Italians have been familiar with mobility from very ancient times. In this module you will address one of the most remarkable historical phenomena of Italian history, namely the emigration abroad of millions of Italians from the 19th to the 21st-century. You will analyse in what ways Italy has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures and how, a few decades after the unification of 1861, migrations deeply impacted and affected the lives and identities of Italians. Lastly, you will examine how in the very last decade Italy has shifted from being a nation of emigration to one of immigration in the enlarged political context of the European Union.

In the course of this module, you will encounter interpretative concepts of migration studies, while the main social, political and economic features of Italian migrations (including anti-Italian bias, or immigrant communities’ relations with Italy) will also be discussed.