HUM 350Italian Culture and Civilization

Instructor: Prof. Vincenzo Sellerie-mail: vselleri@york.cuny.edu

Prof. Vincenzo Selleri teaches Italian, Italian Cinema and Italian culture and Civilization in CUNY, SUNY and St John’s University.His main fields of interest include Modern Italian Jewish History, Italian Literature and Italian Cinema.

Course Description:What is Italy? Does an original Italian culture exist? How is the National Italian identity perceived abroad and by Italian Citizens? The course will try to answer these and other questions through the study of the unification of Italy, exploring and comparing regional identities, tracking the evolution of the standard Italian language, learning about the great literary and cinematic works that have influenced the Art of western civilizations. Topics will include fine arts, music, cinema, regional folklore and traditions, fashion, and gastronomy.

Required Textbooks: •None. All the reading material is available on Blackboard under copyright law.

Recommended Textbooks: •Charles Killinger. Culture And Customs Of Italy, Greenwood, 2005.•Charles L. Killinger, The history of Italy. Greenwood 2002.•Mario B. Mignone. Italy Today. Peter Lang. 2008

Learning Outcomes. In this course, students will:

• Retrieve, evaluate, and interpret information from a variety of sources and points of view; • Evaluate evidence and arguments critically;• Produce well-reasoned written and oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions; • Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of the Humanities that are primarily analytical, critical,

and speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences;• Analyze the historical development of Italian society; • Analyze and discuss the role that race, ethnicity, class, gender, language, sexual orientation, religion played in

shaping the past and present of Italian society.• • Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:• Discuss major developments in the political, cultural, social, and economic realms of Italy, with an appreciation for

its history, culture, traditions and viewpoints;• Recognize and understand patterns of continuity and change in their analysis of the political, cultural, economic,

and social developments explored in the course;• Analyze a wide range of primary and secondary sources (texts, visual art, music) and appreciate them as historical

and cultural evidence;• Examine and discuss current events with a historically informed perspective;• Compare and contrast the representation of Italy through its own history;• Shape and define a sincere but not stereotypical picture of modern Italy defining its regional differences and

varieties; • Develop writing and oral presentation skills using well-organized bibliographies and other research tools

appropriate to the discipline.

Attendance:

This is an ON-LINE course!Attendence will be evaluated in the form of your ACTIVE participation to the discussion forums included in every weekly module!Your posts will be evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively as explained in the rubrics.Please read the rubrics carefully before submitting your posts.

Assignments:

The students are responsible for studying the assigned material each week and to participate in the discussion forums before taking the quizzes.

Grading

The final grade will be calculated as follows: •Quizzes (12) _______________20%•Final Paper _______________15% •Midterm _______________15%•Final exam _______________20%•Discussion Board _______________30%

COURSE OUTLINE

VOCAB• Icebreaker: mandatory introductory test and

presentation forum. Accessible from the side bar• Weekly module: contains the weekly lesson• Assignments: Discussion Board and Quiz• Discussion Board: participative blog linked in the

weekly module or accessible from the side bar (content area). It’s graded!

• Quiz: weekly homework, linked in the weekly module. It’s graded!

• Final Paer: 5 page research paper which will include a bibliography