ITAL 2900 - Perspectives in Italian Culture

(CA-AS)

Spring. 3 credits. Student option grading.

“Core course” for the Italian major and the Italian minor, offered every year. Conducted in English with discussion section in Italian.

T. Campbell.

This survey of modern Italian culture aims to acquaint students with the most important social, political and artistic developments occurring in Italian culture today. These include the effects of geographic and national fragmentation on political life in post-Risorgimento Italy; the “Southern Question” as it is known in Italy, especially the relation between southern regions like Sicily and Calabria and the North; the phenomenon of “Cosa Nostra”; Italian contributions to world cinema in classics like “Rome Open City”, “The Bicycle Thief”, and more recently “Gomorrah”; Italian cooking and its relation to national identity; and Italy as a multi-ethnic territory. By providing students with a variety of cultural, political, and anthropological perspectives on Italian culture, students will get to see (and eat) for themselves how Italian culture is produced and consumed globally today. Readings include selections from the works of Leonardo Sciascia and Carlo Levi and from film directors Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio de Sica, Sergio Leone, and Roberto Benigni. A group of secondary readings will be used to complement our discussion of the current trends and issues facing contemporary Italy.