• Comrades and Christians: Religion and Political Struggle in Communist Italy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. Cloth and softcover editions.
    • Italian translation with a new preface published as Cattolici e Comunisti. Milan: Franco Angeli, 1981.
    • New English language edition published by Waveland Press, 1990.
  • Famiglia Contadina e Urbanizzazione [Peasant Family and Urbanization]. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1981.
  • Family Life in Central Italy, 1880-1910: Sharecropping, Wage Labor, and Coresidence. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1984. Completely revised and expanded version of above. Winner of the 1984 Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies.
  • Ritual, Politics, and Power. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Cloth and paper. Offered as an alternate selection by the History Book Club.
    • Italian edition published as Riti e simboli del potere. Rome: Laterza, 1989
    • Japanese edition published by Keiso Shobo (Tokyo), 1990.
    • Romanian edition published as Ritual, Politica, si Putere by Editura Univers (Bucharest, 2002).
    • Polish edition published as Rytual, Polityka, Wladza by Oficyna Wydawnicza Volumen (Warsaw, 2010)
    • Chapter ("Flaming crosses and body snatchers") reprinted in Applying Anthropology, 2nd & 3rd ed., 1991/1993, and Applying Cultural Anthropology, 2nd ed., 1993, ed. by A. Podolefsky and P. Brown (Mayfield Press). Chapter ("Ritual construction of political reality") reprinted in Readings in Ritual Studies, 1994, ed. by Ronald Grimes (Prentice- Hall).
  • Family, Political Economy, and Demographic Change: The Transformation of Life in Casalecchio, Italy, 1861-1921 (with Dennis Hogan). Cloth and paper editions. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989. Winner 1990 Marraro Prize from the Society for Italian Historical Studies.
    • Italian edition published as Famiglia, Economia, e Società. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1991.
  • Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993 (paper, 1994). Runner-up, 1995 Goode Award (book on family), American Sociological Association.
  • Politics and Symbols: The Italian Communist Party and the Fall of Communism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996.
  • The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. New York: Knopf, 1997. Paperback published by Vintage, 1998. Finalist, National Book Award for nonfiction, 1997. Winner, National Jewish Book Award for Jewish-Christian relations, 1997. Selected one of the “Best Books of the Year, 1997”, Publishers Weekly, Toronto Globe and Mail. “Edgardo Mine,” a stage version of the book, written by Alfred Uhry, opened at Hartford Stage in October, 2002 and was performed in 2006 by the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis. A film version, with screenplay by Tony Kushner, is in preparation.
    • Italian edition (Prigioniero del Papa Re) published by Rizzoli in 1996;
    • British edition by Picador in 1997 (paperback will be by Papermac);
    • French (Pie IX et l’enfant juif, Perrin, 2001)
    • German (Die Entführung des Edgardo Mortara, Hanser, 1998)
    • Brazilian (O Seqüestro de Edgardo Mortara, Rocco, 1998)
    • Hebrew (Kinneret, 2000)
    • Spanish (El secuestro de Edgardo Mortara, Plaza Janés, 2000).
    • Chinese (Shanghai, in preparation)
    • Czech (Grada, in preparation)
    • Polish (Czarne, in preparation)
    • Russian (Corpus, in preparation)
    • Taiwanese (Rye Field, in preparation)
    • Georgian (Palitra, in preparation)
    • Romanian (Grup Media Litera)
  • The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican’s Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism, 2001. New York: Knopf (paperback Vintage, 2002). A selection of Book of the Month Club; Quality Paperback book club; and Traditions (the Book of the Month Club’s Jewish interest book club). Finalist, Mark Lynton Prize for History 2002. Selected one of the “100 Best Books of the Year, 2002”, Toronto Globe and Mail.
    •  Italian edition by Rizzoli (I papi contro gli ebrei, 2002)
    • Brazilian edition by Rocco (O Vaticano e os Judeos: Os papas e a ascensão do anti-semitismo moderno, 2002)
    • Spanish edition by Plaza Janés (Los papas contro los judíos, 2002)
    • Dutch edition by Prometheus (In Gods Naam, 2002)
    • British edition by Macmillan (The Unholy War, 2002)
    • German edition by Propylaen Verlag (Die Päpste gegen die Juden. Der Vatikan und der moderne Antisemitismus, 2001)
    • French version by Editions Robert Laffont (Le Vatican contre les juifs, 2003)
    • Hungarian edition by Ulpius-Haz (A pápák a zsidók ellen, 2003)
    • Polish edition by W.A.B. (Papieze a Zydzi: O roli Watykanu w rozwoju wspólczesnego antysemityzmu, 2005)
  • Prisoner of the Vatican: The Popes’ Plot to Capture Italy from the New Italian State. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004. A History Book Club selection. Chosen as one of the best books of 2004 by Publishers’ Weekly.
    • Italian edition Rizzoli (Prigioniero del Vaticano, 2005).
  • Amalia’s Tale: A Peasant’s Fight for Justice in 19th Century Italy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008.
    • Italian edition Rizzoli (La Sfida di Amalia, 2010).
    • Brazilian edition by Rocco (A Historia de Amalia, 2010)
  • The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe. New York: Random House, in press, publication date January 28, 2014.
    • Italian edition. Rizzoli. February 2014. 
    • British Edition. Oxford University Press. February 2014.
    • Romanian edition Editura Rao. 
    • Portuguese edition, Individual Editora, (Papa e Mussolini) in preparation.
    • French edition, Les Arènes (Mussolini et le pape, February 2016).
    • Polish edition, Wydawnictwo Czarne, in preparation.
    • Chinese edition, Beijing Imaginist Time Culture, in preparation.
    • German edition, WBG Buchverlag (Der erste Stellvertreter, September 2016).
    • Brazilian edition, Intrinseca (O Papa e Mussolini), 2017.
    • Czech edition, Jota (Papež a Mussolini), 2017.
    • Turkish edition, Ayrinti (Papa ve Mussolini), 2018.
  • The Pope Who Would be King: The Exile of Pius IX and the Emergence of Modern Europe. New York: Random House, 2018.
    • UK edition, Oxford University Press, 2018.
    • Italian edition, Garzanti, (Il Papa che voleva essere re), 2019
    • Chinese edition, Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, in preparation.
  • The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler in World War II. Winner of the 2022 Julia Ward Howe prize for nonfiction.
    • New York: Random House, 2022. (leatherbound American edition, Easton Press, 2023).
    • Italian edition Garzanti, (Un Papa in guerra), 2022.
    • UK edition, Oxford University Press, 2022.
    • German edition, WBG Buchverlag, (Der Papst, Der Schwieg), March 2023.
