Assignments for Youth Culture/Contemporary Youth: The Making of a New Italy
Winter 2011
Either Honors 230 (10 credits) + Honors 391 (5 credits) or EDUC 300 (15 credits)
(3 of these credits will be for the Italian class)
--Buy a journal this weekend and start writing. Take time to choose the right journal for your needs. It's going to be with you for 10 weeks. Your journal will be a personal tool to write your reflections of the city and to craft the draft for the writing assignments that you will then post on to your blog. You can also use your journal for your reading notes. Other ways to use your journal: you can draw in your journal. You can write down new Italian words you learn as you explore the city.
- You can use the same journal or get another journal for your service learning component of the class.
Make your journal an extension of you for the next 10 weeks.
OVERVIEW:
I. 10 credits
a) Blogs and vlogs (35 points)
- Weekly writing assignments (20 points) You will write 1 or more pages of response to a question and/or assignment every week. You will write 8 assignments total. Only 7 will be graded according to the rubric.
- Daily blog (5 points) You will take turns to post a blog about the day’s activities on the main blog for the class. You will write 2-3 entries total.
- Vlogs (10 points) These will be described more in week 6 (in pairs). You will create a short video (“vlog”) that will be posted to the course blog. The vlog will illustrate/summarize the highlights of the program components (service sites, excursions, class discussion, free-time, rione research, project research, etc). The vlogs will be created during the second half of the program (Feb and March).
b) Rione assignments (25 points) (in pairs)
c) Service learning attendance and participation (25 points). You will be attending your service learning sites and participating as respectfully and fully as possible. You will be keeping a reflective journal about your experience and bringing in to the Friday check-ins or to Monday classes if we do not have the check-ins.
d) Readings and class participation (due every class). (15 points). You will be attending all class, speaker, movie, and site sessions and be well-prepared and ask questions.
II. 2 credits : Research preparation and presentations (in pairs/groups)
I. a) Weekly writing assignments:
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1
Initial Impressions and interview (related to news article). What are your general impressions of youth in Rome and Italy? How would you compare this to your impressions of youth in Seattle and the United States?
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 2
This second assignment should be around 1-2 pages at least, but feel free to make it as long as you need to in order to get your points across. Use visual imagery, write down the details, avoid generalities, and avoid words that don't pull the reader into your experience. You want the reader to be engaged in what you experienced and this won't happen if you use words like "great", "wonderful", "interesting". Take risks in your writing!
Topic: Write about what you think makes Roman and Italian identity. What are the myths around this identity? What are the social, cultural, and physical forces that shape this identity? Who belongs and who doesn’t belong, and why?
You can read "Roman Hours" from THE SMILES OF ROME for more inspiration and an example of travel writing (this is on the blog).
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 3
The market at Esquilino illustrates the multi-ethnic vibrant community in Rome. The area of Esquilino and Vittorio Emmanuele is an example of an immigrant community, that it is a mix of high economic and lower economic populations. The urban gentrification process and immigration movements have resulted in a dynamic and you can see this at the marketplace.
The documentary film “The Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio” begins with this introduction:
The making of this film diary began shortly after September 11th when the Italian Prime Minister spoke of “inferior civilizations.” It was completed in 2006, a few months after a Minister appeared on TV with a shirt depicting an anti-Muslim cartoon, and the Senate president declared that we must defend ourselves from “half-breeds”.
While many on the Italian left chose to oppose the “war on terror” and the concomitant xenophobia by organizing rallies and demonstrations, Mario Tronco, a keyboard player for the group Avion Travel, was inspired to organize an orchestra made up of recent immigrants to the Esquilino neighborhood in Rome. As the film begins, we learn that Esquilino had begun to become more and more ethnically diverse, much to the chagrin of native Italians who regularly took to the streets to demand “Italy for the Italians”.
We will watch this documentary later in the evening. In the meantime, think about the information above, and the ethnically diverse Esquilino and, specifically, marketplaces.
You will need to conduct two interviews for this assignment – one with an immigrant and one with a native Italian – preferably with young people.
It is helpful to approach people with some Italian words and a smile. These two things can open doors and bring new friends.
You can do the investigative aspect of this assignment with a partner, but the write up should be yours only.
