Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "ITS 323"
COURSE NAME: "Blackness in Italy: Histories, Subjectivities, and Contemporary Challenges"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2025

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Marie Moise
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 11:30 AM 12:45 PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or above
OFFICE HOURS:

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course offers a critical examination of the social conditions of Black Italians today, at the intersection of gender, race and class inequalities with a focus on their lived experience and calls for structural change. Within the frame of decolonial and critical race theory, the course explores the theoretical and cultural production of the descendants of the Black diaspora in Italy. The course draws on a broad array of analytical fields - including geography, sociology, history, gender, and cultural studies. Practical exercises from various research methodologies – such as urban ethnographies, interviews, workshops - will enable students to engage directly with the lived experience of Blackness in Italy, exploring its social, and cultural significance.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

The course begins with a historical overview of contemporary Italian society to contextualize the roots and developments of slavery, racial, and colonial issues that have shaped Blackness in the country's history. Each significant moment in the historical timeline serves as a key to understanding the present, highlighting how the past impacts the definition of contemporary social and cultural phenomena where Italian Blackness emerges as a crucial factor. Each week, the course will delve into a pivotal moment in the history of Blackness in Italy, identifying its impacts on different social and cultural domains, and focusing on first-hand accounts by those who have experienced it. Week by week, the course will offer a progressive articulation of the most relevant situated methodologies and epistemologies. At the intersection with the concepts of gender, nation and social change, Italian Blackness will be framed within the broader theoretical and critical debate on race and racism on an international scale.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

Identify the connection between historical processes and contemporary social and cultural phenomena in Italy, with a specific focus on the intersection of gender and race.
Understand the contemporary debate on race and structural inequalities in Italy within the frame of the broader international academic debate.
Articulate critical analysis, reading of social reality and contextualization of social phenomena in diachronic and synchronic terms.
Use the course’s methodological approaches to think theoretically and practically about social and cultural transformations in Italy.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Format
Contesting race and Citizenship	Camilla Hawthorne	Cornell University Press	9781501762291	Hard Copy
Oxford Handbook of Freedom	David Schmidtz, Carmen Pavel	Oxford University Press	978-0197681176	Ebook
The Color Line	Igiaba Scego	Other Press	978-1635420869	Ebook
Black Marxism, The Making of The Black Radical Tradition	Cedric Robinson	University of North Carolina Press	978-0807848296	Ebook
Black spaces: African diaspora in Italy.	Heather Merrill	Routledge	978-1138549371	Ebook
Intersectionality as critical social theory	Collins, P. H., & Bilge, S.	Polity Press.	978-1-4780-0709-8	Ebook
This this is what i live for, an afro-italian hip-hop memoir	Amir Issaa	San Diego State University Press	9781938537721	Ebook
Intersectional Italy	Annalisa Frisina, Sandra Agiey Kyeremeh	Taylor & Francis	9781003464709	Ebook

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number
The importance of self-definition: An interview with Djarah Kan.	Kan, D., Romeo, C., & Fabbri, G.	Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 58(5), 591–597
Race and nature: The system of marks. The idea of a natural group and social relationships	Colette Guillaumin	Feminist Issues 8, 25–43	978-1635420869
Toxic fruits: tomatoes, migration, and the new Italian slavery.	Faleschini Lerner, G., & Past, E.	Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 25(5), 592–619.	978-1635420869
The Making of Policies: Immigration and Immigrants in Italy.	Zincone, Giovanna.	Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 32 (3): 347–375.	978-1635420869
‘If you jump up and down, Balotelli dies’: Racism and player abuse in Italian football	Mark Doidge	International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Vol. 50, Issue 3, 2015	978-0807848296
Whitening Italian sport: The construction of ‘Italianness’ in national sporting fields	Sandra Kyeremeh	International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 55(8), 2020, pp.1136-1151	978-0807848296
From Pecore nere to Future: Anthologizing intersectional Blackness in contemporary Italy.	Romeo, C.	Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 58(5), 607–624.	978-1138549371
«Black lives matter: a global reckoning / s1 ep1 Italy»	Alzo Slade	Vice TV	978-1138549371
I’m Told I Don’t Look Like a Foreigner”: Everyday Racism in Contemporary Italy	Quassoli, F., Muchetti, M., & Colombo, M.	Social Inclusion, 11(2), 27-36.	978-1-4780-0709-8
Music and words against racism: a qualitative study with racialized artists in Italy.	Annalisa Frisina, Sandra Agiey Kyeremeh	Ethnic and Racial Studies, 45(15), pp. 2913–2933.	9781938537721

