Spring 2015 Philosophy of Italian Culture

Return to Philosophy of Italian Culture

JAN 13

Introductory Topics

• Introduction to the Course

JAN 15

• Gilmour, "Modern Italy"

JAN 20

• Emmett and Piras, "Girlfriend in a Coma"

JAN 22

Anthropological and Cultural Theory

• Storey, Chapter 1, p. 1-5
• Nanda and Warms, Introduction to Anthropology, Ch 4, "Cultural Anthropology"

JAN 27

• Richerson and Boyd, Not By Genes Alone, Chapters 1
• Bowman, Honour, "Introduction"

JAN 29

• Richerson and Boyd, Not By Genes Alone, Chapter 2, only up to page 40.
• Diamond, Jared, "How Do Cultures Make Such Big Mistakes?"

FEB 3

More Tools for the Critique of Culture: Marx, Gramsci, Symbolic Anthropology, and Ethnography

• Quiz
• Marx and Engels quotes In Storey, Reader, p. 58-60
• Storey, Text, Chapter 4, p. 59-62 (Marx);
• Kellner, Douglas, "Cultural Marxism and Cultural Studies" [1]

FEB 5

• Quiz
• Crehan, "Gramsci's life and work"
• Storey, Chapter 4 82-4
• Gramsci, "Hegemony, Intellectuals, and the State," 75-80

FEB 10

• Movie Presentations
• Watch The Working Class Goes to Heaven

FEB 12

• Quiz
• Rapport and Overling, "Thick Description," 349-352, Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Geertz, "Thick Description"

FEB 17

• short video, "Puglia" 26 mins.
• light background article on food in Puglia: [2]
• The Meaning of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Media: Meneley_Anne_Like_an_Extra_Virgin.pdf

FEB 19

• Quiz
• Pia di Bella, Maria, "Name, Blood and Miracles"

FEB 24

Anomalies of Italian Culture: Unification, Italian "Mentality", the Problem of the South

• Quiz
• Video The Italian Unification https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE9Kc-Dn4fA
• The Economist, June 9th, 2011: "Oh for a new Risorgimento" http://www.economist.com/node/18780831
• Doyle, One Nation, Three Republics

FEB 26

• Quiz
• Putnam, "Chapter 5, "Tracing the Roots of Civic Community," 121-162
• Putnam "Explaining institutional performance" 83-120

MAR 3

• Viroli, Chapter 4, "The Pre-requisites of Servitude"

MAR 5

• Midterm Exam

MAR 17

• Movie Presentations
• Watch Benvenuti al Sud

MAR 19

• Quiz
• Gilmour, "Introduction"
• Parks, Chapter 5, 147-194

MAR 24

Shame and Honour

• Movie Presentations
• Gilmore, "Introduction: The Shame of Dishonor"
• movie, Rocco and His Brothers

MAR 26

• Quiz
• Bettiga-Boukerbout, "Crimes of 'Honour' in the Italian Penal Code"

MAR 31

• Movie Presentations
• movie, Divorce Italian Style

APR 2

• Short Answer Question (outside of class on 3/26 and 3/31)
• Feminicido Today -- links to current news

APR 7

• no quiz
• Zanardo, "Il Corpo delle Donne"
• Muraro, Lisa, "Toward a Symbolic of Sexual Difference"

APR 9

Popular Culture

• Quiz
• Storey, Chapter 1, 5-13, Chapter 4 64-72
• Bennett, Gramsci and Popular Culture, 81-8

APR 14

no quiz

• Gramsci, Popular Culture

APR 16

• Quiz
• Saviano, Gommorah, excerpts

• Preview of Gomorra in class

APR 21

• Movie Presentations
• movie, Gommorah,

APR 23

• Short Answer
• Andrews, "Civic renaissance in Sicily," pp. 131-150.

• Lecture on the State-mafia negotiations

APR 28

• Movie Presentations
• movie, The Mafia Only Kills in Summer

APR 30

• Quiz
• Watch "Slow Food"and read selections from Andrews "The Slow Food story"

MAY 5

• Student Presentations / Review

MAY 7

• Final Exam