Suggestions to get you started...you can ask:
What do they know of the marketplace and the community?
Why did they come to Rome and when?
What do they think about immigration in Italy? What should government policy be?
Why do you feel this way?
How long have they lived in Rome? Where did your parents grow up?
What are the most pressing issues in Italy today?
What do they think are the most pressing issues for youth in Italy?
Listen carefully and represent their narrative in your writing with respect and accuracy. Let them tell you what they want to tell you. They may digress into other topics related to immigration, politics, or their own stories.
Be an active listener. Try not to judge, stay open, and gather information. Most likely you will be surprised. Don't tell them that their opinions are wrong or right, and don't try to change their opinions. Don't get into arguments. Share your thoughts if you are asked. You don't need to NOT have an opinion. Just try and let them do most of the talking.
It would be useful to make sure you are informed about the situation so make sure you read the current news about immigration in Italy.
Other things to consider:
--Think about how you will introduce the topic, i.e. "Buongiorno, I am a student from Seattle studying in Rome this winter, and I am gathering information about youth in Italy. It would be so helpful to learn more.”
You can adapt this to your style and to the person you are talking to, but keep it open ended and polite.
--Bring your journal for note taking and reflection. It may be that it is best to wait to write down your notes and reflections about the conversations (i.e. field notes), or you might be comfortable taking notes while you are listening. Feel this out and do what is appropriate for the situation. If you are with a partner, it might work to have your partner be your note taker.
--For your write up, narrate what you learned by listening to their opinions and stories. Describe the people you talked to. Who are they, where did you meet them, why did you choose them. What about the process. Did you hear more than you thought you would? Write all the stories you heard and also consider: how did it feel to ask Italians about immigration? How do you think they felt being asked this question by an American student (think about your points of reference)? Would they have answered differently if asked by a fellow Italian? How did you feel about this assignment in general? What was your comfort level and what borders/boundaries did you experience while engaged in this assignment. What walls did you cross?
--Think about what you have learned so far in the readings and discussions and feel free use to inform your writing.
--Always consider your subject position and discuss your bias' and your position in this process.
As always, your writing should be image driven, descriptive, and tell the stories you see as you explore the marketplaces. Take risks in your writing, but always be respectful of the stories of the people you are writing about.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 4:
Cuando eres un inmigrante, muchas puertas están cerradas. Pues, si, algunas, algunas, están abiertas—pero están escondidas. Sin ayuda, no puedo encontrarlas.
When you are an immigrant, many doors are closed. Well, yes, some, some are open—but they are hidden. Without help, I can’t find them.
Edgar
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 5:
"The most loathsome nest of human caterpillars I was ever forced to stay in--a hell with all the devils imbecile in it."
-John Ruskin
"...it reveals itself only to the simpatici." -Peter Gunn
"Like the twin masks of tragedy and comedy, Naples constantly shifts between splendour and misery, beauty and squalor" (2) In the Shadow of Vesuvius.
Naples is one of the most densely populated cities in Italy and the most densely populated in Europe. It is the gateway to Southern Italy and showcases the many stereotypes that Italy's north has about the south. Naples is famous for its intellectuals, dramatists, and musicians. The Camorra exists in Naples. Vesuvius dominants the skyline.
For this assignment, consider the Images of the South reading and the short readings from the Naples folder. Also, remember Alex Valentino’s (and Greg Smith’s) discussion on Naples and the techniques of seeing a city, really observing the details. Consider also the images that are constantly being shown to you in Naples. It is a visual city. A city of the senses. Finally, consider the looming threat of an active volcano, the Camorra, and The Church. What is it like to live in a city that has all of these elements. What is it like to visit?
Write about Naples and the paradoxes and the contradictions. You will know Naples differently than just through the myths now that you have experienced it first hand.
Here are some suggested prompts for your Napoli writing assignment:
Write about your arrival in Naples and how the images of arrival in Naples are different from the images of your arrival in Rome. Rome gates vs. Naples skyline. What borders do you see in Naples?
Write about the paradox of Naples. Is there anything you would call ethereal about being in Naples?
What about fear? What is it that you feared about your visit to Naples and entering into the unknown. Has the fear melted away now that you've seen so many aspects of the city, now that you have met the people of Naples?