    • Chinese edition, Beijing Imaginist Time Culture, in preparation.
    • Spanish edition, Ático Historia, in preparation.
    • Russian edition, Alpina, in preparation.
    • Czech edition, Kallich, in preparation.
  • Urban Life in Mediterranean Europe: Anthropological Perspectives. Edited with Michael Kenny. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983. Cloth and softcover editions. Includes introduction by Kenny and Kertzer.
  • Age and Anthropological Theory. Edited with Jennie Keith. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,1984. Cloth and softcover editions. Includes introduction by Keith and Kertzer.
  • Editor, special issue, Journal of Family HistoryAnthropology and Family History, Fall 1984, vol. 9, n. 3.
  • Translator (from Italian), Age Class Systems: Social Institutions and Polities Based OnAge, by Bernardo Bernardi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
  • The Family in Life Course Perspective, editor, vol. 2 of Current Perspectives on Aging and the Life-Cycle, with an introductory chapter. Greenwich: JAI Press, 1986.
  • Age Structuring in Comparative Perspective, edited with K. Warner Schaie. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum, 1989.
  • The History of the Italian Family, special issue of the Journal of Family History, edited with Marzio Barbagli (winter, 1990). Italian version published as Storia della Famiglia Italiana (1750-1930). Bologna: Il Mulino, 1992.
  • The Family in Italy from Antiquity to the Present, edited with Richard Saller. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991. Italian edition in press with Le Lettere (Florence).
  • Aging in the Past: Demography, Society, and Old Age, edited with Peter Laslett. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
  • Italian Politics, 1996, edited with Mario Caciagli. Boulder: Westview. Italian edition published as Politica in Italia 1996. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1996.
  • Anthropological Demography: Towards a New Synthesis, edited with Thomas Fricke. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.
  • Census and Identity: The Politics of Ethnicity, Race, and Language in National Censuses, edited with Dominique Arel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
  • The History of the European Family (edited with Marzio Barbagli). Co-published by Yale University Press and Laterza (Rome). Spanish ed. by Ediciones Paidós. Three volumes. Publication dates 2001-3. German ed. by Patmos Verlagshaus. 2006.
    • Vol. 1: Family Life in Early Modern Times (1500-1789), 2001. (Storia della famiglia in Europa: Dal Cinquecento alla Rivoluzione francese, Laterza ed., 2001; La vida familiar a principios de la era moderna, Ediciones Paidós, 2002).
    • Vol. 2: Family Life in Modern Times (1789-1914), 2002. (Storia della famiglia in Europa: Il lungo Ottocento, Laterza ed., 2003; La vida familiar desde la Revoluzión Francesca hasta la Primera Guerra Mundial, Ediciones Paidós, 2003).
    • Vol. 3: Family Life in the Twentieth Century, 2003. Italian and Spanish editions published in 2004.
  • Old Demons, New Debates: Anti-Semitism in the West. New York: Holmes & Meier, 2005. Runner-up, National Jewish Book Award for Anthologies, 2005.
  • Pius XI and America (edited with Charles Gallagher and Alberto Melloni). Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2012.
  • Antisemitismo popolare e Inquisizione negli Stati pontefici, 1815-1850. Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell'Arte in Roma. Rome, Italy, 2006.
  • Nicholas Brown and the Roman Revolution of 1848/e la rivoluzione romana del 1848, Bologna:
    1088 Press. Digital edition at: www.1088press.it, 2019.
  • "Making a middle way: Problems of Monhegan identity," (with George L. Hicks), Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 28:1-24, 1972.
  • "Politics and ritual: The Communist festa in Italy," Anthropological Quarterly, 47:374-389, 1974.
  • "Italian Communist participation in Catholic rituals: A case study," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 14:1-11, 1975.
  • "La lotta per l'egemonia rituale in un quartiere comunista," Il Mulino 244:225-248, 1976. 
  • "Ethos, economics and 'civilization' in rural Italy," Reviews in Anthropology 3:400-408, 1976.
  • "Anthropological research in urban Italy," Comparative Urban Research 4:92-100, 1977. Translated and reprinted in Antropologia Urbana, ed. by Cesare Pitto. Milan: Feltrinelli, 1980.
  • "La struttura del gruppo familiare contadino in Europa. Ricerca su una comunità italiana del XIX secolo," Rassegna Italiana dSociologia 18:57-83, 1977. 
  • "European peasant household structure: Some implications from a nineteenth century Italian community," Journal of Family History 2:333-349, 1977. This is a substantially revised version of the above-listed article.
  • "Transitions over the life course: Lessons from age-set societies," (with Anne Foner), American Journal of Sociology 83:1081-1104, 1978.
  • "Theoretical developments in the study of age-group systems," American Ethnologist 5:368-374, 1978.
  • "The impact of urbanization on household composition: Implications from an Italian parish (1880-1910)." Urban Anthropology 6:1-23, 1978.
  • "Gramsci's concept of hegemony: The Italian Church-Communist struggle," Dialectical Anthropology 4:321-328.
  • "Cross-cultural perspectives on life-course transitions," (with Anne Foner) Generations 4:1:24-25, 1979.
  • "African age-set systems and political organization: The Latuka of Southern Sudan," (with Oker Madison). L'Uomo 4:1:85-109, 1980.
  • "Le ricerche sull'ambiente urbana in Italia," Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia 21:3:361-86, 1980. 
  • "Metodi, problemi e accorgimenti della ricerca," L'Uomo 4:248-252, 1980. 
  • "Southern Italian immigrants in a northern Communist quartiere: The social bases of political allegiance," Mediterranean Studies 2:42-61, 1980.
  • "Aspetti politici delle calamità naturali: Riflessioni sulla ricerca americana," Laboratorio Politico 5/6:162-176, 1981. 
  • "The liberation of Evelina Zaghi," Signs 8:45-67, 1982.
  • "Gli studi sulle culture mediterranee e gli odierni indirizzi antropologici," Nuovi Quaderni del Meridione, #77, pp. 67-76, 1982. 
  • "Generation as a sociological problem," Annual Review of Sociology 9:125-149, 1983.
  • "Anthropology and family history," Journal of Family History 9:201-216, 1984.
  • "Longitudinal approaches to migration in social history," (with Dennis Hogan) Historical Methods 18:20-30, 1985.
  • "On the move: Migration in an Italian community, 1865-1921," (with Dennis Hogan), Social Science History 9:1-23, 1985.
  • "Future directions in historical household studies," Journal of Family History 10:98-107, 1985.
  • "Migration patterns during Italian urbanization," (with Dennis Hogan) Demography 22:309-325, 1985
  • "Anthropology and history," Historical Methods 19:119-120, 1986.
