Course Information

Return to Philosophy of Italian Culture

Course Description

Philosophy of Italian Culture

This team-taught interdisciplinary course provides an in-depth study of Italian culture in the context of a philosophical inquiry into the nature of culture. The philosophical inquiry is developed using resources from physical anthropology, biogeography, philosophical critiques of European and Italian culture (especially from Nietzsche, Weber, and Marx, but also from Italians such as Antonio Gramsci and contemporary Italian philosophers such as Vattimo, Ferraris, and Viroli), and the cultural anthropology of Italian and Mediterranean culture. The study of Italian culture throughout the course emphasizes the role of the intellectual and social change, with particular focus on the problems of national unification, violence (state violence, as well as the violence of criminal syndicates and revolutionaries), and the distortion of democratic process by media ownership and power, particularly in the person and politics of Silvio Berlusconi. The course concludes with a look at how processes of globalization are affecting the cultural problems studied in the course. Through readings, film, papers, and discussion we will try to develop a view of culture and cultural change which provides insights into modern and contemporary Italian culture.

Goals of the Course

1. To acquire an in-depth understanding of Italy as it has developed socially, politically and culturally since its unification in 1860.

1. To be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of modern Italian society and to view these in the light of philosophical and anthropological approaches to culture.
2. To develop critical explanations for the struggles, anomalies, conflicts, but also the virtues that have distinguished Italy and the Italian national identity.

Contact Information

Dr. Torunn Haaland, Department of Modern Languages, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258

Office Hours: College Hall 340 W 2:00 - 4:00, Coughlin Hall T 5:00 - 7:00 and by appointment

Dr. Mark Alfino, Department of Philosophy, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258

Office Hours: Alfino: M-TH 8-10 and by appointment.

Office: Alfino: 313-6753 Haaland: 313 3898

Email: alfino@gonzaga.edu; haaland@gonzaga.edu

Policies

1. You must complete all work in the course to receive a grade.
2. You must PRINT and complete all assigned readings and watch all films prior to coming to class. Failure to do so will lower your participation grade for that class.
3. You must disclose any work that you are turning in for this course that you are submitting or have submitted for other courses.
4. You must comply with all university policies concerning academic honesty.