‘Linguine and lust'

Professor to explore Italian- American stereotypes NEWBURGH —Two ways in which Italians have been stereotyped are as lovers of food and sex, says Fred L. Gardaphe, who will present the lecture “Linguine and Lust: Food and Sex in Italian-American Culture” at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 5, in the Villa Library at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. According to Gardaphe, those stereotypes go back as far as the days of the Roman Empire, when Christianity grew as antidote to the sensual excesses of infamous Roman decadence. American culture, with its Puritan foundations, has been characterized by a straitlaced attitude toward sex and a spiceless approach to food. Gardaphe’s talk explores the differences between the two cultures and how their attitudes toward food and sex combine to create Italian-American culture. Gardaphe is a professor of American Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has written a number of books including “The Evolution of Italian American Narrative,” “Dagoes Read: Tradition and the Italian/American Writer,” and “Leaving Little Italy.” Refreshments will be served at the lecture. For more information, call Nicole Shea, director of the college’s cultural center, at 569-3179.