aCademiC Catalog 2013-2014 - Lorenzo de Medici

FLORENCE
School of Arts & Sciences
Students will be familiarized with different perspectives on
criminal behavior as well as etiology, risk factors, assessment
and treatment in relation to different criminal behaviors. Recent
research findings will be incorporated.
Prerequisites: PSY 150 Introduction to Psychology, or equivalent
Sociology
Introduction to Sociology
SOC 160 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
Sociology is the study of human groups, organizations and
societies and the patterns of similarity and difference among
them. In this course, we will examine the major questions
that guide sociological analysis. We will also practice “doing”
sociology by exploring our everyday social worlds and the
oftentimes invisible or taken-for-granted social forces that
shape it. Sociologists are concerned with a vast array of
topics, and they approach the investigation of these topics in
numerous ways. This course will introduce and draw students
into our ways of seeing the world, provide them with tools for
understanding our own social position and the conditions in
which we live, and fuel our passion and vision for a just, equal
and diverse society.
Italian Cinema and Society
SOC 201 F; Dual listed: MCT 200 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course explores Italian cinema from its origins to the
present time, within the socioeconomic and historical context
of Italian culture and society. The course is based on the
premise that film can be usefully employed for studying a
society’s history and culture, including such areas as customs,
ideologies, discourses, gender roles and social problems. Areas
of particular focus will include Fascism, World War II, the
economic miracle, the southern question, political terrorism
of the 1970s, commercial television, the Second Republic, the
Mafia, and the contemporary phenomenon of immigration.
Along the way we will be looking at some of the major works
of key directors, as well as at the most important genres of
popular cinema, giving particular attention to the intellectual,
historical, cultural, and literary matrix of each movie. Through
analyzing the ways in which Italian cultural, social and political
conflicts are portrayed and worked out both in art films and
popular cinema, students will be encouraged to reach an
understanding of the possibilities of film both as work of art
and as cultural document.
Regions of Italy
SOC 225 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
Historically, Italy has passed more years as a patchwork of
independent or semi-independent states than as one unified
country. Even today, in the era of a single Italian state, this
history of division and diversity has left a strong mark on the
regions of Italy. This course will help students to understand the
historical, artistic, linguistic and cultural characteristics of each
region and the many forces that have given rise to powerful
local identities across the country. Students will discover a
plurality of Italies, each with its own rich culture, and in doing so
they will be encouraged to reflect on broader issues concerning
nationhood and identity.
Organized Crime: Sociology and History of
Italian Mafia
SOC 260 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
“Mafia” is one of a long list of words – like “pizza”, ‘”spaghetti”
and “opera” – that Italian has given to many other languages
across the world. It is commonly applied to criminals far beyond
Sicily and the United States, places where the Mafia in the strict
sense is based. “Mafia” has become an umbrella label for a
whole panoply of gangs - Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Chechen,
Albanian, Turkish, and so on - that have little or nothing to
do with the Sicilian original. This course is a history of the
Mafia in Sicily. Some of the most famous American mafiosi,
such as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone, will also be taken into
consideration because the history of the Sicilian Mafia cannot
be understood without telling the story of the American Mafia
to which it gave birth. The course analyses the Sicilian Mafia
through a historical, social and cultural perspective, tracing its
progression from the Unification of Italy to the present day.
An analysis of the sociological aspects of the Mafia will be
considered, including “the language of the mafioso”, “the code
of silence”, the ways of violence, the social relationships within
the organization, messages and messengers, structures of
power, profits and losses, and the relationships between Mafia,
politics, and religion.
Italian Family and Society
SOC 280 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course explores the Italian family from a sociological point
of view, placing the family in the context of Italian tradition
and culture. It is subdivided into two main sections. In the first
section we will begin with an historical analysis of the Italian
family from the Romans to the present age, in order to analyze
changes and traditions through several centuries. We will see
that the patriarchal system underlies the entire history of the
Italian family until recent times. We will analyze the meaning of
the family at the present time and the importance of marriage
in the past and cohabitation in present society. We will also
consider key moments of transition in the life cycle of families,
such as the constitution of a conjugal agreement, the place
of children, divorce, the elderly, and adoption. The impact of
immigration on the development of family lifestyles will also be
examined. In the second part of the course each class will analyze
in detail the single members of the family. We will investigate
rights and duties of wives, mothers, husbands, fathers and
children in the family and we will evaluate the relationship
between tradition and change in the evolution of these roles.
We will also compare the traditional and conservative southern
family to that of northern Italy.
The Italian-American Experience
SOC 290 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course captures the depth and the richness of the Italian
American experience from the historical, social, political and
artistic point of view. Topics include: struggle for survival;
adaptation and success of Italians in the US; their search for
an identity; and their impact and contribution to the evolution
of American life and culture. The first part traces the role of
Italians in the discovery and settlement of the New World and
in the struggle for American independence from England. It
also provides a survey of conditions in Italy that encouraged,
just after the unification of the country, millions to leave their
homes for more promising economic opportunities available
in the cities of the United States in the decades after 1880.
The second part is an examination of various aspects of
the immigrant experience, including housing, jobs, politics,
community institutions and the family. The third part traces the
emergence of ethnic consciousness among Italian Americans in
the post immigration era and the search for a new self-identity.
Sociology of Consumerism
SOC 303 F; Dual listed: BUS 303 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course will focus on the rise and development of consumer
cultures. The aim is to study and to apply interdisciplinary
theoretical approaches to the study of consumer society
now and in the past. The course will explore key substantive
themes in the history and sociology of consumption, including
the following: 1) an overview of developments in the different
theories of consumer culture; 2) the rise of commercial
society, the relation between freedom of choice and the power
of commercial systems, models of consumer psychology
and behavior, the nature of selves and identities in a posttraditional
world, prosperity and progress; 3) the way class,
gender, ethnicity and age affect the nature of our participation
in consumer culture; 4) the evolution of capitalism to the
present day, as well as the history of commodities in a number
of different settings (advertising, food and drink, fashion
and clothes); 5) the social, cultural and economic context of
specific consumer groups, as well as case studies of specific
commodities.
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LdM Academic Catalog 2013-2014