THE ITALIAN AMERICAN DREAM How Italian immigrants made their way through modern North American culture

The aim of this dissertation is to present a general overview of the Italian American influence on modern north American culture. Starting by describing the phenomenon of the Italian diaspora towards the United States of America, that can be categorized into two main periods of time, we shall proceed to analyze how Italians and their “Italian way of life” have deeply shaped an entire country, thus becoming tangible symbols of the American popular culture. To do so, we will also discuss some of the latest trends that have appeared and spread via social media in the last few years.