  • "L'analisi della famiglia italiana diventa maggiorenne." Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia 28:135-140, 1987.
  • "Advances in Italian and Iberian family history," (with Caroline Brettell), Journal of Family History, 11:87-120, 1987.
  • "Recenti sviluppi nella storia della famiglia italiana e iberica," (with Caroline Brettell) Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia 28:249-289, 1987. Revised version of above-cited article.
  • "The social bases of declining infant mortality: Lessons from a nineteenth-century Italian town," (with Dennis P. Hogan). European Journal of Population 2:361-386, 1986.
  • "Verso una nuova teoria del declino della fecondità," Polis (Bologna) 1:175-188, 1987. 
  • "Antropologia e storia," Il Mulino 36:393-408, 1987. 
  • "Childhood and industrialization in Italy," Anthropological Quarterly 61:152-159, 1987.
  • "The joint family revisited: Demographic constraints and complex family households in the European past." Journal of Family History 14:1-15, 1989.
  • "The future of ritual in modern society," The Family Therapy Networker 13:4:20-29 (July, 1989). Reprinted in The Evolving Therapist, edited by Richard Simon et al. New York: Guilford Press, 1992.
  • "New directions in historical demography." Contemporary Sociology 19:246-248 (1990).
  • "Household organization and migration in ninteeenth-century Italy," (with Dennis Hogan), Social Science History 14:483-505 (1990).
  • "Politics and ritual--review article," Journal of Ritual Studies 4:349-354 (1990).
  • "An introduction to the history of the Italian family" (with Marzio Barbagli), Journal of Family History 15:369-384, 1990. A revised Italian version is published in Marzio Barbagli and David I. Kertzer, La storia della famiglia italiana. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  • "Reflections on the European marriage pattern: Sharecropping and proletarianization in Casalecchio, Italy, 1861-1921," (with Dennis Hogan). Journal of Family History, 16:31-45 (1991).
  • "Household history and sociological theory," Annual Review of Sociology 17:155-79 (1991).
  • "Infant abandonment and gender ideology in nineteenth-century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 22:1-25 (1991).
  • "Living with grandparents: The tenacity of three-generational households in an industrializing Italian community (1871-1921)," (with Nancy Karweit). Annales de Démographie Historique, 1991, pp. 91-102 (1991).
  • "Child abandonment in European history," Journal of Family History, 17:13-19 (1992).
  • "Kinship beyond the household in a nineteenth-century Italian town," (with Dennis Hogan and Nancy Karweit). Continuity & Change 7:1-19 (1992).
  • "Contributions anthropologiques à l'étude des systèmes politiques modernes: rituel et symbolisme au Centre," L'Homme 121:79-90 (1992).
  • "Introduction to 'Ethnicity and nationalism in Europe today'," Anthropology Today 8:1:3 (1992).
  • "Cheating the angel-makers: Surviving infant abandonment in nineteenth-century Italy," (with Michael J. White). Continuity & Change 9:451-480 (1994).
  • "Family strategies and changing labour relations," Economic and Social History in the Netherlands 6:11-18 (1994).
  • "Class formation and political mobilization in turn-of-the-century Milan," Social Science History 19:239-42 (1995).
  • “Growing up as an abandoned child in nineteenth-century Italy,” (with Heather Koball and Michael J. White), History of the Family 2:211-28 (1997).
  • “Qualitative and quantitative approaches to historical demography.” Population and Development Review 23:839-46 (1997).
  • “Il rito politico e la trasformazione del PCI.” Polis 12:283-96 (1998).
  • “The marriage of female foundlings in nineteenth-century Italy,” (with Wendy Sigle). Continuity and Change, 13:201-20 (1998).
  • “Syphilis, foundlings, and wetnurses in nineteenth-century Italy.” Journal of Social History 32:589-602 (1999).
  • “Age structuring and the lives of abandoned children.” The History of the Family, 4:5-16 (1999).
  • “Childhood mortality and quality of care among abandoned children in nineteenth-century Italy,” (with Wendy Sigle and Michael J. White). Population Studies 53:303-15 (1999).
  • “Abandoned children and their transitions to adulthood in nineteenth-century Italy,” (with Wendy Sigle and Michael J. White). Journal of Family History 25:326-40 (2000).
  • “The impact of postmarital residence on fertility, early childhood mortality, and child health in Southern Ethiopia,” (with Gebre-Egziabher Kiros). Journal of Comparative Family Studies 31:503-18 (2000).
  • “Political myth-makers in a unified Italy.” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 6:408-12 (2001).
  • “Rituais políticos e a transformaçao do Partido Comunista Italiano.” Horizontes Anthropologicos 15:15-36, 2001. Revised Portuguese version of the 1998 Italian article in Polis.
  • “The Montel affair: Vatican Jewish policy and French diplomacy under the July Monarchy.” French Historical Studies 25:265-93 (2002).
  • “Anti-Semitism and the Vatican: On Anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism, and the Holocaust.” Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte/Contemporary Church History 16:76-91 (2003).
  • "Banfield, i suoi critici e la cultura." Contemporanea 10: 701-709 (2007).
  • "Italy's Path to Very Low Fertility: The Adequacy of Economic and Second Demographic Transition Theories," (with Michael White, Laura Bernardi, and Giuseppe Gabrielli). European Journal of Population 25(1): 89-115.
  • "Social Anthropology and Social Science History." Social Science History 33:1 (Spring 2009): 1-16.
  • "An imperfect contraceptive society: Fertility and contraception in Italy." (with Alessandra Gribaldo, and Maya Judd). Population and Development Review, 35(3): 551-584, 2009.
  • “Interview with Romano Prodi, part one” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 19:412-23, 2014
  • “The Roman Catholic Church, the Holocaust, and the demonization of the Jews.” HAU: Journal of
    Ethnographic Theory 4:3:329-33, 2014.
  • “Interview with Romano Prodi, part two” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 20:508-526, 2015.
  • “Response of David I. Kertzer,” Forum Essay on Kertzer, The Pope and Mussolini, Catholic Historical Review 102:4:810-13, 2016.
  • “The lost cause: Failed French ultimata and the restoration of papal rule in Rome in 1849,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 22:5:555-70, 2017.
  • “Anthropology and demography,” Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa 2018/2, pp. 341-57, and “Response to commentators remarks on ‘Anthropology and demography’,” pp. 383-86.
  • “The enduring controversy over the Mortara case,” Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, 14:1:1-10, 2019.
  • “The Medieval in the Modern: Nazi and Italian Fascist Use of the Ritual Murder Charge” (with Gunnar Mokosch). Holocaust and Genocide Studies, vol. 33:2:177-96, 2019.
