The course analyzes the visual media representation of the Mafia in North America. It focuses on the manner in which North American visual culture often glorifies the Italian Mafiosi's lifestyle. As this characterization of both the Mafia and the Mafiosi began with the archetypal figures of the bosses, special attention will be given to the visual practices of the 1930s, to Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" trilogy, as well as to the television series "The Sopranos." The goal is to deconstruct the romanticized portrayal of the Italian and Italian-American gangster lifestyle created on visual media and television by analyzing the atrocities committed by organized crime.

Taught by Antonio Nicaso, best-selling author and a specialist on organized crime. He is a regular consultant to governments and law-enforcement agencies in Italy and North America, and a lecturer at several universities.