The Italian-American Experience: History, Literature, and Pop Culture

Associate Professor Paolo Chirumbolo Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Throughout the semester we will examine the Italian American experience by analyzing historical, cultural, literary and cinematic representations. Our analysis will provide an overview of Italian emigration to America in the 19th and 20th centuries (with specific references to Italians in Louisiana) and the conditions within the United States as a destination country. We will also interrogate the immigrant experience through the lens of race and ethnicity, and through the discussion of seminal novels, films, and TV shows that have (mis)represented and exploited the Italian-American experience.