  • “In the Name of the Cross: Christianity and Anti-Semitic Propaganda in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy” (with Gunnar Mokosch). Comparative Studies in Society and History 62:3:456-486, 2020.
  • “Italian Catholic Press Support for the Axis War” (with Roberto Benedetti), Journal of Modern Italian Studies 25:5:469-507, 2020.
  • “The Vatican’s role in the Finaly children’s kidnapping case” (with Roberto Benedetti), Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, vol. 15, n. 1, pp. 1-21, 2020.
  • “The Italian Catholic Press and the Racial Laws” (with Roberto Benedetti), Holocaust and Genocide Studies, vol. 35:2:165-84, 2021.
  • “Galeazzo Ciano’s Vatican embassy” (with Roberto Benedetti), Journal of Modern Italian Studies 27:5:721-748, 2022.
  • “Jews as non-Aryans: The Vatican’s ambivalent embrace of Fascist Italy’s racialization of Jews” (with Roberto Benedetti), Journal of Contemporary History 58:2:247-266, 2023.
  • “In the wake of the Holocaust: Massimo Vitale, Pius XII, and the Battle over the Good Friday Prayer for the ‘Perfidious Jews’” (with Roberto Benedetti), Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 18:1:1-24, 2023.
  • “Le conseiller du Pape Pie XII pour les affaires juives : Monseigneur Angelo Dell’Acqua e la Shoah » (with Roberto Benedetti), Revue d’Histoire de la Shoah 218 : 125-146, 2023.
  • "The Democrats in Atlanta: Will they have the rite stuff?" The Christian Science Monitor, 18 July 1988, p. 14. Reprinted as "Candidates can't afford to do the rites wrong," in Rocky Mountain News (Denver), 19 July 1988.
  • "The rite stuff: Ritual and myth in the presidential campaign." The Washington Post, Sunday Outlook section, 24 July 1988.Reprinted as "The rites of power: Politics as symbolism," in Sunday News Journal (Wilmington), 7 August 1988, and as "The All-Important Rituals of Politics," in St. Petersburg Times, 14 August 1988.
  • "Ritual, symbol, and myth in Atlanta." The Baltimore Sun, Sunday Perspectives section, 24 July 1988.
  • "Battle over symbols vital." The Portland Press Herald, 31 October, 1988, p. 10.
  • "Christmas past and Christmas presents." The Washington Post, Sunday Outlook section, 25 December 1988.
  • "The enstoolment of King Bush," The [Baltimore] Evening Sun, 19 January 1989. Published as "At inauguration, royal trappings and religion mix," in The Orange County Register, 17 January 1989, and as "Bush and the king of Akuapem," in Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 18 January 1989.
  • "The flag: The holy icon of America's civil religion," The Baltimore Sun, Sunday Perspectives section, 2 July 1989.Published as "Burning flag singes civic altar," in The Portland Press Herald, Sunday Insight section, 2 July 1989, and as "It's a grand old national totem," in the Binghampton Press & Sun Bulletin, 2 July 1989.
  • "Italian Communist Party, seeking new identity, gives birth to 'The Thing'," Baltimore Sun, Sunday Perspective section, 18 March 1990.Reprinted in Chicago Sun-Times, 23 March 1990.
  • "The Superbowl's strange tribe," TV Guide, 25 Jan. 1992, pp. 2-6.
  • "Eating people is wrong." Washington Post Book World, 17 January, 1993.
  • "Politics, nannies and the manipulation of symbols," Baltimore Sun, Sunday Perspective section, 14 Feb. 1993.
  • "Italy produces a ballot-box revolution," Baltimore Sun, Sunday Perspective section, 3 April 1994.
  • “Secrets of the Vatican archives,” New York Times, February 7, 1998. Reprinted in the International Herald Tribune, February 10, 1998.
  • “A cautious apology, but it’s a start,” New York Times, March 16, 2000. Reprinted in the International Herald Tribune, March 17, 2000, as “The Pope’s apology will encourage further investigations.”
  • “Risorgimento redux,” Correspondence #7:8-10, 2001. 
  • “La Chiesa e la trappola del ‘sano antisemitismo’.” Corriere della Sera, 26 febbraio 2002.
  • “The modern use of ancient lies.” New York Times, May 9, 2002.
  • “Sins of the fathers: ‘A Moral Reckoning” by Daniel Goldhagen, Washington Post Book World, Nov. 17, 2002.
  • “The aura of office,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 2004.
  • “The doctored ‘memoir’ of a Jewish boy kidnapped by the Vatican,” The Atlantic, April 15, 2018.
  • “The secrets that might be hiding in the Vatican’s archives,” The Atlantic, March 4, 2019.
  • “What the Vatican’s Secret Archives are about to reveal,” The Atlantic, March 2, 2020.
  • “The Pope, the Jews, and the Secrets in the Archives,” The Atlantic, August 24, 2020.
  • “The pope’s secret back channel to Hitler,” The Atlantic, May 31, 2022.
  • "Ethnicity and political allegiance in an Italian Communist quartiere," in Ethnic Encounters: Identities and Contexts, ed. George L. Hicks and Philip E. Leis. Boston: Duxbury Press, 1977.
  • "The ethical problems of doing field work in a setting of intense social-political conflict," in Ethical Dilemmas in Anthropological Inquiry: A Case Book, ed. G. N. Appell. Waltham, MA.: Crossroads Press, 1978.
  • "Intrinsic and extrinsic sources of change in life course transitions," (with Anne Foner), in Aging from Birth to Death, ed. Matilda White Riley. Boulder: Westview Press, 1979.
  • "Women's age-set systems in Africa: The Latuka of Southern Sudan" (with Oker B. Madison), in Dimensions: Aging, Culture and Health, ed. Christine Fry. New York: Praeger, 1981.
  • "Generation and age in life course perspective," in Aging from Birth to Death: Sociotemporal Perspectives, ed. Matilda White Riley, Ronald Abeles and Michael Teitelbaum. Boulder: Westview Press, 1982.
  • The role of ritual in political change," in Cultural andPolitical Change, ed. Myron J. Aronoff. New Brunswick: Transaction, 1983.
  • "Industrialization and coresidence: A life course approach," (with Andrea Schiaffino), in Life-Span Development and HumanBehavior, vol. 5, ed. Paul B. Baltes and Orville G. Brim, Jr. New York: Academic Press, 1983.
  • "Urban research in Italy," in Urban Life in Mediterranean Europe, ed. Michael Kenny and David I. Kertzer. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1983.
  • "Historical demographic methods of life course study," (with Andrea Schiaffino), in second edition of New Methods of Old Age Research, ed. Christine Fry and Jennie Keith. New York: Praeger, 1986.
