HIST 229A Italians in the Americas, 1840-1960
This course will explore the history of Italian migration to the United States, Canada, and Latin America during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will examine the factors - economics, politics, law, demographics, transportation, and communication technologies - that generated and facilitated the mass migration of Italians (particularly southern Italians), to the Americas. We will consider the ways that migrants transplanted their diverse and localized Italian cultures, social mores, and religious practices to the regions of the United States and Latin America where they settled (focusing especially on Italian communities in New York and Buenos Aires). We will examine the links between communities in Italy and America; the long-term impact of emigration on Italy's society, politics, and culture; and the way that this extraordinary migration continues to shape relations between Italy and the Americas today. We will pay special attention to Italian community life and popular religiosity, examining devotional practices in Italy and their permutations in the Americas. We will conclude the course with a brief consideration of Italy's new role as a country that attracts immigrants from all over the globe, exploring how its legacy as a migrant sending country informs contemporary attitudes to immigration.