ITAM SYLLABUS CALENDAR

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CALENDAR: Lectures and Assignments I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO AMEND THE CALENDAR AS NEEDED
INTRO	DUE the first day of class: Professional email address Blog registration Blog photo Sample Assignment / Attachment Syllabus Quiz / Attachment Blog Introduction (use <comment>) Blog comment to classmate introduction (use <reply>) QUESTIONNAIRE (print out) TIME MANAGEMENT (print out) Son of Italy BLOG AND POLL	WEEKLY QUIZ Either in class or via email. It will cover required reading/screening for that week.	BLOG Check the blog regularly. I will post topics based on our discussions in class
WEEK 1	ASSIGNMENTS: TIME MANAGEMENT CHART: Hand in page 2 of the chart. Ask your teachers how many hours of out-of-class work they estimate their courses will require. SCREENING: Short videos The Black Hand and Skyscrapers of New York Take notes about the salient points, characters, plot, settings etc. Turn in the notes in class (handwritten OK) SCREENING: Anti - Italian cartoons -- download PowerPoint here Take notes about each one of them. You may use the notes simply to help you remember details, or to record your impressions and reactions. You will turn in your notes in class (handwritten OK: I prefer 8.5 x 11 size paper.) Alternatively, view YOUTUBE video (inferior quality) WEB Research: Google search. Enter these key workds: <New Orleans 1890, Italians, lynching> in Wikipedia, look up <Cesare Lombroso>. Read and learn about his theories. WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1) Reflect on your emotional reactions to the cartoons. What did you think? How did you respond? Were you outraged? Hurt? Angry? Or, they didn't surprise you at all, they simply confirmed what you already suspected. 2) Did the cartoons contribute to your understanding through knowledge about the conflicting forces in society in those days? 3) Briefly, based on what you read, what would you feel like investigating further about this time period of American History? THERE IS NO MINIMUM TO THIS ASSIGNMENT. BLOG: post your comment. After we reach 15 comments, return to add a <REPLY> to a comment that was particularly interesting to you..
WEEK 2	READING: Son of Italy 1-52. Take telegraphic notes: turn notes in in class. SCREEN THE VIDEOS (Take notes, as usual.) 1) GUTENBERG 2) DID YOU KNOW? 3) HUMAN CAPITAL WEB RESEARCH: Wikipedia OK 1) Who were the "KNOW-NOTHING?" (Take notes) 2) The "Chinese Exclusion Act" (Take notes) ============================== WRITING: Task 1: GUTENBERG Were you familiar with the historical aspects of this invention and "its" consequences? What single detail or piece of information in this video made was most surprising? SEPARATE PARAGRAPH: What parallels would you draw with the present world and the digital revolution? (One solid -- solid --paragraph at least.) Task 2: WHAT ARE YOUR SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT ITALIAN AMERICANS? Or, in other words, where did you learn the things you know about ITAM? In your answer be sure to be clear about the sources and HOW THESE SOURCES (not the information per se but the nature of the sources) shaped your perception. Task 3: Son of Italy Choose one episode or scene from Son that affected you and you remember sharply. Summarize it quickly. Explain why you chose it. Is it because of the pathos? Or because it is emblematic of the overall theme? Or, maybe because you understood something deeper through that scene. Or, maybe you LEARNED new facts that open up a whole new horizon. Or, is it because you are a sentimental sap and melt down in front of injustice and people suffering? BLOG and POLLS
WEEK 3	READING: Finish Son of Italy (Take notes and turn them in in class.) SCREENING: The Italian. Take notes, turn them in in class. WEB RESEARCH: Wikipedia OK WHAT IS SEMIOTICS? WRITING: Task 1: go back to a previous topic and write a new short essay on "your sources of information about Italian Americans." Focus on how the nature of the sources (TV vs film vs literature vs family vs acquaintances etc.) SHAPED your perception. Focus on your self reflection, and the mental process that took you to a critical evaluation of the sources. Task 2: My Immigrant Experience. Are you an immigrant? Are your parents? Or grandparents? Relatives? Friends? Neighbors? The restaurant owner near your home? We all have immigrant experiences. Choose one that is significant enough to be mentioned here. Taks 3: explain in your own words what semiotics is. Make an effort to be concise and precise. No copy and paste and no rambling. Make sure you get the concept. BLOG and POLLS	QUIZ 1: Thursday June 13, on materials up to June 10 QUIZ 2: June 17 cumulative
WEEK 4	SCREENING: L'EMIGRANTE Take notes and turn them in in class. SCREENING: video on living conditions of Italian American immigrants notes on each slide in detail ========================================= WEB RESEARCH: Wikipedia OK SACCO and VANZETTI notes ============================== WEB MATERIAL: HISTORY OF ITALY AND ITALIAN LANGUAGE notes ============================= WRITING: comments about in-class discussion based on Son of Italy, The Italian, L'Emigrante WHAT DID YOU FIND IN THESE TEXTS THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU? Think about the arguments that explain why it is important. Let it come to you, go over it, turn it upside down until you really know why it matters so much. And be ready to let others know what you found. ==================================== BLOG and POLLS	QUIZ 1: THU June 20, Christ to page QUIZ 2: June 23 cumulative
