Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne

This course aims at presenting the students with key literary and cultural texts produced in the U.S. in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The course is thematic, focuses on literary and visual texts, and uses contributions from cultural studies, histories, the social sciences, visual and urban studies as its field of reference. Students will develop reading, comprehension and critical response skills, as well as the ability to differentiate among literary genres and to critically discuss those texts in ways that are not merely descriptive, but also critical and analytical.

Development of critical thinking, and skills for individual study and learning. Development of critical and analytical tool to understand 19th, 20th and 21st century US culture and literature. Development of critical and cultural skills applied to the texts being analyzed.

Learning outcomes (Dublin descriptors).

Students should:
1.  demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a field of study that builds upon their general secondary education, and is typically at a level that, whilst supported by advanced textbooks, includes some aspects that will be informed by knowledge of the forefront of their field of study.

2. apply their knowledge and understanding in a manner that indicates a professional approach to their work or vocation, and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments and solving problems within their field of study 

3.  have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) to inform judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues 

4.  communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non specialist audiences

5. develop learning skills that are necessary for them to continue to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy

COURSE TITLE: “AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE EARLY COLD WAR, 1946-1963”
https://earlycoldwar2024.edublogs.org/ 

This curse, fully taught in English, will cover the transformations in US society during the “long decade” spanning from the end of WWII to John Kennedy’s assassination in December 1963. Reading novels and essays from and about that period, as well as watching film/video and listening to music from that era, we will try to unpack the launcing of the late 20th century. e will explore an era characterized by social, political an aesthetic tensions involving the Cold War and the fear of atomic annihilation, changing attitudes towards sexuality, the Rock n Roll revolution, the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, the emergence of an affluent middle class focused on family values and changing lifestyles involving suburbanization, television, youths, women, and much more.

We will study literary and visual texts (art, film, TV series), as well as scholarly investigations from various disciplines (history, urban studies, architecture, anthropology, cultural studies), interrogating this crucial long decade in American Culture from multiple perspectives and media (literature, film, music, etc.)