Politics and Mass Culture (304-0-20)

Instructors

Diego Lazzarich

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-420: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Freedom is one of the most defining ideas in the formation of modern Western political thought. What ideas of liberty have been theorized throughout Italian intellectual history? Did the emergence of mass politics and mass media reshape the way freedom was conceived? How have ideas of liberty been communicated in mass culture, by whom, and for what purposes? To address these questions, this course examines how the idea of liberty has been theorized, articulated, appropriated, and contested by political thinkers and actors throughout Italian history, and how it has been mediated through newspapers, radio, music, cinema, television, and social media. Starting from the patriotic journalism of the 19th-century Risorgimento and Fascist propaganda, and moving through political songs, postwar cinema, feminist media interventions, and contemporary online activism, the course reconstructs the main historical phases of the Italian intellectual and cultural debate on freedom. Students will work with written, audio, and visual primary sources and will learn to interpret political ideas as part of a broader media and cultural landscape.

Class Materials (Required)

All required materials will be provided on Canvas.

Class Notes

Course will be taught in English.

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline