Course Description
Examination of major changes affecting Italian society over the past century, including unification, migration, economic development, globalization, and modernization. Consideration of how these changes influence how Italians live and work.
Athena Title
Italian Society
Pre or Corequisite
SOCI 1101 or SOCI 1101H or SOCI 2600 or INTL 1100 or INTL 1100H or INTL 1100E or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is intended for students studying abroad in Italy. It has four objectives: 1) Students will learn how Italy overcame deep divisions to become a unified country and how this legacy persists in the form of regional differences and conflicts. 2) Students will examine how Italy emerged from relative poverty to become a modern economic power and yet remains a country whose integration into the global economy has created new challenges. 3) Students will learn about how migration out of the country, within the country, and now into the country has shaped Italian identity. 4) Students will consider various aspects of Italian culture, including its embrace of soccer, the strength of familial ties, and its evolving gender roles. Students will be expected to identify, analyze, and interpret trends in Italian society and to show how they are linked to broader processes of globalization, post-industrialism, consumerism, and welfarism. Students will be asked to demonstrate their mastery of the course content in written and oral work that is appropriate for an academic context.
Topical Outline
1. The unification of Italy 2. Emigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries 3. The problems confronting the Italian south 4. Mass production and the rise of FIAT 5. The post-World War II “economic miracle” 6. Italy in the global economy 7. Cultural diffusion: the spread of soccer to Italy 8. Migration into Italy 9. Gender roles 10. The family and childbearing 11. The conflict between north and south