Italy possesses one of the richest culinary traditions in world, with roots reaching back to ancient times. An abundant literature on Italian food allows us to explore in detail matters of food culture in a dense array of settings. Part of the course is conducted on site, exposing students to Rome’s rich network of food distribution systems, as well as touring areas in proximity of Rome to discover the close linkage between the territory, its inhabitants, and consumable food products. Throughout the course attention is paid to the role of food practice in contemporary Italian society and culture, with special attention to gender. In order to put principles into practice, the structured experience of food and wines is an integral part of the course. 

This course considers the unique aspects of Italian media and how it impacts and influences everything from cultural heritage to politics. We will explore the historical development of Italian media from the Acta Diurna bulletins sent from the Roman Forum through phases of fascism and national terrorism, all the way to the digital age. Students will play documentarian by following the media treatment of an Italian news topic of their choice, ranging from culture, fashion or food to gay rights, politics, or the economy, to fully understand how the media shapes public perception—and vice versa. Topics will include the media treatment of the Vatican, the Mafia, gender issues and sexism, fashion and food, cultural heritage, and the economy. We will also consider how Italy stacks up against media in the United States and United Kingdom in terms of press freedom, transparency, and infotainment. 

The millennium following the collapse of the Roman Empire saw the development in Europe of a radically new form of civilization that we now call ‘medieval’. With its nuns and monks, knights and nobles, troubadours and artists, plagues and famines, crusades and cathedrals, cities and castles, the Middle Ages left an indelible mark on the western world. Rome, the city of the Popes, played a key role in medieval western civilization and was the center of a long-lasting tradition of pilgrimage to the apostles’ and martyrs’ relics preserved in its many churches. This course is intended as a broad survey of medieval culture and history with a specific emphasis on Rome. It will take advantage of the city’s abundance of medieval monuments and works of art: mosaics and paintings, sculptures, and religious architecture, which will be analyzed in comparison to the artistic production of the rest of Europe, the Byzantine East, and other cultural contexts as, for example, the Islamic world. The reading of relevant historical and literary texts will complete the course. 

This course explores various themes about love and sexuality in Italian culture from circa 1350 to 1650. From the verses of Petrarch, to the writings of Ficino, Aretino and the poems by Marino love and sexuality were theorized and represented in treatises, poetry, painting, and sculpture of this period. On-site in the churches, palaces, and museums of Rome, this course will take in consideration the poetic, social and visual aspects of the subject in a word and image interdisciplinary study. The course begins with Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling. Following Leo Steinberg’s theory about the sexuality of Christ we will explore the theology of nudity in Christian art as well as the amor dei (love for God) or mystic marriage through Baroque sculptures such as Bernini’s saints in ecstasy. The second part of the course will focus on the more secular, sensuous, and even lascivious aspects by considering the revival of ancient classical culture. The course concludes with the socio-historical, gendered topics such as marriage, courtesans, male virility, female chastity, homosexuality, androgyny, and hermaphroditism through a variety of art objects. 

With an emphasis on Italy, this course will focus on the looting, destruction, and reselling of antiquities, from classical antiquity to today. Together we will consider issues such as what constitutes an art/cultural heritage crime, how ideas of value (both real and symbolic) have emerged historically and how have they changed over time, what constitutes “ownership” in the eyes of different entities, and how this has changed over the past fifty years, resulting in the current difficult and controversial issue of the repatriation of cultural artifacts which have crossed international borders. Themes considered will be the history of collecting, illegal excavation and the illicit trade in antiquities, the role of auction houses, the Church, museums and galleries, ownership and patrimony issues, international laws and agreements, recovery and repatriation, and ongoing problems with the protection and conservation of antiquities. We will end the course with a review of cultural heritage laws and the current international situation, as well as a discussion identifying challenges and providing suggestions for regulating the market of antiquities in the future. This course will include visits to relevant sites and museums in and around Rome and will include the close investigation of actual case studies throughout. 

This course will provide a core of knowledge of Italy’s post-Unification history, grounding students in the political, economic, and social development of the country. Commencing with the nation state’s formation, the analysis of issues surrounding Italy’s early identity, society and political structures will reveal many of the problems that subsequent regimes have sought to address. The course will explore the impact of World War One upon the interwar period of Fascist Italy and continue throughout the Interwar period and the Second World War. Examination of post-1945 Italy will consider the influence of America and the Cold War upon the internal battle for political control between the Left and the Catholic Right. The following period will focus on Italy’s internal crises of insurrection, terrorism, mafia activity and corruption that led to Tangentopoli, the collapse of the old political order, and the rise of Silvio Berlusconi. The course will conclude by examining the rise of the contemporary political phenomenon of the Five Star Movement and the Lega. 

The course explores the individual and group processes at the basis of human social behavior (e.g., individual differences, attitudes, social norms, social interaction), how these processes affect perceptions and choices in daily life, and, in turn, how these perceptions and choices relate to the well-being of individuals, groups, and communities. The course explores the application of social psychological theories and research to socially relevant domains such as health promotion, education, sustainable lifestyles and behavioral changes, food consumption, and education. Topics covered include research methods in social and behavioral science, perception of the social world and social cognition, implicit cognition and automaticity, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination, self and identity, group dynamics and intergroup relations, social norms, persuasion, and social influence.  

This course analyzes the masterpieces of Roman Baroque art and architecture from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th century. While analyzing urbanism, architecture, sculpture, and painting by some of the major artists of the period (Caravaggio, Bernini, Borromini, Cortona), we will consider the artistic trends that characterize the patterns of patronage in Counter-Reformation and Baroque Rome. Special attention will be given not only to the literary sources that shaped art theory, practice, and criticism, but also to important issues such as propaganda, the viewer’s emotional engagement, and the artist’s social status. The unity of the visual arts, rhetorical effects, artistic rivalry, scenic urbanism, the relation between art and poetry, the use of classical and “bizarre” vocabulary, the concept of the pastoral, the representation of ecstasy, and the idealization of death will be some of the themes explored in this course.  

Recently, in the decades since the 1970s, millions of people from many countries and religions have flooded into Italy, sparking a profound change in the social fabric of the once homogenous Italian peninsula. This course reviews the key teachings and beliefs of several world religions present in Rome and introduces undergraduate students to the principles and practices of “interfaith dialogue,” using local dialogue case studies and site visits to give context to our discussions. Students grapple with the complex nature of religious and social diversity in the Eternal City, and the concrete steps many inhabitants of Rome are taking to bridge social divides. Inspired by Enzo Pace, students learn to “deal with the unprecedented religious pluralism that has been increasingly characterizing life in Italy.”