  • "A life course approach to coresidence," in Family Relations in Life Course Perspective, ed. David I. Kertzer. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1986.
  • "Data base management for life course family data" (with Nancy Karweit), in Family Relations in Life Course Perspective, ed. David I. Kertzer. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1986.
  • "Advances in Italian and Iberian family history," (with Caroline Brettell) in Family History at the Crossroads, eds. Tamara Hareven and Andrejs Plakans. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987 (reprinted from the Journal of Family History).
  • "Family structure, individual lives, and societal change," (with Dennis Hogan), in M. W. Riley, ed., Social Change and the LifeCourse: Social Structures and Human Lives. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1988.
  • "Age structuring in comparative and historical perspective," in David I. Kertzer and K. Warner Schaie, eds., Age Structuring in Comparative Perspective. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1989.
  • "Industrializzazione, gravidanza della sposa al matrimonio nell' Italia del diciannovesimo secolo," in Antonio Marazzi, ed., Antropologia: Tendenze contemporanee. Milan: Hoepli, 1989.
  • "Household and Gender in a Life Course Perspective," in Eleonora Masini and Susan Stratigos, eds., Women, Households and Change. Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1991. Italian edition published as "Famiglia e genere in una prospettiva 'corso della vita'," in E. Masini and S. Stratigos, eds., Donne e famiglia nei processi di sviluppo. Turin: UTET, 1994.
  • "Italy," "Elba," "Florence," "Genoa," "Milan," "Naples," "Sicily," "Stromboli," and "Venice," entries either written or revised for the 1990 World Book Encyclopedia.
  • "The role of ritual in state formation." Pp. 85-104 in Eric R. Wolf, ed., Religious Regimes and State Formation: Perspectives from European Ethnology. Albany: SUNY Press, 1991.
  • "Historical and anthropological perspectives on Italian family life" (with Richard Saller). In David I. Kertzer and Richard Saller, eds., The Family in Italy from Antiquity to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.
  • "The 19th Congress of the Italian Communist Party: The role of symbolism in the Communist crisis." In Fausto Anderlini and Robert Leonardi, eds., Italian Politics, vol. 5. London: Pinter, 1992. Italian version published in Politica in Italia, Edizione 1991. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1991.
  • "The life course of widows and widowers in nineteenth-century Italy" (with Nancy Karweit). In David I. Kertzer and Peter Laslett, eds., Aging in the Past: Demography, Society, and Old Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
  • "Toward a historical demography of age." In David I. Kertzer and Peter Laslett, eds., Aging in the Past:Demography, Society, and Old Age. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994.
  • "Justice across generations: What does it mean? Cultural perspectives on intergenerational justice." In Lee Cohen, ed., Justice Across the Generations. Washington, D.C.: AARP, 1994.
  • "Cultural Comparison and intergenerational relations." Pp. 169-173 in Vern Bengtson, K. Warner Schaie and Linda Burton, eds., Intergenerational Issues in Aging. New York: Springer, 1995.
  • "Political economic and cultural explanations of demographic behavior in Western Europe." Pp. 29-52 in Susan Greenhalgh, ed., Situating Fertility: Anthropology and Demographic Inquiry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
  • "Relations between older adults and their adult children in a nineteenth-century Italian town" (with Dennis Hogan). In Tamara Hareven, ed., Aging and Generational Relations over the Life Course. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1996.
  • "Representing Italy." Pp. 70-79 in Susan Parman, ed., Europe in the Anthropological Imagination. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1997.
  • “The proper role of culture in demographic explanation.” Pp. 137-57 In G. Jones, R. Douglas, J. Caldwell, and R. D’Souza, eds., The Continuing Demographic Transition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
  • “Simboli politici,” in Enciclopedia delle scienze sociali, vol. 7. Rome: Enciclopedia italiana, 1997.
  • "Storage and retrieval of life events" (with Nancy Karweit). Pp. 81-97 in Janet Giele and Glen Elder, Jr., eds., Methods of Life Course Research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1998.
  • “The lives of foundlings in nineteenth-century Italy.” Pp. 41-56 in Catherine Panter-Brick and Malcolm Smith, eds., Abandoned Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
  • “Religion and Society in Italy, 1789-1892.” Pp. 181-205 in John A. Davis, ed., The Risorgimento and Unification (1789-1896), vol. 5 of the Oxford Short History of Italy. Oxford: Oxford U.P., 2000.
  • "Political ritual." Pp. 99-112 in Luciano Cheles and Lucio Sponza, eds., The Art of Persuasion: Political Communication in Italy, 1945-1992. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2001.
  • “Representations and rituals of the state.” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences 19:13174-80. Oxford: Permagon, 2002.
  • “Family systems in Europe.” International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences 8:5357-61. Oxford: Permagon, 2002.
  • “Rituali.” Pp. 521-26 in Victoria De Grazia and Sergio Luzzatto, eds., Dizionario del fascismo, vol. 2. Turin: Einaudi, 2003. 
  • “Inquisizione e ebrei negli stati pontifici, 1823-1846.” Pp. 539-56 in AAVV, Le inquisizioni cristiane e gli ebrei. Rome: Accademia dei Lincei (based on material in The Popes Against the Jews), 2003.
  • “Anthropological demography.” In Dudley Poston and Michael Micklin, eds., The Handbook of Population. New York: Plenum, 2005. 
  • “Modern papacy,” “Civiltà Cattolica,” and “Mortara Affair.” In Richard S. Levy, ed., Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 2005.
  • “Population composition as an object of political struggle,” with Dominique Arel. Pp. 664-677 in Robert Goodin and Charles Tilly, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Political Analysis. Oxford: OUP, 2006.
  • "Conclusions: Religion and fertility." In Renzo Derosas and Frans Van Poppel, eds.,  Religion and the Decline of Fertility in the Western World. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2006.
  • “Mortara, Edgardo.” Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 77.
  • “The United States, the Holy See, and Italy’s racial laws,” (with Alessandro Visani). Pp. 327-41 in Charles Gallagher, David Kertzer, and Alberto Melloni, eds., Pius XI and America. Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2012.
  • “Da Garibaldi a Berlusconi attraverso Mussolini.” In Questo diletto almo paese: profili dell’unità d’Italia,ed. By Ernesto Galli della Loggia, in press.
  • “Pietro Tacchi Venturi, S.J., Mussolini, Pius XI, and the Jews.” In The Tragic Couple: Encounters betweenJews and Jesuits, ed. by Robert Maryks and James Bernauer. Leiden: Brill, in press.
  • “Mortara affair,” Enzyklopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur,” ed. By Dan Diner. Stuttgart: Metzler, in preparation.
