS 461), Anthropology and Folklore (ANT 480 ), Food and Culture
(ANT 316), Life History and Biography (ANT 401 & 501), Museum Studies (ANT
Native Americans (ANT 301), Native Image in Film and Media (ANT 304), Native
Women (ANT 303), Sociology of Work (SOC 360)
Research Positions
University at Buffalo/State University of New York, Educational Technology Grant:
Project Manager, database for Working Women Oral History project (2003-05)
University at Buffalo/State University of New York, Baldy Center of Law and Social
Policy Grant: Research Assistant (American Studies) to Prof. Meyerowitz (2004)
University at Buffalo/State University of New York: Research Assistant (History)
for Prof. Frisch’s Presidential address to the American Studies Association (2000)
Consultant Positions
Explore and More Children’s Museum, Buffalo, New York: research, design
organization and implementation of programming and booklets for Burmese,
Haudenousauee (Iroquois) & Polish traditional arts programs; Folk Art Consultant
(2008-present)
Ganondagan Native American History Site, Indigenous Women’s Initiative, Neto
Hatinawake Ongwehowe (Here-Lives-People in the Cayuga Language), GeneseeOrleans County Art Councils: Videographer/Documentarian (2002-present)
Arts Council, Rochester, New York: Folkarts Consultant and Programmer (2008)
Randforce Associates: New Media for Oral History Use, Associate (2002-05)
Honors and Awards (Teaching and Project-based)
Discretionary Salary Increase Award (DSI) for service teaching, College
at Brockport/State University of New York: (2009-11)
American Democracy Project (ADP) Award, College at Brockport/State University
of New York: Project Coordinator for lecture by Professor Donald Grinde on
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Influence on Democracy (2009)
Educational Technology Center Award, University at Buffalo/State University of
New York: Project Manager,Working Women Oral History Project (2003-05)
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Folklife Center’s Local Legacies
Project Award for documentary about regional musical traditions (1998)
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Professional Service (Selected)
Diversity Conference, College at Brockport/State University of New York,
Committee member (2009-11)
Invited Lectures and Documentary Screenings Abroad
Florence, Italy, University of Pisa, Department of Sociology: invited guest and
presenter for conference on Democracy in the 21st Century (2009)
Alfedena, Commune d’Aquila, Italy, screening/talk about documentary production
centered on oral histories of stonecarvers that emigrated to the U.S. (2009)
Florence, Italy, Festival Dei Popoli International Film Festival, screening/talk
about documentary centered on oral histories of Italian immigrant women (2000)
Publications: Book Chapters in Refereed and Edited Volumes
“Becoming Storied.” In On Second Thought: Women Scholars’ Internal Dialogs,
edited by Luisa Del Giudice (in review process, 2014).
“Stitches in Air: Needlework as Spiritual Practice and Service in Batavia, New
York.” In Embroidered Stories: Interpreting Women’s Domestic Needlework in
Italian Diaspora, edited by Joseph Sciorra and Edi Giunta, pp.74-98. Jackson:
University of Mississippi Press (2014).
“Play me a Tarantella, a Polka or Jazz: Italian Americans and the Currency of the
Piano Accordion.” In The Accordion in the Americas, edited by Helena Simonett,
University of Illinois Press (2012).
“Cantastorie: Ethnography as Storysinging.” In Oral History, Oral Culture, and
Italian Americans, edited by Luisa Del Giudice, pp. 83-101.New York: Palgrave
Press (2009).
“The Maintenance of a Commons.” In Uncertainty and Insecurity in the New Age:
Studies in Italian Americana, edited by Vince Parrillo, pp.199-219. New York:
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute: Queens College, The City University of
New York Press (2009).
Publication in Other Countries
“The Relevance of a Commons in Greece, Italy and the United States:
Democracy, Social Justice and Ecology,” In Per la democrazia l’integrazionesociale
(On Democracy and Social Integration), edited by Mario Aldo Toscano, pp. 175189. Florence, Italy: Le Lettre Press (2010).
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Article about Pedagogy, New Media and Oral History Use in Classroom
“The Medium and the Message: Oral History, New Media, and a Grassroots History
of Working Women.”Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 37 No. 3
(2008-2009): 305-318.
Reviews of Books on Oral History
Review of Sapelo Voices: Historical Anthropology and Oral Traditions of GullahGeechee People of Sapelo Island, Georgia by Ray Crook; Cornelia Bailey; Norma
Harris; Karen Smith, Oral History Review, Vol. 32, No. 1 (2005): 107-09.
Review of Alejandro Tsakimp: A Shuar Healer in the Margins of History by Steven
Rubenstein, The Oral History Review, Vol. 31, No. 1 ( 2004): 107-109.
Panel Organization on Oral History (International)
Rome, Italy, International Oral History Conference. Organizer/Chair, panel session
on use of media in documenting oral histories and regional folk life (2004).
