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Course Description

Join us to examine how some of the central historical and social phenomena that have shaped Italy over the past 150 years have been represented in the masterpieces of Italian cinema.

Faculty Author

K.E. von Wittelsbach teaches in Cornell's Department of Romance Studies and in the Jewish Studies Program. She co-founded the Cornell in Turin Program in 2012. Her research interests include the intellectual and political history of Italian Jews, modern Italian and francophone literature, the eighteenth century in Italy and France, the Risorgimento, state building in Italy and the countries arising from the dissolution of the Austrian Empire. She is a recipient of the John M. and Emily B. Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Kendall S. Carpenter Award for Distinguished Advising.

Benefits to the Learner

We’ll begin by taking a close look into the birth of modern Italy and continue by studying the growth of Italian liberal democracy, World War I, the rise of fascism, World War II, the creation of the Italian Republic in 1946, the economic boom, social upheavals of the 1960s, crises of the 1970s-90s, and new social dynamics arising from recent waves of immigration.

In our week together, we will discuss five or six feature films, with accompanying readings on Italian history and society to set the context for our discussion. Student presentations and small-group discussions will be an integral part of this course, along with guest lectures by Italian scholars, authors, and journalists.

All films are available with English subtitles.

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