The essays prepared for this symposium range from the scholarly and highly structured to the impressionistic and subjective. Together, they comprise a substantive exploration of Italian American life and serve as a model for research into American ethnicity. In the papers three different areas are addressed: (1) current research and issues in the new Italian American identity, (2) the state of research on Italian Americans, and (3) new directions in research on Italian Americans. The papers in the first area cover issues such as the new ethnicity, ethnicity, social class and mental health, and myths surrounding Italian Americans. The second area contains the largest number of papers. Among them are the following: (1) Italian American workers from 1880-1920, (2) fascism and Italian Americans, (3) the American political process and Italian participation, (4) familialism in the south of Italy and in the U.S., (5) the state of Italian Canadian studies, and (6) sources and current research in Italy on Italian Americans. In the last area the following issues are addressed: (1) the Italian Immigrant experience as viewed by a Latinamericanist, (2) the need for a language component in the study of Italian Americans, (3) a progress report on Italian American studies, and (4) the Italian experience within the Roman Catholic Church in America. (Author/AM)