HUI216 Italian Civilization

HUI216 (Spring 2008) 1

HUI216Italian Civilization

Andrea Fedi

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0.0 Italy 2008: "A Life Less Dolce"

• Slideshow from The New York Times• http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/03/

world/20071213ITALY_index.html

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0.0 Italy 2008: the "coriandoli" of Italian society

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0.0 Italy 2008: from the 41st annual report on Italian society, by Censis (2007)

• the progressive fragmentation of all the forms of social cohesion and of collective belonging has produced a molecularization that was in the past the force behind our economic and entrepreneurial growth

• now that molecularization is creating "coriandoli" that stay together (or better yet stay next to each other) by virtue of simple inertia, because the middle-class ideals have been fulfilled, and everyone is afraid of going back

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0.0 Italy 2008: from the 41st annual report on Italian society, by Censis (2007)

• the basic characteristic of these "human fragments," that have no clear identity, is the scattering of the self into the collective space and time• in the social space, because of the inevitable

victory of individual subjectivity in every behavior, without any attention to interpersonal and social relationships

• with reference to time, because of the inevitable attention deficit, that affects every theme

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0.0 Italy 2008: Bankitalia's report on income (Jan. 28, 2008)

• In 2006 10% of the Italian families accounted for 45% of the nation's income• up from 43% in 2004

• Between 2000 and 2006• families living on a fixed income have had an

increase of 0.3% (adjusted)• income growth of 4.3% in 2004-2006 only made up

for losses suffered by this group in 2000-2004

• families living on income from self-employment have had an increase of 13.1% (adjusted)

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0.0 Italy 2008: "munnezz'"

• Garbage in the streets of Pianura (Naples)• http://youtube.com/watch?v=8frkn-Q97Hk

• "Italian politics has failed to put out its garbage" by Martin Rhodes, Financial Times (Jan. 20, 2008)• http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/96d96268-c779

-11dc-a0b4-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

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0.0 Italy 2008: Governor Cuffaro's cannolis

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0.0 Italy 2008: Benedict XVI cancel his Jan. 17 visit to La Sapienza university in Rome

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0.0 Italy 2008: the 60th anniversary of the Italian Constitution

• The President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, speaks in front of the Italian Parliament, on Jan. 23, 2008• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

OyrJDkyYHYg (in Italian)

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0.0 Italy 2008: government n.60, please!

• "Fight Brews in Italy Over New Elections" by Ian Fisher and Elisabetta Povoledo, The New York Times (Jan. 26, 2008)• http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/world/europe/

26italy.html?ref=europe

• Senators of the opposition celebrate the defeat of Prime Minister Prodi• http://youtube.com/watch?v=wBzKnQwTfGk

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0.0 Italy 2008: "something positive", "a success story"

• "Ancient Vase Comes Home to a Hero's Welcome" by Elisabetta Povoledo, The New York Times (Jan. 19, 2008)• http://

www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/arts/design/19bowl.html?_r=2&ref=europe&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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0.0 Italy 2008: Benigni and Dante

• Benigni presents Inferno, canto 5, on Italian state tv-channel RAI (Nov. 29, 2007)• 10,070,000 viewers (35.68%)• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG9EPT2tHwk (in

Italian)

• Benigni during his show TuttoDante, in Piazza S. Croce (Florence)• http://youtube.com/watch?v=zvCCnethxOs (in Italian)• http://youtube.com/watch?v=6iGB_iFO6Uw (just

images, no voice)

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0.0 Italy 2008: Jan. 27, the Day of Remembrance

• On January 27, 1945, the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp were opened

• Every year, on Jan. 27, Italy and other European countries remember that event, and the victims of the Holocaust, with the ceremonies of the recently instituted "Day of Remembrance" (Giornata della memoria)

• Italy is one of just a few countries besides Israel to have such a long history of Jewish presence

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• The Jewish community in Rome is probably the oldest in Europe, dating back to the second century BCE

• Cicero, in his oration Pro Flacco (59 BCE), makes reference to the fact that Jews residing in Italy were sending regular contributions in gold to the Temple in Jerusalem

• After the destruction of the temple by the Romans, in 70 CE, Jewish prisoners and slaves were sent to Sardinia to work in the mines; approximately 100,000 more were sent to Rome

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0.0 Italy 2008: Jan. 27, the Day of Remembrance• After the conquest of Sicily by the Arabs, Jewish

communities flourished in that region• During the Middle Ages approximately 40,000 Jews

were living in Sicily, the most important community being the one in Palermo (3,000)

• In 1492 all Jews were expelled from Sicily and Sardinia, following the example of Spain. After the conquest of the kingdom of Naples by the Spaniards, most Jewish communities disappeared from the south of Italy (from Naples, Nola, Bari, Otranto)

• In 1516 the Republic of Venice instituted the first ghetto

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0.0 Italy 2008: Jan. 27, the Day of Remembrance• Many Italian Jews participated actively in the

process of Italy's unification (Risorgimento)• In 1920, 19 of the 350 representatives of the

House, in the Italian parliament, were Jewish• A number of Italian Jews supported fascism in the

first years (1920s), and sometimes until 1938 (the year of the anti-Semitic Racial laws)

• Approximately 8,000 Italian Jews died during WWII• In the early 1960s the number of Jews in Italy was

down to approximately 35,000• Visibility and assimilation

• interfaith marriage with Catholics• public display of religious symbols

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0.1 The class Web site: its contents