  • "Discussione sul discorso di Jack Goody," Etnologia e Anthropologia Culturale, ed. Bernardo Bernardi. Milano: Angeli, 1973.
  • Comment on Kerri's "Voluntary associations as adaptive a mechanisms," Current Anthropology 17:1:38, 1976.
  • Review of David E. Powell's Antireligious Propaganda in the Soviet UnionSociological Analysis 37:356-357, 1976.
  • Review of Hare Krishna and the Counterculture, by J. Stillson Judah, AmericanAnthropologist, 78:909, 1976.
  • Review of Thomas Belmonte, The Broken FountainAnthropologicalQuarterly, 52:4:227-230, 1979.
  • Review of Caroline White's Patrons and Partisans in Anthropological Quarterly 54:44-46, 1980.
  • Review of Christine Fry and Jennie Keith (eds.), New Methods forOld Age Research, first edition, in Journal of Gerontology 37:380-381, 1982.
  • Review of Geoffrey Pridham's The Nature of the Italian Party System in the Newsletter of the Conference Group on Italian Politics, July, 1982, pp. 8-9.
  • Film review, "The House that Giacomo Built," By Donald Pitkin and Bill Anderston, American Anthropologist 86:1063-64, 1984.
  • Review of Micaela di Leonardo's The Varieties of EthnicExperienceAmerican Ethnologist 12:186-7, 1985.
  • Review of Marzio Barbagli's Sotto lo Stesso Tetto: Mutamenti della Famiglia in Italia dal XV al XX Secolo, Contemporary Sociology 14:605-606, 1985.
  • Review of "History of the `Truly Obscure': Peasants of the Apennines," Peasant Studies 13:265-69, 1986.
  • Review of Andrejs Plakans' Kinship in the Past, American Journal Of Sociology 91:508-510, 1986.
  • Review of Donald Pitkin's The House that Giacomo Built,Contemporary Sociology, 16:429-30, 1987.
  • Review of Donald H. Bell's Sesto San GiovanniWorkers, Cultureand Politics in an Italian Town, 1880-1922Journal ofInterdisciplinary History 19:523-525, 1988.
  • Review of Filippo Sabetti's Political Authority in a SicilianVillageAmerican Political Science Review, 1988.
  • Review of David Gilmore, ed., Honor and Shame and the Unity ofthe MediterraneanAmerican Anthropologist 89:991, 1987.
  • Review of Frida Furman's Beyond YiddishkeitThe Struggle forJewish Identity in a Reform SynagogueAmerican Anthropologist 90:453-454, 1988.
  • Review of Emmanuel Todd, The Explanation of IdeologyAmericanJournal of Sociology 92:988-89, 1987.
  • Review of Jeremy Boulton, Neighborhood and SocietyA London Suburb in the Seventeenth CenturyContemporary Sociology 17:351, 1988.
  • Review of Steven Mintz and Susan Kellogg, Domestic Revolutions: AHistory of American Family LifeAmerican Journal of Sociology, 93:927-28, 1988.
  • Review of Michael Herzfeld, Anthropology through the Looking-GlassCriticalEthnography in the Margins of EuropeJournal ofInterdisciplinary History 19:670-672, 1989.
  • Review of Jonathan Smith, To Take Place: Toward Theory in RitualAnthropologicalQuarterly 62:45-46, 1989.
  • Review of Stephen Wilson, Feuding, Conflict, and Banditry in 19th-Century CorsicaJournal of Modern History 62:638-9, 1990.
  • Review of Lee Bean et al. Fertility Change on the American FrontierAmerican Journal of Sociology 95:1063-65, 1990.
  • Review of Marzio Barbagli, Provando e riprovandoMatrimoniofamiglia e divorzio in Italia e in altri paesi occidentaliItalian Politics and Society no. 31, pp. 30-31, 1990.
  • Review of Michael Blim, Made in Italy: Small-Scale Industrialization and its Consequences, Social Forces 69:1269-70, 1991.
  • Review of Cris Shore, Italian Communism: The Escape fromLeninismMan 26:565-566, 1991.
  • Review of Susan Rogers, Shaping Modern Times in Rural France, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 22:507-509, 1991.
  • Review of Asa Boholm, The Doge of Venice: The Symbolism of State Power in the RenaissanceMan 26:752, 1991.
  • Review of Gianni Isola, Abbassa la tua radio...Storia dell'ascolto radiofonico nell'ItaliafascistaJournal of Modern History, 66:181-82, 1994.
  • Review of O'Brien and Roseberry, Golden Ages, Dark AgesImagining the Past inAnthropology and HistoryJournal of Interdisciplinary History 23:314-316, 1992.
  • Review of Paul Sant Cassia and Constantina Bada, The Making of the Modern Greek FamilyMan, in press.
  • Review of Daniel Dayan and Elihu Katz, Media EventsAmerican Journal of Sociology 97:973-74, 1992.
  • Review of John Gillis, Louise Tilly, and David Levine, eds., The European Experience of Declining FertilityContemporary Sociology 22:215-16, 1993.
  • Review of John Fout, ed., Forbidden HistorySocieta' e Storia, 1994.
  • Review of Richard Merelman, ed., Language, Symbolism, and PowerContemporary Sociology 23:69, 1994.
  • Review of Eva Lelièvre and Daniel Courgeau, Event History Analysis in Demography, American Historical Review, 99:1289-90, 1994.
  • Review of Wally Seccombe, Weathering the Storm: Working-Class Families from the Industrial Revolution to the Fertility DeclineAmerican Journal of Sociology 99:1674-75, 1994.
  • Review of Patrizia Guarnieri, A Case of Child MurderSocial History of Medicine, 331-32, 1994.
  • Review of Hilda Golden, The Impact of Immigration on the Demographic TransitionContemporary Sociology 22:696-7, 1994.
  • Review of Glen Elder et al., Children in Time and PlaceJournal of Interdisciplinary History 26:271-2, 1995.
  • Review of Margherita Pelaja, Matrimonio e sessualità a Roma nell'ottocentoJournal of Social History 28:897-9, 1995.
  • Review of Luciano Li Causi, Il partito a noi ci ha dato!Social Anthropology, in press.
  • Review of Robert Putnam, Making Democracy WorkJournal of Modern History 68:227-8, 1996.
  • Review of David Horn, Social Bodies: Science, Reproduction, and Italian ModernityJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, in press.
  • Review of Yaesemin Soysal, Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in EuropeAmerican Ethnologist, in press.
  • Review of Eric Monkkonen, ed., Engaging the PastJournal of Economic History, in press.
