Dr. Nick Albanese

While the concept and culture of Italians has been around for millennia, the making of the nation of Italy did not occur until just over 160 years ago, in the 2nd half of the 19th century. The Italian Risorgimento, or reawakening, was a long and difficult trajectory that was carried out over the better part of a century, finally leading to the unification of the Italian Peninsula in 1861. The most celebrated event of this effort was led by Giuseppe Garibaldi and his redshirts – Expedition of the Thousand – but there were many other important episodes that would finally lead to the creation of the Kingdom of Italy: clandestine revolutionary movements, realpolitik by European powers, and three wars of independence. This course will present how Italy went from a cultural concept to a geographical one as the conglomeration of colonized lands became a united kingdom under King Vittorio Emanuele II of the House of Savoy.

Course Objectives:
To understand the European forces occupying Italy and working to prevent Italian independence
To present the significant events, machinations, and episoded of the Italian Risorgimento
To learn about the major individuals and groups responsible for the Italian Unification
To analyze the political and cultural leadership pushing for Italian unification
To discuss the major challenges of the fledgling nation in its first decades of existence