• http://www.campo7.com/hui216• announcements and assignments• a detailed calendar• an outline and notes for each lecture• digital recordings of each lecture, divided by

topic• the required readings• interactive multiple-choice quizzes• the syllabus• the topics for the paper, bibliographical

references, and suggestions for further research

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0.1 Contact information

• Instructor: Dr. Andrea Fedi • Office hours (rm. 1148, Humanities

building): Mondays and Wednesdays 5:30-6:30, Tuesdays 1:30-3:00, and by appointment

• Telephone: (631) 632-7449 [there is no voice-mail; to leave an urgent message call (631) 632-7442]

• E-mail: [email protected]

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0.2 The paper: recommendations and ideas

• A good paper is all about connections!• Place contents and ideas in the larger context of

Italian civilization• Explain the relevance of your topic within the

pertinent period (Roman or medieval civilization etc.), and/or for Italian civilization in general

• Once you've dealt with the topic that you have chosen, with its specific issues and ramifications, try to answer these questions

• what is the particular relevance of ... (insert your topic here) for Italian civilization as a whole?

• What is left of this author/artist/idea in modern-day Italian culture, in Western civilization and culture?

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0.2 The paper: recommendations and ideas

• Provide a few specific examples, well described and well analyzed

• Avoid the "catalogue" format• short treatment of too many subtopics• no structural transitions• no logical development

• A paper too technical and narrowly defined, which might be great in a class on history or art history or literature, is not always appropriate for this class

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0.2 The paper: the format

• Regarding the format of footnotes, quotes, references and the bibliography, the important thing is to be consistent• You can follow the MLA style, using footnotes or

endnotes sparingly, or you can adopt a different format (Chicago style, etc.)

• Acknowledge all sources properly, including Internet web sites

• Stick to the same standard throughout the entire paper

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0.2 The paper: the topics, drafts

• Topics for the papers and additional material are posted inside the class web page• If you wish to write to paper on a different topic, you

must obtain permission from the instructor• Minimum length for the paper is 5 pages or 1,500 words• Max. length is 10 pages or 3,000 words• The deadline is May 5• Rules for electronic submissions are posted online

• During the semester you can submit an outline or a draft for review and recommendations• please do it at your earliest convenience

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0.2 Plagiarism

• Do not plagiarize, or you will be reported• Even when you submit a draft, you must

follow the rules and properly acknowledge all your sources

• Plagiarizing (SBU definition)• copying someone else's writing or

paraphrasing it too closely, even if it constitutes only a portion of your written assignment

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0.2 Plagiarism

• Please refer to the Web site of the Academic Judiciary Committee for further details• http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/CAS/ajc.nsf

• "Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It"• http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/

plagiarism.shtml

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0.2 Plagiarism (copied from UC Davis site in 2003)

• Use your own words and ideas• Give credit for copied, adapted or

paraphrased material• If you repeat another's exact words,

you MUST use quotation marks and cite the source

• If you paraphrase a sentence or a paragraph, you must still cite

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0.2 Plagiarism (from UC Davis site in 2003)

• Avoid using others' work with minor cosmetic changes• synonyms and thesauri: using "less" for "fewer"• reversing the order of a sentence: from active to

passive

• You don't have to cite "common knowledge," BUT the fact must really be commonly known• That Abraham Lincoln was the U.S. President

during the Civil War is common knowledge• That over 51,000 Union and Confederate

soldiers died in the Battle of Gettysburg is not

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0.2 Plagiarism: examples (UC Davis)

• The Original Source• "In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons:

to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas" (Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, St. Martin's Press, 1995, p. 260)

• Plagiarism (same words, no quotation marks)• In research writing, sources are cited to alert readers to

the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas.

• The student has used the author's exact words, leaving out only a phrase, without quotation marks or a citation

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0.2 Plagiarism: more examples (from UC Davis)

• The Original Source• "In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to

alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas" (Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, St. Martin's Press, 1995, p. 260)

• Also Plagiarism• In research writing, we cite sources for a couple reasons: to

notify readers of our information sources and give credit to those from whom we have borrowed (Hacker)

• The student has made only slight changes, substituting words such as "a couple" for "two," "notify" for "alert," and "our"/"we" for "your"/"you," leaving out a few words, and giving an incomplete citation

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0.2 Plagiarism: last examples (from UC Davis)

• A Solution (appropriate paraphrase)• A researcher cites her sources to ensure her audience knows

where she got her information, and to recognize and credit the original work (Hacker 260)

• This student has paraphrased in her own words, while accurately reflecting and citing the author's ideas

• A Different Solution (quotation with cite)• In her book A Writer's Reference, Diana Hacker notes, "In research

writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas" (260)

• By introducing his source, the student signals that the following material is from that source

• All verbatim words are in quotation marks, and the source of the quote is cited with a page number

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0.3 Preparing for the final exam

• When you prepare for the exam, focus on• the most relevant topics inside lectures and

presentations• the required readings from the class Web page and from

the Internet

• When you review the readings focus on• themes, ideas, references to history and culture• fiction: the basic plot, the main characters, the style

• Also be prepared to• match important dates with crucial events• match places with peoples/cultures• match authors with the titles of their major works

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Documents

HUI216 Italian Civilization