ITAL-UA 173.001

Italian Voices: Oral History in Italy

Prof. Rachel Love

“There’s more to history than presidents and generals, and there’s more to culture than the literary canon,” says oral historian Alessandro Portelli. In this course, we will explore oral testimony—recorded in books, archived interviews, and films—as a means to access diverse perspectives in Italian history and culture. How did everyday people in Rome respond to Fascism and the violence of World War II, and how does the memory of those events impact them today? What did young people think and feel during the political movements and sexual revolutions of the 1960s? How do the stories of Italians who immigrated to the United States resonate with the experiences of present-day immigrants to Italy? How do Black Italians navigate questions of race and identity in their personal histories and experiences? As we consider these questions, we will examine our own memories and how we shape them into stories. Materials include texts by Alessandro Portelli and Luisa Passerini; documentaries by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dagmawi Yimer, and Fred Kuwornu; and archival sources from Ellis Island and the Archive of Migrant Memories.

Meeting Pattern: Monday- Thursday, 2pm-5pm, Jan. 3rd- Jan. 21st

Location: Casa Italiana Library (Room 203)