This course offers a panoramic history of the first Jewish settlements in what is now Italy from the High Middle Ages to present day Italy. This chronological survey will examine some of the most interesting aspects of the Jewish presence in Italy: the makeup of the community, the traditions, the literature, philosophy, economic activities, the relationship with the Vatican and the Catholic majority, life in the Ghettos, racial persecutions, and the relationship between racism and anti-Semitism. Special attention will be given to some of the major figures that came out of the Jewish communities both in the arts and in the field of science. Among those we will study are Leone de’ Sommi, Leon Modena, Natalia Ginzburg, Primo Levi, Emilio G. Segre’ and Rita Montalcini.

Required text: Storia d’Italia, Annali vol. 11 * 11 * [11/2] – Gli Ebrei in Italia
Einaudi, Torino, 1997 - ISBN-13: 9788806130374