People in Naples have their own dialect (just as Romans do). Learn a phrase that is distinctly Napoli. Write about the sounds in Naples. Language, cars, markets, etc.
What did you feel when you arrived back in Rome? What did you notice about Rome that you didn't notice before (and how was it that being in Naples made you see Rome differently)? How do the Romans seem to you now that you have returned. Again, consider all the materials that you have to inform your writing assignment: course readings, discussions, excursions, your personal observations of the city.
Due Thursday, Feb. 10.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 6:
Review the Rione assignment guidelines. Interview a few residents in your Rione. You must interview at least one resident of the rione and one visitor to the rione (you may interview more than two). Through both your lens and your interviewees’ lens, write about what you have learned so far about your Rione; write your initial observations. You may use the Rione guidelines to help you structure this writing assignment. More detailed guidelines on interview questions will be discussed in class.
For now things to consider:
-For this assignment, you need only focus on one street, or even one street corner, of your Rione.
-As you get to know your neighborhood and its community, utilize and weave in your insights gained from the program thus far. See your Rione as a text and, like a text, engage it, and insert yourself into the pages of the neighborhood. Think about what you don't understand as you go out and observe, engage, and interact with your Rione. Be humble and let the place and people, sounds and rhythms of the area, tell you its story. Listen, look, and be open to discovery, and to the unpredictable and predictable reactions that the neighborhood evokes.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 7:
Writing assignment asks that you contribute a chapter to a travel writing collection. This anthology* captures the theme of Italian identity and will illuminate the complicated and ongoing discussion of "what and who is Italian?"
Think through all that you have experienced here in Rome and other cities you have visited these past view months (both inside and outside of Italy). What is your take away and what do you want others to know about Italy and this topic? What have you discovered about the topic of youth and education; identity and borders through the various components presented in the class: stories (Clash of Civilizations with author visit; Multicultural Literature short stories); theoretical readings on identity (South/North reading; "The Other"; etc.); films (Facing Windows and The Golden Door); presentations on border studies, contemporary art, Caritas and the migrant experience, Campo Nomadi and the Romas (“Gypsies”) in the city, Jewish presence/identity in Rome; Islam and Rome; excursions to discover street art, urban gentrification and the periphery, Riones and Rome communities; your service learning; independent research; and, as always, your own personal explorations and what you have seen through your perspective as an American in Italy.
Consider the questions with which we started the course:
- What defines youth culture in Rome. How is youth culture reflected in the larger Italian identity and how are identities shifting (individual, nation, state, EU)
- Where are the covert and overt borders in Rome? (Physical, psychological, cultural, and national borders)
- How is "insider" or "outsider" status determined?
- Borders are at the same time becoming more rigid and also more fluid. What are the dynamics behind this and how is this fluidity and ambiguity expressed.
Your chapter in this collection will give another glimpse into identity politics in Italy and will showcase your now more informed perspective on this moving target, this ambiguous, contradictory, paradoxical topic of identity. And, finally, show us the connections that this topic of identity has between the local, national, and global contexts.
From your reading in THE OTHER by Ryszard Kapuscinski, pages 91-92:
"Perhaps we are tending towards a world so completely new and different that the experience of history to date will prove inadequate for understanding it and being able to move about in it. In any case the world we are entering is the Planet of Great Opportunity--not an unconditional opportunity, but one that is only open to those who take their tasks seriously, proving by this token that they take themselves seriously....we shall constantly be encountering the new Other, who will gradually start to emerge from the chaos and confusion of modern life. It is possible that this Other will be born out of an encounter between two opposing trends that form the culture of the modern world--one that is globalising our reality, and another that is preserving our dissimilarity, our differences, our uniqueness....Who will this new Other be? What will our encounter be like?"
* title suggestions welcome
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 8:
Many writers are compelled to write to make sense of the world and their place in the world. They write to seek answers to their questions about self and identity and the "other." Through historical, fictional, philosophical, and memoir writings, writers come to know themselves by getting outside of themselves. At their best, they illuminate a path for others to begin their travels to the self and "the Other". You can't know yourself until you get outside of yourself.
Perhaps, then, you can't know a city until you leave it. You must leave your home and your community to then come back and know that home and see it in a different light, from a different perspective, through new eyes.
