This study examined the collegiate experience of strongly ethnically identified Italian American college students and sought to understand how they made sense of their experiences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants who graduated from a Bachelor's degree program in the United States within the last five years.…

PROBLEM: Italian-Americans belong to one of the cultural groups that have suffered discrimination throughout the decades since their or their families' immigration to the United States. As early the first half of the twentieth century, Italian-Americans had already suffered discrimination, alienation, and exclusion. Such factors became obstacles…

In the early years of the twentieth century, the great structural, social and cultural changes in American society included a growing number of immigrants arriving from the poorest regions of Europe. For the first time, the issues of immigration, assimilation and social integration became the most important problems facing American society. In the…

Compares the fertility levels between first and second generation Italian immigrants and suggests that the pattern of change found indicates their integration into the mainstream of American life and value systems. (Author/SF)

This book is a study of the assimilation process as it applies to Italian Americans. Chapters One and Two provide a contextual framework for the study by discussing the theoretical paradigms that have been advanced to describe ethnic behaviors or the assimilation experience and by reviewing pre-immigration and early immigration experiences of…

Analyzes the school motif in Italian-American literature. Focuses on novels which dramatize the Italian immigrants' initial resistance to American compulsory education. Asserts that many of these represent the American school as a reflection of the larger society, and as the root of the Italians' assimilation difficulties. (KH)

This is a brief extract from a complete Bibliography of United States and Canadian Doctoral Dissertations on Italian subjects, comprising more than 3000 items and covering the 110-year period from 1863 through 1974. (Author)

When analyzing the question of ehtnic identity, it is crucial to pay attention to oral history and biographical material: ethnicity is not so much a collective phenomenon as an individual one. For example, much has been written about Italian migration to the United States, but the lives of the ordinary immigrants and the rich detail of their…

After a review of the role Italian immigrants have played in the development of the United States, the author reflects on the demand currently being made by other ethnic groups that they retain their cultural heritage within the society. The lesson for modern minorities is clear--to make it, one must forget the old ways, the old tongue, the old…

A commonly held notion of how earlier generations of immigrants were educated--often used as the chief argument supporting English immersion--is a myth. Far from succeeding by immersing themselves in English, immigrant groups did much worse than the native-born; some groups, particularly Italians, did much worse than others. Research findings are…

The assimilation of Italians into American culture led to the loss of the Italian language, and an oral tradition of Italian peasants in which Italian feminist philosophy was grounded. The legends, parables, and proverbs told by these Italian women challenged the teachings of Catholicism, perpetuating an underground religious tradition which…

The ethnic press has played a vital role in the assimilation and the social and geographic mobility of immigrant groups. Its coverage of and editorial positions on ethnic relations, "Americanization," news and events occurring in the country of origin, the issue of language retention, and labor and economic concerns have influenced this…

Attitudes towards receiving professional services were measured among Italian American and Greek American college students (N=232) attending schools in the Northeast. Italian American women had greater recognition of the need for help and increased confidence in counseling than the men did. Greek women were also more willing to seek counseling.…

This curriculum guide contains information, materials, and resources dealing with Italian Americans and Italian American culture. The guide is organized into 5 units, each presenting a major theme related to the history of Italian Americans from their immigration to their integration into American society. Each unit provides historical and…

The author discusses the acculturation process of first, second, and third generation Italian families in the United States in terms of the interrelationships among cultural, social, and psychological events. As background to the discussion, the role of the family is described. In southern Italy, the nuclear family is the essential feature of the…