HUM 350 York College

1. HUM 350
Italian Culture and Civilization
Instructor: Prof. Vincenzo Selleri
e-mail: vselleri@york.cuny.edu

2. Prof. Vincenzo Selleri teaches Italian, Italian Cinema and
Italian culture and Civilization in CUNY, SUNY and
St John’s University.
His main fields of interest include Modern Italian Jewish
History, Italian Literature and Italian Cinema.
Course Description:
What is Italy? Does an original Italian culture exist? How is the
National Italian identity perceived abroad and by Italian Citizens?
The course will try to answer these and other questions through
the study of the unification of Italy, exploring and comparing
regional identities, tracking the evolution of the standard Italian
language, learning about the great literary and cinematic works
that have influenced the Art of western civilizations. Topics will
include fine arts, music, cinema, regional folklore and traditions,
fashion, and gastronomy.

3. Required Textbooks:
•None. All the reading material is available on
Blackboard under copyright law.
Recommended Textbooks:
•Charles Killinger. Culture And Customs Of Italy,
Greenwood, 2005.
•Charles L. Killinger, The history of Italy. Greenwood
2002.
•Mario B. Mignone. Italy Today. Peter Lang. 2008

4. Learning Outcomes. In this course, students will:
• Retrieve, evaluate, and interpret information from a variety of sources and points of view;
• Evaluate evidence and arguments critically;
• Produce well-reasoned written and oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions;
• Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of the Humanities that are primarily analytical, critical,
and speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences;
• Analyze the historical development of Italian society;
• Analyze and discuss the role that race, ethnicity, class, gender, language, sexual orientation, religion played in
shaping the past and present of Italian society.
•
• Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
• Discuss major developments in the political, cultural, social, and economic realms of Italy, with an appreciation for
its history, culture, traditions and viewpoints;
• Recognize and understand patterns of continuity and change in their analysis of the political, cultural, economic,
and social developments explored in the course;
• Analyze a wide range of primary and secondary sources (texts, visual art, music) and appreciate them as historical
and cultural evidence;
• Examine and discuss current events with a historically informed perspective;
• Compare and contrast the representation of Italy through its own history;
• Shape and define a sincere but not stereotypical picture of modern Italy defining its regional differences and
varieties;
• Develop writing and oral presentation skills using well-organized bibliographies and other research tools
appropriate to the discipline.

5. Attendance:
This is an ON-LINE course!
Attendence will be evaluated in the form of your
ACTIVE participation to the discussion forums
included in every weekly module!
Your posts will be evaluated qualitatively and
quantitatively as explained in the rubrics.
Please read the rubrics carefully before
submitting your posts.

6. Assignments:
The students are responsible for studying the
assigned material each week and to participate
in the discussion forums before taking the
quizzes.

7. Grading
The final grade will be calculated as follows:
•Quizzes (12) _______________20%
•Final Paper _______________15%
•Midterm _______________15%
•Final exam _______________20%
•Discussion Board _______________30%

8. COURSE OUTLINE

9. VOCAB
• Icebreaker: mandatory introductory test and
presentation forum. Accessible from the side bar
• Weekly module: contains the weekly lesson
• Assignments: Discussion Board and Quiz
• Discussion Board: participative blog linked in the
weekly module or accessible from the side bar
(content area). It’s graded!
• Quiz: weekly homework, linked in the weekly module.
It’s graded!
• Final Paer: 5 page research paper which will include a
bibliography