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Class Attendance and Participation	You should come to class prepared to discuss the readings and to make meaningful and sustained contributions to class discussions.	10%
Weekly Assignments	A short exercise will be assigned at the end of every class. It will involve an active articulation of the key concepts explained during the lesson, such as a comment on a documentary, or a newspaper article, or a short research activity. The exercise will be shared and commented on during the next lesson.	15%
Mid-term Exam	Multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. The Mid-term exam will cover the material up to the week prior to the exam.	30%
Project Oral Presentation	Prepare a presentation about your research and critical analysis work on Black Italians. Guidelines: Identify an individual from the Italian political, artistic, or cultural scene who identifies as Black. Analyze their profile in light of the social, racial, and gender relations that define Blackness in Italy. Your analysis should consider how their life, thoughts, and cultural/theoretical production can be framed within a critical understanding of structural racism and antiracist challenges in Italy.	15%
Final Paper	Complete your oral presentation work with a paper integrating your research with critical analysis based on the course’s conceptual apparatus.	30%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course.
BThis is highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised.There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluatetheory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture andreference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performances demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material.Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included.In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Week 1

Framing Blackness in Italy. Introduction to the course.

Kan, D., Romeo, C., & Fabbri, G. The importance of self-definition: An interview with Djarah Kan. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 58(5), 591–597.

Birth of a (White) Nation. A historical overview.

John Foot, Modern Italy, Chapter 1: “The Nation”, Palgrave MacMillan, 2003

Camilla Hawthorne, A Fragmented Nation: Different Diasporas and the Contours of Italian Citizenship, Contesting race and Citizenship, 2022, pp.32-37

Week 2

Black vs Italian. Defining Italianness by what it is not.

Grada Kilomba, ““Where do you come from?” – Being Placed Outside the Nation, in G. Kilomba, Plantation Memories, Episodes of Everyday Racism, Unrast Verlag, 2016

Quassoli, F., Muchetti, M., & Colombo, M. (2023). “I’m Told I Don’t Look Like a Foreigner”: Everyday Racism in Contemporary Italy. Social Inclusion, 11(2), 27-36.

Nadeesha Uyangoda, The only Black Person in the Room, Open Democracy, 2021

Watching: Sabrina Onana, Crossing the color line, part I

Week 3

To the roots of Italian Blackness. Entanglements of race and slavery in Italian art and public monuments.

Orlando Patterson, The Culture of Slavery in Renaissance Italy, In the Oxford Handbook of Freedom, Schmidtz, Pavel, The Oxford Handbook of Freedom, pp.200-204

Igiaba Scego, Crossings II, in The Color Line, Other Press, 2022

Igiaba Scego, A Harlequin Europe: Unveiling Black Histories in Venice, Koozarch 2024

Guillaumin, C. Race and nature: The system of marks. The idea of a natural group and social relationships. Feminist Issues 8, 25–43 (1988).

Week 4

Decolonizing pizza and Tomato pasta. Colonial appropriation and Black modern enslavement behind the symbols of the “Made in Italy”

Faleschini Lerner, G., & Past, E. (2020). Toxic fruits: tomatoes, migration, and the new Italian slavery. Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 25(5), 592–619.

Matteo Fraschini Koffi, IN THE MIGRANTS’ GHETTO: among slave labor and laborers dying in silence, Avvenire, 2015

Zincone, Giovanna. 2006. “The Making of Policies: Immigration and Immigrants in Italy.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 32 (3): 347–375.

Week 5

From Christopher Columbus to the Black Jacobin of Piombino. Italy and the Black Atlantic.

Cedric Robinson, The Atlantic Slave Trade and African Labor - The Genoese Bourgeoisie and the Age of Discovery, in C. Robinson, Black Marxism, The Making of The Black Radical Tradition, University of North Carolina Press, 1983, pp.101-109

Marie Moïse, We cried a River of Laughter, Words Without Borders, 2021

Tiziano Arrigoni, Il Moro di Piombino o la rivoluzione mancata, Lavoro Culturale, 2020 (Excerpts translated by prof. Moïse)

Week 6

Cesare Lombroso, Mario Balotelli and a banana in the middle of a football field. Challenging scientific racism in Italy.

Mark Doidge, ‘If you jump up and down, Balotelli dies’: Racism and player abuse in Italian football. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Vol. 50, Issue 3, 2015.

