Professors organize sitdown on 'The Sopranos'

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

8:19 AM EDT, May 14, 2008

Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini and Tony Sirico in 'Sopranos'

Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini and Tony Sirico (Photo courtesy of HBO)

More than 60 college professors from around the world will gather at Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus to analyze the HBO mob drama "The Sopranos."

The symposium is called "The Sopranos: A Wake," and was created as a way to define the show's position in popular culture, according to event organizers. It will be held May 22-25 and will include sessions on gender, parenthood, ethnicity and cuisine, all based on "Sopranos" episodes.

Fordham communications and media studies department chairman Paul Levinson says "The Sopranos" is one of the most significant TV series ever produced and is worth studying. The HBO show ended last June after six seasons, many murders and even more Emmy awards.