Spring 2015 Philosophy of Italian Culture Study Questions

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JAN 15

1. How would you characterize the forces promoting and eroding Italian unity?

2. What are some of the main characteristics of Silvio Berlusconi's political career and his politics?

3. What are some of the strengths or sources of resilience in Italian culture today?

JAN 20

1. Take a note of the the information/aspects that you do not understand or that you simply would like to comment on and bring your questions and observations into class.
2. Make a list of the aspects of "bad" Italy and "good" Italy.
3. Within each segment of the film, identify the causes and explanations given for each aspect.
4. In what ways does the film confirm or disconfirm your ideas of Italy? What, in particular, was surprising in the film? What did you most appreciate?
5. What is the function of truth, honesty, creativity, community, law, and work in Italy's positive and negative conditions.

JAN 22

1. What is Marx and Engel's basic critique of capitalism and theory of culture (base and superstructure)?

2. How does Storey define popular culture? Why is it difficult to do?

3. Identify several types of anthropological theory. What are some of the factors that distinquish one theory from another?

JAN 27

1. How do R&B argue that culture is essential? Why can't genetics and environment explain human behavior, according to them?

2. What different forms can honor take? What is significant about the forms of honor in relation to Italian culture?

3. Is honor still a relevant cultural concept?

FEB 5

• What are the major components of Marx concept of historical materialism and in what ways does it lend itself to a critical study of culture?
• what were the major difference in Marx and Gramsci's view of dominance and culture?
• describe the major characteristics of the Franckfurt school and British culutral studies, in what ways are these traditions different?

FEB 10

1. How does "The Working Class Goes to Heaven" exemplify both the Marxist view of class consciousness and the Gramscian view of hegemony?

2. How does the movie reflect a specific view (on the part of the director) of the liberating possibilities of Marxism in mid-70's Italy? Connect your thinking to the previous two historical moments in which revolutionary politics seemed realistic in Italy (Turin the teens and the Partisans)

FEB 12

1. What does it mean to give a "thick description" of events and processes in a culture?