The course explores Italian American History since the age of mass migration at the turn of the twentieth century. It begins with an examination of the ways in which race, class, and gender have shaped the Italian American experience. It then moves on to discuss the role of consumption in identity formation, exploring themes such as the significance of immigrants’ encounter with the mass market in processes of acculturation and the symbolical function of the consumption of material and immaterial “things Italian” among subsequent generations of Italian Americans. Finally, the course deals with Italian American identities as objects of cross-cultural consumption, investigating issues such as the encoding of “Italian-Americaness” in the branding of products, images, and experiences (food, film, fashion, etc.), the marketing strategies of Italian American memory, and the uses and meanings constructed through the consumption of Italian American identities from Little Caesar to Jersey Shore.

Italian (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2020)

ITAL-UA 861-000 (19860)
09/02/2020 – 12/13/2020 Mon,Wed
11:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)
at Washington Square
Instructed by Bencivenni, Marcella