Music, Race, and Nation in Italy

Catalog description

For centuries, Italy has been revered for its rich musical traditions. Today, however, it is also marked by fraught racial politics, shaped by its colonial history in Africa, contentious immigration debates, and citizenship laws grounded in ancestry. What role has music played in shaping Italian ideas of race, belonging, and national identity? Can music and sound challenge the boundaries of who counts as Italian - or do they sometimes reinforce them? This course explores how music has been used both to uphold and resist dominant narratives of race and nation. We will draw from a broad chronology of Italian music, including the music of Black enslaved persons in 17th-century Florence, 19th-century opera featuring racialized characters, anti/fascist song during World War II, and contemporary hip-hop by Afro-Italians. Students will visit local museums, attend live musical performances, and engage with musicians and artist-activists working in Florence. Ultimately, this course will encourage students to reflect more deeply on how race and citizenship shape how one moves through the world, and how the arts can disrupt the political status quo. This course will be offered in January-Term 2026. This course will be taught at NYU Florence and will count as an Away J-Term course.