Muslims in Italy, Yesterday and Today

The presence of immigrant communities of Islamic origin in Italy arouses great curiosity and many worries. It is subject to stereotypes and prejudices mainly because of the terrorist acts committed in Europe. The course aims to learn more about the Islamic reality in Italy between past and present and therefore it is divided into two parts. The first one Will be focused on the history of Arab domination in Sicily and the consequent cultural influence. In the second part, after an introduction on the immigration phenomenon in Italy from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, we will center on some issues related to the specificity of Islamic immigration such as the issues related to Muslim women (veil, freedom, sexuality), the intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, the Italian Islam in public space and its relationship with institutions, the models of Muslim integration, the Islamic radicalism and the Islamophobia and media and political exploitation.