IT 131 Introduction to Italian American Culture

Between 1870 and 1920 over five million Italians immigrated to the United States. Of those who came, about one-third returned to Italy. Those who remained, often joined by their families, left an indelible mark on the American cultural, political, artistic, educational, and social landscape. This course provides an overview of Italian emigration to America in the 19th and 20th centuries and the conditions within the United States as a destination culture. Through a study of historical, sociological, literary, and cinematic texts, students will consider, among other topics: 19th-century Italy, the odyssey of immigration to and assimilation in the United States, and life in ethnic neighborhoods. The course will also look at the Mafia, forms of prejudice, and ways Italians uniquely manifested their social values in labor unions, religion, and education in America. Interrogating the immigrant experience for at least three generational periods through the lens of race and ethnicity, the course probes how Italian American identity has been represented in American culture both as profoundly "other" and as emblematically "American." Upon successfully completing this course, students will have a solid grasp of how Italians, in becoming Americans, contributed to the rich fabric of life in the United States. Conducted in English.