We have all left our homes and, through travel, you will come to know it in a different way. You will come to know yourself in a different way. Don't expect things to be the same when you return.
You left Rome and returned. You left Naples and returned. Some of you have made trips to other cities (Berlin, Florence, Barcelona). Do you know the cities better now? Do you know them differently?Do you see the cities, and also perhaps yourself, differently through "new" eyes?
We are now close to the end of the Program. What are you thinking about in terms of your travels, your home, your time here in Italy? Use your memories of the places you have been and your memories of home and community (both in Seattle and in Rome) to inform your writing. Utilize your service learning, the communities developed there, your readings, guest speakers, class discussion, excursions, your research and rione investigations, and conversations with people. Be ready to see connections. Ground this writing assignment in the topics of the class (youth culture/contemporary youth: the making of a new Italy).
Take chances when you write. Be "imperfect". Writing can be a form of meditation. Good writing can't be hurried. Focus and enjoy the process.
"There are no new answers, only new questions" (Barbara Grazzuti Harrison, Italian Days, p. 180).
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b) Rione assignment:
Riones (neighborhoods) of Rome
A rione (pl. rioni) is an Italian term used since the Middle Ages to name the districts of central Rome, according to the political divisions of that time. It comes from the Latin regio (pl. regiones, meaning region); during the Middle Ages the Latin word became rejones, from which rione. Augustus first divided Rome into fourteen regiones to organize the growing city. The Riones have remained to this day, but with many transformations. Changes continue. Rione are similar to the arrondissements of Paris in that they were first known only by their number. They then came to be named by a landmark in the area.
Currently, there are 22 Riones. The Vatican is an area, a "neighborhood", all to its own.
A few options (you will work in pairs):
Trastevere
Testaccio
Regola
Ponte
Monte
Trevi
Vatican(again, not officially rione)
Requirements for this assignment:
- Presentation during weeks 9 and 10, 30 minutes on site
- Write up a one page handout to give to students as a guide as you present
- You must take charge and lead us to your Rione where the presentation will
- begin (walk or bus)
- Write up final presentation and post to blog by your scheduled day. Include photos and even voice, video and music. Be creative and have fun with this assignment.
Things to cover in your presentation:
- History of the rione and "coat of arms" of the rione
- Who are the residents of the rione; who are the visitors
- Economy of the neighborhood
- Social communities and activities
- Monuments and memorials of the area
- "Borders" in the rione, consider also"insiders" and "outsiders"
- Art in the area
- Graffiti
- your reflections on the process
- discussion of your specific interpretation (i.e. frames of reference) and your place within your interpretation
- Use an ethnographic approach and consider your subject position and reflect on how your position influences your observations and reflections. What biases and assumptions do you bring?
- Read the area as "text", do "close reading" and notice the subtle details of the area. Look at signs, listen to the language, talk to people, sit and observe the
- area and people's behaviors. Write in your journal. Go to different parts of your rione and observe difference, contradictions, similarities, and entries, walls, borders, etc.
You will be going back to your rione many times in the next few weeks. Do most of your research on-site. Take TIME to get to know it. Stroll through it on a busy weekday morning and also on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Have lunch at one of the most crowded pizzerias. Observe. Take notes. Record the sounds of your rione. Interview people. Let the area come to you as much as you go to it.
Go with your partner, and also go alone. Walk, saunter, enjoy the slow pace of your travels through the neighborhood. You and your partner should work together to craft a cohesive presentation of the area, but you should also include your unique observations and reflections.
c) Service Learning Attendance and Participation: You will keep a journal for this assignment.
The basic goal for this assignment is to attempt to understand as much as possible the institution and how the children or adults served by the organization, experience it.
Please try to conduct informal conversations, observations, and informal nterviews with other adults and parents/families, if possible.
Journal entries will be due at every check-in on Fridays. Additionally, please bring your journal with you to your site and take notes following each visit. This will help keep details fresh in your mind.
This journal is an opportunity for you to record your thoughts, questions, ideas, and insights as you progress. It is also an opportunity for us and the other students to gain insight into your learning.