WEEK 5	READING TEXTS: READ ALL THE TEXTS It looks like a lot of reading, but each text is rather short. Anti-Italianism Wall Street Bombing In Search of Italian American Writers Click here: Gaetano Bresci Click here Execution of Italians Gay Talese: On Self-Representation ============================= SONGS: Santa Lucia luntana (Santa Lucia so far away) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UucmhiZgpzo Santa Lucia is a neighborhood of Naples, a particularly beautiful one. Lacreme napulitane (Neapolitan Tears) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTpkK_YWBxw This song appeared in a musical. The reference to "that lady" has to do with the plot: the singer is writing a letter to his mother and refers to his former wife who left him for another man and abandoned their children after he emigrated to America. ============================== WRITING ASSIGNMENT Task 1: Your honest reaction to the songs. Candidly describe your personal reaction to the music and lyrics. Try listening more than once and see if and how your experience changes. In a separate paragraph: how do you think the culture of your tribe would react to these songs? Too teary and sappy? Or, would they hit the sweet spot just right? ===================================== Task 2: this is going to be complicated: After reading the TEXTS: how confused are you, really, about the Italian American experience, as it emerges from the texts listed in this assignment? ======================================= Task 3: What did you NOT say in class so far that you wish you said? BE SPECIFIC, don't just say "oh, I wish I had participated more" etc. ======================================= Task 4: Answer the following questions: What is a language substratum? In what year was modern Italy unified? (Hint: the year Rome became capital.) What local dialect is the Italian language derived from? What is the crucial turning point in the creation of Italian Language? If you wanted to sound like a real intellectual, would you rather drop the name of Dante, Petrarca or Boccaccio? Why?	QUIZ 1: THU June 27 Quiz 2: July 1, cumulative
WEEK 6	READING: Christ in Concrete 1-61 Don't worry about remembering all the names of the minor characters. Read one chapter at a time taking notes. As soon as you finished reading a chapter write a coherent synopsis summarizing the events. WRITING ASSIGNMENT For each chapter describe your reactions: . you can talk about what you think about the writing style; . you can discuss your emotional reaction to the story in the chapter you just read; . you can focus on one detail that really hit you hard; . you can write directly to the author in letter form and give him your feedback. Repeat this exercise for each chapter. You will realize that after each chapter your vision sharpens and your understanding of the layers of the text deepens. ========================================= Task 2: Websearch: The Book of Job (take notes) BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 7	READING: CHRIST IN CONCRETE finish the book Take notes. Here are two examples of good note-taking: VERY EFFICIENT NOTES on Christ in Concrete (thanks to Georgia Van Cooten - Spring 2013) Sample of my note taking (I take notes about every single book I read) ================================= WRITING TASK 1: What was your reaction to the chain of tragedies that befell Geremio's family? Did you maintain some distance ("resistance to the text") or did the text take over and you became emotionally involved? Did Di Donato's style contribute to your involvement with the text, or was it a barrier? TASK 2 Choose your most favorite and least favorite parts/scenes of the book. You don't need to write a summary, just explain WHY you made those choices. Do they say something about you, your personality, your approach to literature, art, or simply to school work? BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 8	READING: SOCIAL JUSTICE SCREENING: GIVE US THIS DAY WEB RESEARCH: Pullman Strike Sacco and Vanzetti Gaetano Bresci Arturo Giovannitti John_L._Lewis ================================================================ ALL READINGS AND WEB RESEARCHES WILL BE ON THE QUIZ ================================================= WRITING TASK 1: Write a letter to the book CHRIST IN CONCRETE. Treat the book as the addressee of your letter, the same way the book treats JOB like a real character. BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 9	READING: THE GODFATHER 1-87 (let's see if you can put it down ...) SCREEN: The Real Godfather (youtube) WRITING: Free writing centered about the topic of Mafia. I will post your essays as I get them on Bb (anonymously, if you prefer.) Try to incorporate your classmates' work in your essay, creating a sort of dialogue with an unknown person. BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 10	READING: FINISH THE GODFATHER WRITING TASK 1: The paragraphs below summarize the 'ideology' of the Corleone family and mafia in general. Are these rationalizations (a fancier name for 'excuses') or is there a kernel of truth in them? And, are the arguments sufficient to justify the violence and lawlessness of the enterprise? Choose TWO of the following passages, read them over carefully in toto. Before writing down your reactions and thoughts, think it over. The more you think about something, the more your arguments change: this does not mean that your opinion or judgment changes, but that your ARGUMENTS get better, more solid and more refined. Speech to BOSSES: 