Rhiannon Noel Welch’s new book, Vital Subjects: Race and Biopolitics in Italy, 1860-1920 (Liverpool University Press, 2016), aims to revise the general perception of Italy’s colonial past by showing how race and colonialism were essential components of the period between Unification and the end of World War I. In this interview with Amelia Linsky, Ph.D. student at Harvard, Welch – who is Assistant Professor at Rutgers University – explains her methodology and conclusions, including her innovative approach to the adventure epic film Cabiria (1914).