COURSE DETAIL
This course introduces students to the key elements in society for determining those who have power, and those who do not. This is due to the perception that race, gender, and class (or at least how these determiners are perceived and maintained by a group), interact with one another, and inform one another, to ensure that power to and from is monopolized or unfairly distributed within the group. Students are introduced to issues surrounding race, gender, and class in the microcosm that is Italy; simultaneously a unique model and representative of shared universal concerns. This course has been divided into four sections. The first part of the semester focuses on gender, the second on race, the third on class, and although the last part of the course individually looks at the theories of intersectionality, these will naturally occur throughout the course. Alongside theories of gender, race, class, and intersectionality, students are encouraged to apply theories to case studies. The course explores not only explanations of why power inequalities exist and are sustained, but also insights into how such knowledge might be used to challenge these very real issues within society. Although the concerns covered in the course are universal, the case studies focused upon, alongside field trips, root the study in the Italian, local context. Students are encouraged to compare this context to their own academic concerns and pursuits, as well as personal experience, in order to provide more robust and unique insights.