Please consider the following guiding questions a starting point. Although you should address these questions in your entry, don’t feel constrained by them. Rather, feel free to incorporate other issues or questions that arise as well as general reflections.
Tell us about your site. What is the mission and philosophy of it? What are its main activities? What other services does it provide?
How are your frames of reference influencing your perceptions?
How does the institution and its activities capitalize on the strengths of students or those they serve and provide support for their challenges?
How are youth involved in this site? How are they supported/challenged? How have your understandings about youth in Italy been informed by what you have experience at the site?
Later:
To what extent have your initial impressions of the site changed and/or remained the same? How so?
What information about the site would you still like to gather, and how would you go about learning it (who would you talk to, where would you go, what types of questions would you ask)?
II. Independent Research Component: 2-credits
For this component of the program, students have the opportunity to create independent research projects and explore specific interests linked to the larger themes of our seminar in Rome and as related to student’s service site. Each participant in the seminar will work in groups of 2-4 to collectively research a specific community-related topic in Rome (see the project list below.) The independent research projects will deepen the exploration of youth identity. More specifically, students will continue their investigation of education, youth, and identity (public/private border identity, insider/outsider identity). Each group member will have an opportunity to focus within the topic, but groups must work collaboratively to produce a final presentation and write-up.
Research methods for the projects may include the following: on-site field research and observation, interviews, use of required and recommended course readings, internet and Rome Center library searches, viewing films, photographs, literary reviews, and guest lecturers as resource.PRESENTATION
Presentations will take place during the final week of our seminar in Rome. You should prepare a two-page handout for the other students to follow while you do your presentations. The handout should also include some questions that will generate discussion with the whole class. Your group presentation should last between 30-40 minutes with an additional 15 minutes for discussion. PAPER
A 5-7 write-up (double spaced) is due at the end of the winter term and will be posted to the course blog. The completed write-up should include visual or media enhancements, for example: photos, audio, Google mapping, videos, your personal art, poems, recordings of interviews (if subject has given consent), etc. Due date: last day of class, March 10.PROJECT LIST/CHOOSE YOUR TOP TWO
During the first two weeks of the program in Rome, you should decide which project option you wish to work on. You should have two choices in mind – a primary selection and a secondary option.
Within the broad topic-headings listed below, your team is free to develop a more specific theme to research. The particular angle you choose to approach should incorporate the themes of our seminar in Rome, particularly the idea of youth identity as related to education, immigration, arts, religion, and current politics regarding Italian identity (both individual and nation state).
What changes are evident in the Roman educational system? How do these changes influence the next generation of “Italians” as well as the older generation of Italians?
Consider: How are communities defined depending on nation, culture, religion, race, familial? What defines “youth culture” in Rome? What communities are created from youth movements such as CSOAs (grass roots community centers) and “New Italians” also called “G2”. How do sports (e.g. soccer) create community” How and where do 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation immigrants interface?
How does community utilize space – both physical and psychological - in building, changing, and perpetuating identity? What role does technology play in community/social networking in Rome? How do you define community in your specific case? Consider your subject position (i.e. how you define community and your role(s) in specific communities).
Please note: topics are somewhat “borderless”. They will crossover and mix with other project topics. Groups are encouraged to share resources and insights. 1. Faith and Religion
--Interfaith issues, mosques, synagogues, temples; “The Church”, peace and justice movements; ceremonial processions, religious festivals and traditions.2. Immigration/Migration/Mobile Communities
--Immigrant communities, generational issues, soccer clubs, immigration policy3. Arts – written, spoken, visual, performance, music
--Art within communities; transnational artists and writers; merging of old and new, past and present; “cultural diversity inspires creativity”
4. Monuments/Memorials
--Funerary art and monuments; memory perpetuation and ritual; inscriptions; obelisks; borderscapes; ancient, modern, and future directions of the city’s urban scape; graffiti (old and new and everything inbetween)
PARTNER COMPONENTS
While in Rome you will work in partnership with one or more of your fellow students on several components of the program:
- Service Learning experiences
- Vlog log assignments
- Neighborhood “rione” field research and presentation
- Research Project
Your partner is also an asset to you as you practice Italian, learn how to navigate Rome, and engage in the day-to-day activities of the city. We know that the entire group will develop into a caring academic and social community – creating bonds that will continue not only during our time in Rome, but also when you are back in Seattle.
