AMERICAN CULTURAL STUDIES MOD. 1

The course is part of the graduate degree in American, European, and Postcolonial Languages and Culture, Language Sciences and Comparative International Relations (American curriculum). Its aim is to provide students advanced skill in and knowledge about the analysis of American culture through a multidisciplinary approach. Students are expected to develop autonomous critical skills and to be able to analyze and contextualize heterogeneous textual and visual cultural material, using a specific critical vocabulary.

This is an Advanced course in American cultural studies with the following learning goals:
a) development of students' critical skills by stimulating the elaboration of original ideas within a specific area of study
c) building students' analytical skills by adopting a multi- and interdisciplinary approach
d) development of independent and autonomous study through the possibility of personal research to be presented to the class.

Advanced knowledge of written and spoken English.
Ability to enrich the syllabus through individual research of material and independent study

This course explores the theme of migration and adaptation in American literature, examining its impact on citizenship, national identity, and the American Dream. Through critical readings of novels like Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country, Nella Larsen's Quicksand, James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, and Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies, we'll explore how writers portray the challenges and transformations faced by those in exile. These narratives guide us in understanding how characters navigate identity, community, and survival in unfamiliar environments. We'll also analyze how migration to and from the United States challenges and reaffirms American identity, intersecting with notions of race, gender, class, and sexual identity. Through close reading and discussion, students will engage with questions of assimilation, alienation, and cultural adaptation complexities.

Novels:
Edith Wharton, The Custom of the Country
Nella Larsen, Quicksand
James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room
Jhumpa Lahiri, Interpreter of Maladies

Short Stories:
Shani Mootoo, "Out on Main Street"
Junot Díaz, "How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)"

a) Final oral exam of about 30 minutes. Students must be able to discuss a topic thoroughly. Every student is asked 3 questions (specific or broad) on 3 different topics, which the students must use to organize their critical discourse on the themes of the course. The questions may be the comment of a text, a precise date/title/etc., or a broad investigation of a topic. The exam is not thought of as a test but as a critical discussion, whose aim is the assessment of the learning goals (knowledge of the historical and critical frame and of the texts; comparative and analytical skills; independent thought; communicative skills).
Primary and secondary sources are mandatory.

b) Participation during classes is highly encouraged and will be evaluated positively. Attendance is not mandatory; however, your active participation to the discussions and conversations in class is a fundamental contribution to the seminar.

Seminar with class debates/discussions and active participation by students.

English

Please, check the announcements on the professor's page and on Moodle. Remember also to active and daily check your institutional mail (unive.it).

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