  • Review of Simon Szreter, Fertility, Class, and Gender in Britain, 1860-1940Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28:103-4, 1997.
  • Review of A History of the Family, vols. 1 and 2, edited by André Burguière et al. Journal of the History of Sexuality 8:291-4, 1997.
  • Review of Mark Jackson, New-Born Child MurderSocial History of Medicine, :470-1, 1997.
  • Review of Emilio Gentile, The Sacralization of Politics in Fascist ItalyAmerican Journal of Sociology 102:474-5, 1997.
  • Review of Carl Ipsen, Dictating DemographyJournal of Modern Italian Studies 2:399-401, 1997.
  • Review of Michael Herzfeld, Cultural IntimacyAmerican Anthropologist 99:863, 1997.
  • Review of Pier Paolo Giglioli et al., Rituali di degradazioneAmerican Journal of Sociology 102:1477-79, 1997.
  • Review of Albert Lindemann, Esau’s Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews, Washington Times, October, 1997.
  • Review of Stefano Cavazza, Piccole PatrieJournal of Modern Italian Studies 3:104-6, 1998.
  • Review of V.A. Goodard, Gender, Family and Work in NaplesAmerican Anthropologist 100:232-3, 1998.
  • Review of Nicholas Doumanis, Myth and Memory in the Mediterranean: Remembering Fascism’s Empire, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 29:115-16, 1998.
  • Review of David Reher, Perspectives on the Family in Spain, Past and PresentPopulation and Development Review 24:164-5, 1998.
  • Review of Michael Carroll, Veiled Threats: The Logic of Popular Catholicism in ItalyAmerican Historical Review 103:547-8, 1998.
  • Review of Gadi Luzzato Voghera, Il prezzo dell’eguaglianzaJournal of Modern Italian Studies 3:331-4, 1998.
  • Review of Bruno Bongiovanni and Nicola Tranfaglia, eds., Dizionario storico dell’Italia unitaJournal of Modern Italian Studies 4:130-1, 1999.
  • “On rational choice and beached diasporas,” review of David Laitin, Identity in FormationInternational Studies Review 1:121-25, 1999.
  • Review of Catherine Bell, Ritual: Perspectives and DimensionsAmerican Anthropologist 101:873-74, 1999.
  • Review of Katherine Verdery, The Political Lives of Dead BodiesJournal of Interdisciplinary History 31:119-20, 2000.
  • Review of Elizabeth Whitaker, Measuring Mamma’s Milk: Fascism and the Medicalization of Maternity in Italy, Social History of Medicine 14:370-71, 2001.
  • Review of Sandro Bellassai, La morale comunista: Pubblico e privato nella rappresentazione del PCI (1947-1956)American Historical Review 107: 304-5, 2002.
  • Review of James Carroll, Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the JewsThe Forward, Jan. 2001.
  • Review of Susan Zuccotti, Under His Very Window: The Vatican and the Holocaust in ItalyJournal of Modern History 74:879-81, 2002.
  • Review of Emilio Gentile, Le religioni della politicaJournal of Modern Italian Studies 7:314-15, 2002..
  • “Obituary: Peter Laslett 1915-2001.” History of the Family 7:307-9, 2002.
  • Review of Anton Blok, Honour and ViolenceAmerican Anthropologist 105:866-67, 2003.
  • Review of Tukufu Zuberi, Thicker than Blood: How Racial Statistics LieAmerican Journal of Sociology 109:222-224, 2003.
  • Review of John Pollard, Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 37:125-126, 2006.
  • Review of Saho Matsumoto-Best, Britain and the Papacy in the Age of Revolution, 1846-185, Journal of Modern Italian Studies 11:87-88, 2006.
  • Review of Joshua Zimmerman, Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi Rule, 1922-1945, American Historical Review 111(2): 584, April 2006.
  • Review of John Pollard, Money and the Rise of the Modern PapacyJournal of Interdisciplinary History 37(1): 125-126, 2006.
  • Review of Carl Ipsen, Italy in the Age of Pinocchio: Children and Danger in the Liberal Era, American Historical Review 112(4): 1275-6, October 2007.
  • Review of Frank J. Coppa, The Papacy, the Jews, and the HolocaustJournal of Modern History 80: 401-3, 2008.
  • Review of Miles J. Unger, MagnificoThe Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de' Medici. Washington Post, Sept. 30, 2008: C07.
  • Review of Marcello Simonetta, The Montefeltro Conspiracy: A Renaissance Mystery Decoded. Washington Post, Sept. 30, 2008: C07.
  • Review of Michael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. American Historical Review 114: 505-506, 2009.
  • “Nuns good, bad, and ugly,” review article, Anthropology Now, April 2012.
  • Review of Emma Fattorini, Hitler, Mussolini, and the Vatican, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 43:485- 6, 2013.
  • Review of Perin Raffaella, ed., Chiesa cattolica e minoranze in Italia nella prima metà del Novecento. Il caso veneto a confronto, Cristianesimo nella storia, in press.
  • “Pius’s balancing act,” review of Robert Ventresca, Soldier of Christ: the Life of Pope Pius XII, America, February 18, 2013.
  • Review of Jennifer Johnson-Hanks et al., Understanding Family Change and Variation, Population Studies 67:129-31, 2013..
  • Review of Peter Eisner, The Pope’s Last Crusade , Journal of Jesuit Studies, in press.
  • Review of Frank J. Coppa, The Life and Pontificate of Pope Pius XI, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, in press.
  • "The impact of urbanization on household composition," Symposium on Anthropological Perspectives on Italian Society, paper presented at the annual meetings of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Providence, Rhode Island, 1977.
  • "Life course transitions in African age-set system: Implications for a theory of aging," (with Anne Foner) Symposium on Dimensions of an Anthropology of Aging, annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology, San Diego, 1977.
  • "Historical demography and household structure: Toward a better analytical framework," Symposium on Historical Demography and Demographic Anthropology, annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Houston, 1977.
  • "Intrinsic and extrinsic sources of change in life course transitions" (with Anne Foner), symposium on Aging from Birth to Death, annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, D.C., 1978.
  • "Southern Italian immigrants in a northern Communist quartiere: The social bases of political allegiance," paper presented to the Conference on the Design and Analysis of Current Social Science Research in the Central Mediterranean, University of Malta, 1978.
  • "The role of ritual in political change." paper presented to the panel on the Role of Culture in Political Change, annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, D.C., 1980.
  • "Membership participation in the local sections of the Italian Communist Party," paper presented to the panel on Community Studies in Italy--What Can We Learn?, annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, 1980.
  • "Generation and age in life course perspective," paper presented to the session Aging from Birth to Death--Sociotemporal Perspectives, annual meeting of the AAAS, Toronto, January 1981.