Panel Organizations (Selected)
Scholars Day Conference, SUNY/Brockport, Organizer/chair of student panel/
and papers based on oral history interviews conducted by students participating in
Food and Culture of the Aegean Study Program in Greece and Turkey (2013)
Diversity Conference, SUNY/Brockport, Organizer, panel sessions featuring Native
American speakers and students on contemporary Native American Topics including
a keynote panel session with Native American community leaders (2008-11)
Working Class Studies Association, SUNY/Stonybrook, Organizer/Chair
of African American student panel/papers based on oral history interviews
with family members, arranged for funding for students to attend (2008)
Oral History Association, Transforming Communities through Oral History
Conference, Oakland, CA, Organizer/Chair of panel session on oral histories of
women activists (2006)
American Folklore Association, Rochester, NY, Organizer/Chair of panel session on
use of media in documenting oral history and regional folk life (2003)
Oral History Association, Anchorage Alaska, Organizer/ Chair of panel session
centered on documentation of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) storytellers (2000)
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Selected Conference Presentations (Papers Given)
Terre Promesse: Excursions towards Italian Topographies, John D. Calandra
Institute, Queens College NYC, presentation on “Social Justice and Democracy: the
Significance of a Commons” (2010)
Italians in the Americas Conference, Calandra Institute, Queens College, NYC,
presentation on multi-media exhibit entitled “Writings in Stone and Textiles: The
Art/Work of Italian Americans from the Abruzzo Region” featuring oral histories of
Italian American stonecarvers and needleworkers (2008)
Public Humanities Program, Brown University, Providence, RI, presentation of,
“Oral History, New Media & Grassroots History of Working Women Project” (2005)
Oral History Conference, San Diego, CA, with Randforce Associates, Exhibit on
New Media technology for Oral History Use (2002)
Documentary Heritage Foundation of Western New York, Baird Research
Park/SUNY Buffalo/ with Randforce Associates, presentation on use of New Media
in Archiving (2002)
Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender, Buffalo, NY.
presentation on Annie Oakley/ and (re)presentation of women in Wild West (2000)
Oral History Association, Buffalo, New York, presentation of oral histories of Italian
American immigrant women and five generations (1998)
Artist Awards (Selected) Exhibits and Film
Ford Foundation support to produce documentary about Indigenous Women
Emerging Activists Conference in collaboration with Indigenous Women’s Initiative
And Alma Dei Mujer (2012)
Squeaky Wheel Community Video, Channels Grant: Stories from the Niagara
Frontier, with Coalition for Economic Justice and Community Foundation for
Greater Buffalo to create documentary, Round the Clock; Buffalo Workers and the
Fight for Economic Justice (2010)
New York Foundation for the Arts (N.F.A.), Travel Grant to travel to Alfedena Italy
to screen, The Road From Alfedena, documentary about Italian stonecarvers (2009)
National Italian American Foundation (N.I.A.F.) and New York Council for the
Arts (N.Y.S.C.A.) Grants to produce video documentary, Road From Alfedena and
traveling julti-media exhibit, Writing(s) in Stone and Textiles: The Art/Work of
Italians from Abruzzo, (2005-05)
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Screenings of Documentary Films
The Road from Alfedena in conjunction with multi-media exhibit, Writings
in Stone and Textile: The Art/Work of Italian Americans, Erie Canal Museum,
Syracuse, NY (Spring 2014)
Emerging Activists Leadership Conference, Alma Dei Mujer, Austin, TX. (2014)
Round the Clock: Buffalo Workers and the Fight for Jobs with Justice
screened at Market Arcade Theatre, Niagara Film Festival and eight libraries in
Buffalo, NY. (2010-2013)
The Road From Alfedena, Alfedena, Italy (2009)
The Road From Alfedena, screened at seven galleries in Western New York
including Casa Italiana, Nazareth College of Rochester, NY. & Working Class
Culture Conference, Macalester College, Minneapolis, MN. (2006-07)
Backyard Angels, International Oral History Conference, Rome Italy (2004)
History of Working Women Oral History Project, Educational Technology Grant
Showcase, University at Buffalo/State University of New York, (2004)
Four Days in Buffalo: UL video on South American poet Cecilia Vicuna.
Eco- Feminist Conference, University of Southern Connecticut and Yale University,
New Haven, CN. (2001)
Backyard Angels, Festival Dei Populi, Film Festival, Florence, Italy (2000)
Funding to Create Documentary Film Festival
Kino Polskie IV, Center for the Arts/SUNY/Buffalo, Co-organizer of six week
long film festival of Polish documentary films/chair of panel session on Polish
Women Documentary Filmmakers (2000)
Membership
American Anthropological Association (AAA) American Folklore Society (AFA)
Ganondagan Native American Site
Italian American Association (IASA)
Neto Hatinawkwe Ongwehowe
New York State Folkarts Roundtable
Oral History Association (OHA)
Textile Society Association (TSA)
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