Students will work in pairs to record and describe the activities of one week of the program for the program blog. This written component of the course blog will provide a historical record for our program that can be viewed by future program participants. It also provides anyone viewing the blog (i.e. your parents, family, and friends; the Dean, Provost or other UW faculty) with an enviable account of what we are doing everyday in Rome. Posts should include a few pictures. Pictures should be scaled to a resolution no higher than 600x800 dpi.
In addition, partners will create a short video (“vlog”) that will be posted to the course blog. The vlog will illustrate/summarize the highlights of the program components (service sites, excursions, class discussion, free-time, rione research, project research, etc). The vlogs will be created during the second half of the program (Feb and March). For examples of past Honors study abroad vlogs, visit:
http://honorsinberlin2009.blogspot.com/
http://amsterdamvideoblog2008.blogspot.com/
For information on how posting video to blog (and create a “vlog”!) go to:
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=67428
Vlog Schedule TBA (per Julie)
EVALUATION
Grades will be calculated based on the following:
10 credits:
Blogs (writing assignments and daily entries) and vlogs: 35 points
Rione presentations: 25 points
Service learning: 25 points
Readings and class participation: 15 points
2 credits:
Final presentation of research (25 points)
Final research paper (60 points)
Contribution to group dynamic (15 points)
Last updated: January 9
WRITING ASSIGNMENT RUBRIC
Criteria2 Outstanding
- Thoroughly addresses the topic focus for each week, clearly explaining own thoughts, ideas, and learning
- Gives a complete account of what was observed and discussed, citing specific examples from observations and conversations
- Makes thoughtful connections among course readings, class work, class discussions, and observations/experiences
- Raises insightful issues/questions related to the topic focus.
- Incorporates many reflections, questions, and other issues that arise in addition to the topic focus for each week.
1 Satisfactory
- Addresses the topic focus for each week, explaining own thoughts, ideas, and learning. May miss one or two key points.
- Gives an account of what was observed in the setting, may lack some detail and/or examples.
- Makes some connections among course readings, class work, class discussions, and observations/ experiences
- Raises some issues/questions related to the topic focus
- Incorporates general reflections, questions, and other issues that arise in addition to the topic focus for each week
0 Unsatisfactory
- Minimally, if at all, addresses the topic focus for each week. Entry may lack depth in thinking and ideas
- Gives a brief account, if at all, of what was observed.
- Makes few, if any, connections among course readings, class work, class discussions, and observations/ experiences
- Raises few, if any, issues/questions related to the topic focus
- Incorporates few, if any, general reflections, questions, and other issues that arise in addition to the topic focus for each week
Total: __ ( /10 points)
PAPER PRESENTATION RUBRIC
Purpose & significance: Do the authors clearly discuss the purpose and make an argument for the significance of the paper?
Body: Do the authors present what their findings were about their topic?
Organization & Clarity of Writing: Do the authors present the paper in a coherent way and demonstrate clarity in the quality of writing?
References: Do the authors include 3-5 references?
| Criterion | Excellent/Very good (3) | Good (2) | Needs work (1) |
| Purpose and significance? | The purpose and significance is clearly described and argued | The purpose and significance generally describes what the paper will entail and is generally argued. | The purpose and significance indicates little about what the paper might entail and is argued poorly. |
| Body | The findings are fully described | The findings are adequately described | The findings are not at all clear/ need significant work. |
| Organization and clarity | The paper is organized well and clearly written. | The paper is adequately organized and written. | The organization and clarity of the paper needs significant work. |
| References author | The paper has 3-5 references and they are included in a bibliography. | The paper has partial references and bibliography. | The paper does not have all references and they are not in the bibliography. |
FINAL PRESENTATION RUBRIC
Group Members:
Topic: _____________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4 5
Comments:
5 – Presentation was very informative, very useful, and had applicable information. See yourself using this strategy or information in the future.
4 – Presentation was informative. Presentation had some useful and applicable ideas.
3 – Presentation was somewhat useful.
2 – Presentation was interesting but not sure how to apply some of the ideas
1 – Presentation was not useful. Ideas were unrealistic to apply.
updated 1/11/11
