Contemporary Italy: Politics and Society

Catalog description

This course provides background on contemporary Italian politics and society, as an essential foundation to students with various disciplinary interests, from planning to architecture, from the fine arts to sociology and anthropology. This course provides a comprehensive survey of Italian society today, starting with Italy's geography and the historical forces that shaped the nation. It examines tensions between north and south, and such broad features of Italian social life as community structure, urban development, and family forms. The course also reviews selected institutional issues, such as gender, the system of education, problems of criminality and justice, economic reform, social class, religion, and politics.