284/285 BOOK V-CHAPTER 20 " I want to thank you all for coming" he said." I consider it a service done to me personally and I am in debt of each and every one of you." ============================= Rationalizing criminal behavior: if I don't do it, someone else will: 287/288: BOOK V-CHAPTER 20 "The Don of Los Angeles, Frank Falcone, spoke to answer: "There is no way of stopping our people from going into that business. They go in on their own and they get in trouble. There is too much money to resist." ===================== 290 WE REFUSED TO BE FOOLS, PUPPETS BOOK V- CHAPTER 20 "Let me say that we must always look to our interests. We are all men who have refused to be fools, who have refused to be puppets dancing on a string pulled by men on high." ======================== IDEOLOGY: pag 362, Michael to Kay. (Hubris) BOOK VII-CHAPTER 25 "The trouble is all that damn trash in the movies and the newspapers" Michael said. ======================== TOTALLY DELUSIONAL, because the truth is that... HAGEN TO KAY 441 -442 BOOK IX-CHAPTER 32 "Kay had made the mistake of trying to be cruelly flippant, a role that which she was not suited. 'Did Michael send you up here to threaten me?' she asked." TASK 2: Choose one CHAPTER (not BOOK) from Godfather that seems particularly WELL WRITTEN. Explain what you like in terms of style or approach (is it the psychological insight? the ability to describe in detail? the atmosphere? the mood? etc.) IDENTIFY CLEARLY THE BOOK N. and CHAPTER N. BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 11	SCREEN: THE GODFATHER WRITING before writing, you must READ the file "The Godfather" on the website. TASK 1: Read the comments to the postings from last week and take a position about the theory of "Predestination," namely that Don Corleone was destined to be a mafia boss. If you are philosophically inclined, you may want refer to concepts such as "free will." If you lean toward psychology, maybe "rationalization" will feel more familiar. TASK 2: The film more than the novel emphasizes in the subtext the theme of Evil, both visually and in the narration/dialogue. The genius of Puzo -- as one of you said in a blog comment -- was the ability to package evil in a the shiny logic of rational respectability and sense of honor. Do you agree with this perspective? Alternatively, taken as a political allegory, The Godfather is about the condemnation of our society and the revenge taken by one of its victims. Is this notion closer to your emotional reactions? BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 12	CATCH UP WEEK: we will use this week to revisit important issues we couldn't cover completely. The topics will be based on your preferences (blog discussion) TASK 1: Looking back at the various texts we have examined, how have your thoughts evolved over time? Don't make it an intellectual exercise. Try to recall how you responded to the information in the texts were and how those responses have become more (or less) nuanced. Are you surprised how far you have come, and how "differently" sophisticated your arguments are? TASK 2:What is the single text that "taught" you the most. I am referring to the depth of your emotional response and the thoughts that it triggered, rather than the mass of information you learned. BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 13	SCREEN: TRUE LOVE READ: FEAST OF THE SEVEN FISHES WRITING TASK 1: True Love represents a community of people living in cultural isolation, to the point where they are not even minimally self-conscious of their status. Feast of the Seven Fishes instead introduces the notion of status consciousness. Italians are very aware where they stand on the socio-economic latter. Which of these two representations is more disquieting? In your opinion who 'lives better?' Or, in other words, is it true that 'ignorance is bliss?' TASK 2: building on n. 1: how do you interpret your community in the light of the two representations above? TASK 3: in Feast the narrator inside the story is an artist-philosopher. Most likely this is a psychological autobiographical portrait of the author. Does that character resonate with you? Is your position in your environment similar to his? BLOG AND POLL
WEEK 14	READ: "Breaking the Silence" Print it out and bring it to class (CLICK THE LINK TO OPEN THE DOC.) SCREEEN: KISS ME GUIDO TASK 1: "Breaking the Silence" It's very very easy to be critical of other people and other tribes. But when it comes to our tribe, our family and ourselves, we know all the attenuating circumstances that mitigate (if not justify) certain behaviors, mentalities and ideologies. Write your own RESPONSE TO THE ESSAY with your questions and opinions. Make sure you distinguish between the two: Questions are for your doubts or your need to know more. Opinions are the thoughts that you formulate AFTER the questions. TASK 2: Kiss me Guido The guilty pleasure of laughing at outrageous stereotypes. I expect a well written, well thought-out set of arguments that incorporate notions we have explored in the course. Please, don't write to please me, don't be rhetorical and most of all be honest. If you think that humor like the movie's actually helps break down stereotypes, say so. If you think we all are too thin-skinned and hypersensitive, say so. If you think society is too politically correct, just say so. BUT, please cast all your arguments under the rubric of the topics we have discussed this semester. BLOG AND POLL
FINAL EXAM	Check the Final Exam schedule for time and date.

CALENDAR

CALENDAR: Lectures and Assignments