  • "Industrialization and coresidence: A life course approach" (with Andrea Schiaffino), Conference on Social Structure and the Life Course, Social Science Research Council, New York, October 1981.
  • "Life Course, Social Science Research Council, New York, October 1981.
  • "Life history and coresidence" (with Andrea Schiaffino and Nancy Karweit) symposium on life history, Social Science History Association, Nashville, October, 1981.
  • "Longitudinal perspectives on coresidential behavior: Casalecchio di Reno (1865-1921)," (with Andrea Schiaffino), paper presented to the SSRC Colloquium on "Family and Community in the Mediterranean, 16th-19th Centuries," University of Essex, England, July, 1982.
  • "The Italian population register as a source for social history," (with Andrea Schiaffino) Social Science History Association, Bloomington, October, 1982.
  • "Longitudinal perspectives on migration in an Italian community, 1865-1921," (with Dennis P. Hogan), paper presented to the annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, Washington, D.C., October, 1983.
  • "Sharecropping, proletarianization and family in Central Italy," paper presented to the Symposium on Family, Class and Production, Duke University, March 15, 1985.
  • "Family dynamics over the life course in Southern Europe" (with Caroline Brettell), presented to the Conference on the Family in Historical Perspective, Clark University November 14-16, 1985.
  • "Historical fertility analysis using the Italian population register" (with Dennis P. Hogan), paper presented to the annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, Chicago, November, 1985.
  • "Political economic change and family relations: Extended households and family sociology," (with Dennis P. Hogan), paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, September, 1986.
  • "The role of ritual in state formation," presented to the Conference on Religious Regimes and State Formation, Amsterdam, June, 1987.
  • "Fertility decline and family economy: Insights from an italian population
  • reconstitutional study" (with Dennis P. Hogan), presented to the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, April, 1988.
  • "Historical and comparative perspectives on the role of culture in the demography of aging," presented to the workshop on The Demography of Aging, National Academy of Sciences, Woods Hole, July, 1988.
  • "The representation of Italy: The struggle for the creation of national identity," presented to the symposium on The representation of Europe, annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Phoenix, November, 1988.
  • "Changing opportunities for older people to perform productive roles." Background paper commissioned by the National Institute on Aging, January, 1989.
  • "A new look at the European marriage pattern--a view from nineteenth-century Italy," (with Dennis P. Hogan) presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Baltimore, March, 1989.
  • "Household organization and migration in nineteenth-century sharecropping Italy," (with Dennis P. Hogan) paper presented at the annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, November, 1989.
  • "Infant abandonment and family life in European history," presentation at the panel on Abandoned Children and Family Strategies in the European Past, annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, November 1989.
  • "Kinship beyond the household in a nineteenth-century Italian town" (with Dennis Hogan and Nancy Karweit), presented at the annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, Minneapolis, October, 1990.
  • "Political economic and demographic explanations of demographic behavior," annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, November, 1990.
  • "Swimming in shark-infested waters: The review of anthropological research proposals at the NIH," annual meeting of the AAA, New Orleans, November, 1990.
  • "Esperienze a confronto," presented at the conference: L'Antropologia e la Società Italiana Contemporanea, Amalfi, March, 1991.
  • "Did Italian Communism fail?" (with Arturo Parisi), Conference of Europeanists, Chicago, March, 1992.
  • "The role of culture in historical demographic explanation," Research Workshop on the Decline of Infant Mortality in Europe, Istituto degli Innocenti di Firenze, Florence, April, 1992.
  • "Marriage age: Theoretical implications for age structuring," session on Age and Opportunity Structures, Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, March, 1993.
  • "Making angels: Mortality among abandoned infants in nineteenth-century Italy" (with Michael White), Social Science History Association, Baltimore, November, 1993.
  • "Political economic and cultural explanation of demographic behavior," SSRC Conference on African fertility, Johns Hopkins University, Feburary, 1994.
  • "Il controllo della sessualita' e l'abbandono degli illegittimi in Italia," Convegno Internazionale--Mutamenti della famiglia nei paesi occidentali, Bologna, Italy, October, 1994.
  • "Representing Italy," session on Perspectives in the History of the Anthropology of Europe, American Anthropological Association annual meeting, Atlanta, November, 1994.
  • "The proper role of culture in demographic explanation," Conference on the Continuing Demographic Transition, Canberra, Australia, August, 1995.
  • "The lives of abandoned children in Italy," Conference on Historical and Anthropological Perspectives on Child Abandonment, Durham, England, September, 1995.
  • “Bandiera e simboli nella costruzione dell’identita’ nazionale,” Convegno nazionale di studi Bandiera, Patria, Nazione a 200 anni del Tricolore, Reggio Emilia, June, 1996.
  • “Qualitative meets quantitative in historical demography,” session on “Qualitative methods: A panacea for understanding culture?”, annual meetings of the Population Association of America, Washington D.C., March, 1997.
  • “Rito e politica,” plenary address to the conference, Communicazione Politica, University of Bologna, October, 1997.
  • “Age structuring and the lives of abandoned children,” Colloque ‘Structures par l’âge e les âges de la vie,’ Lyon, France, December, 1997.
  • “Anthropological theory two centuries after Malthus,” American Anthropological Association annual meeting, Washington, D.C., December 1998.
  • “The impact of postmarital residence on fertility, early childhood mortality, and child health in rural villages of Southern Ethiopia,” annual meetings of the Population Association of America, New York City, March, 1999.
  • “The Vatican and the Holocaust: A Postscript.” Conference on the Christian Churches and the Holocaust, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, September, 2002.
  • Roundtable on Kertzer, The Popes Against the Jews, annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, St. Louis, October, 2002.
  • Roundtable on the contributions made by Peter Laslett, annual meeting of the Social Science History Association, St. Louis, October, 2002.
  • Roundtable on Kertzer, The Popes Against the Jews, annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans, November, 2002.
  • “The Vatican archives,” presentation given at the session “Access to the Archives,” American Historical Association, Seattle, January 2005.
  • “Explaining very low fertility: Lessons from Italy,” (with Michael White, Laura Bernardi, and Giuseppe Gabrielli), annual meeting, Population Association of America, Los Angeles, March, 2006.
  • “Da Garibaldi a Berlusconi attraverso Mussolini.” Conference: Questo diletto almo paese: Profili dell’unità d’Italia, March-April 2011, Rome).
  • “Pietro Tacchi Venturi, S.J., Mussolini, Pius XI, and the Jews.” Conference: The Tragic Couple: Encounters between Jews and Jesuits, Boston College, July 2012.