Sandra Kyeremeh, Whitening Italian sport: The construction of ‘Italianness’ in national sporting fields. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 55(8), 2020, pp.1136-1151

Camilla Hawthorne, Mediterraneanism, Africa, and the Racial Borders of Italianness, in Contesting Race and citizenship, pp.91-126

Watching: Exhibiting Blackness in Fascist Italy, Institute of European Studies, UC Berkeley, 2020

Week 7

Urban ethnography - Practical exercise.

Kwanza Musi dos Santos, Black Rome, in Kelly, Vassell (eds.), Mapping Black Europe. Monuments, Memories, Markers, Public and Applied History, vol. 7, transcript, 2023.

Heather Merrill, Black spaces: African diaspora in Italy. Routledge, 2018.

Week 8

Black Italians challenging Italian colonialism, yesterday and today.

Angelica Pesarini, Making visible the invisible: Colonial sources and counter body-archives in the boarding schools for Black “mixed race” Italian children in fascist East Africa. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 58(5),2022, pp 625–639.

Angelica Pesarini, “You were the Shame of Race. Dynamics of Pain, Shame and Violence in Shape Shifting Processes.” In (eds.) Paul Spickard, Lily Anne Y. Welty-Tamai and Matt Kester (eds.), Shape Shifter. Journeys Across Terrains of Race and Identity. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019, 189–216.

Robert Fikes, “Giorgio Marincola (1923 - 1945),” Black Past, 2015

Why a Somali-born fighter is being honoured in Rome, bbc.com, 2020

Week 9

Black Italian Literature.

Romeo, C. (2022). From Pecore nere to Future: Anthologizing intersectional Blackness in contemporary Italy. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 58(5), 607–624.

Giulia Riccò, Igiaba Scego on writing between history and literature, 2020

Frisina, A., Kyeremeh, S.A. (2024). Transforming Italy Through Literature and Cinema? Voices and Gazes of Racialised Artists. In: Sievers, W. (eds) Cultural Change in Post-Migrant Societies. IMISCOE Research Series. Springer, Cham.

Exercise: Interviewing the authors. A Black Italian novel author will be invited to participate.

Week 10

Black Italians fighting for racial justice.

Nadeesha Uyangoda, Italy, It’s time to confront your own rampant racism, Open Democracy 2020

Angelica, Camilla, Making black lives matter in italy: a transnational dialogue, Public Books, 2020

Mackda Ghebremariam Tesfau’, Marie Moïse, In the Making: The Rise of an Italian Intersectional Subjectivity (Forthcoming)

Watching: Alzo Slade, «Black lives matter: a global reckoning / s1 ep1 Italy», Vice TV, 2021

Week 11

Gendered racism in Italy.

Jacqueline Andall, Gender, Migration and Domestic Service. The Politics of Black Women in Italy, Aldershot, 2000. Introduction, + Chapter 1, 2, 5

Oiza Q. Obasuyi, Undocumented and vulnerable: the reality of migrant women in Europe, Open Migration, 2023

Grada Kilomba, Plantation Memories: Episodes of Everyday Racism, Unrast Verlag, 2016, Chapter 1 (pages 9-22)

Watching: Sabrina Onana, Crossing the color line, part II

Week 12

Black Feminism in translation.

Camilla Hawthorne, Preface, in Future Il domani narrato dalle voci di oggi, effequ 2019 (Translated by Camilla Hawthorne)

Marie Moïse, Mackda Tesfamariam Tesfau, Colonial trauma’s signifiers and the affective consequences of diasporic literary relocation. Notes toward an Italian decolonial translation. (Forthcoming)

Angela Davis, Women, race and class, Random House, 1981

Collins, P. H., & Bilge, S. (2019). Intersectionality as critical social theory. Polity Press.

Week 13

Educating (to) anti-racism. Black Italian pedagogies - A participatory workshop.

Quassoli, F., Muchetti, M., & Colombo, M. (2023). “I’m Told I Don’t Look Like a Foreigner”: Everyday Racism in Contemporary Italy. Social Inclusion, 11(2), 27-36.

Mbaye, Moïse, EmpowerED: High School Toolkit for challenging discrimination, Acra, 2024

Week 14

White tongue, Black vocality. Italy and its Black Music.

Clarissa Ciò, “Hip-Pop Italian Style: The Postcolonial Imagination of Second-Generation Authors in Italy”

Amir Issaa, This this is what i live for, an afro-italian hip-hop memoir, San Diego State University Press, 2023

Annalisa Frisina, Sandra Agiey Kyeremeh, Music and words against racism: a qualitative study with racialized artists in Italy. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 45(15), pp. 2913–2933.