Italian (ITAL)

An exploration of significant questions and concepts, beliefs and creative visions, theories and discoveries in Italian for first-year students. Although topics vary, the courses also seek to improve students’ communication skills beyond the written word.

Training in grammar, pronunciation, aural-oral skills, reading and writing. The work includes intensive practice in speaking and understanding. All scheduled sessions associated with the course are required.

Training in grammar, pronunciation, aural-oral skills, reading and writing. The work includes intensive practice in speaking and understanding. All scheduled sessions associated with the course are required.

This course covers the material of ITAL 101 and ITAL 102 in one semester. Because of the highly intensive nature of the course, it is ideal for, students with prior experience with Romance Language study, heritage speakers or students looking for a more challenging language learning experience.

This number is intended for elementary language courses at the 100 level (equivalent to ITAL 101, 102 or 103) completed in Italy. Students must pass a placement test with a grade of at least C in order count ITAL 105 towards the College Language Requirement. Course may be repeated for elective credit.

An exploration of a specific topic in Italian. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion.

A review of the basics, and an introduction to more advanced grammar structures. Students read, write and discuss a variety of cultural texts that reveal the issues and debates facing contemporary Italians.

A continued review of the basics and introduction to more advanced grammar structures. Students read, write and discuss a variety of cultural texts that reveal the issues and debates facing contemporary Italians.

This course covers the material of ITAL 201 and ITAL 202 in one semester. Because of the highly intensive nature of the course, it is Ideal for, students with prior experience with Romance Language study, heritage speakers, or students looking for a more challenging language learning experience.

This number is intended for intermediate language courses at the 200 level (equivalent to ITAL 201, 202 or 203) completed in Italy. Students must pass a placement test with a grade of at least C in order count ITAL 205 towards the College Language Requirement. Course may be repeated for elective credit.

In Italian. A conversation course using film as a starting point for the refinement of students’ speaking skills in Italian. Students will enrich their vocabulary and strengthen their use of more complex grammatical structures and idiomatic expressions, as well as learn to recognize regional differences in spoken Italian as they talk about cinematic texts.

The course focuses on the reading of contemporary journalistic and literary texts in Italian and in refining the stylistics of writing in Italian will have satisfied the lower-division writing requirement. This course does not fulfill the Freshman Seminar requirement.

Survey of Italian literature. An introduction to the major writers of Italy from the 13th to the 17th century, including such authors as Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Ariosto and Tasso.

Survey of Italian literature. An introduction to the major writers of Italy from the 17th century to the present; including such authors as Goldoni, Leopardi, Pascoli, Carducci, Manzoni, Pirandello and Moravia.

In Italian. Topics will alternate, according to the professors’ interests and expertise.

This course explores in an interdisciplinary manner the cultural transformations that have occurred in Italy from 1945 to the present through an analysis of evolving constructs of Italian national identity. The texts used include novels, literary, anthropological and sociological inquiries, films, the press and design artifacts. Students with advanced language skills may take a 4th credit of reading and discussion in Italian.

This number is intended for upper-division courses completed in Italy. Course may be repeated for credit.

Readings, in translation, and discussion of representative works and trends in courtly love and scholastic traditions to focus attention on Dante’s literary, esthetic and historical milieu, and achievements. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4th credit for reading and discussions (one additional hour per week) in the original language.

A study of Post-War cultural developments in Italy through the medium of major Italian cinematic productions and directors. The course will focus on political, economic, social, artistic and religious developments as important manifestations of contemporary Italian culture. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4th credit for reading and discussions (one additional hour per week) in the original language.

The Italian Renaissance is a period grounded in the philosophical ideal of humanism, most often calling to mind the iconic works of Machiavelli, Boccaccio and Michelangelo, “the heights of genius,” as Hegel calls them. But these works and their authors didn’t exist in a vacuum, and the course will examine aspects of the everyday life of the period that underpin these artistic and literary achievements and mark the transition from the middle ages to the early modern world. While studying these and other works, we will also deepen our knowledge about the architecture and the social makeup of the renaissance city, renaissance ideas of theater and performance, renaissance conceptions of gender and sexuality, renaissance economy, politics, aesthetics, and education. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of the instructor, may enroll in a 4th credit of reading and discussion (one additional hour per week) in Italian.

Topics will alternate, according to the professors’ interests and expertise. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of the instructor, may enroll in a 4th credit of reading and discussion (one additional hour per week) in Italian.

A study of Italian theatre through major Italian playwrights and filmmakers. Course will focus on political, social and economic developments in Italy. Period will vary at the instructor’s discretion. Playwrights include: Marinetti, Pirandello, De Filippo, Fo, Ginzburg, Rame and Maraini.

Twentieth-century Italian women writers will be selected and read. The course will focus attention in particular on feminist issues. Students with advanced language skills, with the consent of instructor, may take a 4th credit for reading and discussions (one additional hour per week) in the original language.

This course introduces students to one of the most significant developments in Italian arts and etters in recent decades: the emergence of postcolonial, migrant, second-generation and otherwise newly intercultural Italian literature. Throughout the semester we will trace the history of this ever-growing body of work, often broadly (and, as we will explore, problematically) referred to as letteratura migrante in Italian. We will start with its introductory phase in the 1990s, then focus on post-millenial texts. We will also necessarily ground our study in Italy’s colonial history, its transition throughout the twentieth-century from a country of emigration to one of immigration, and its emerging identity as a multicultural nation. While we will read select essays on postcolonial theory and Italian migration in English, all primary course readings and discussions will be in Italian.

This course explores the rich history of Italian cinema in the 1960s and 1970s. Against the background of Italy's economic boom years, student, women's and labor movements, and growing political unrest, we will study the major trends and developments in Italian film culture. While the course is dedicated to a particular national cinema, we will frame our discussions not only in an Italian socio-historical context, but also in the context of inter- and trans-national cinema at large. We will watch films for form as well as content and consider questions of production and reception. This course gives proper due to the greats of auteur cinema, while also exploring the relevance, motivations and innovations of popular and genre cinema.

Did Fascism end in 1945 or does it persist today? When you hear someone say, “He’s a fascist,” what do they mean? Is Fascism typically or somehow endemically Italian? In this COLL 200 course, we will try to answer these and other questions by looking at the cultural, social, and political phenomenon of Italian Fascism from its origin in the late 1910s to its demise in the mid 1940s. We will study the genesis of Fascism as an Italian phenomenon by looking at the literary sources (propaganda essays, novels, pamphlets, journal articles), films (The old guard 1934, The Conformist 1961) and documentaries produced at the time. Lastly, we will account for the legacy of fascism in Italy and across other cultures and societies.

This course addresses the relationship between narrative and the nonhuman environment in modern and contemporary Italy. More precisely, it examines how literary, cinematic and other story-based forms allow receptive audiences greater insight into the complex realities of environmental change in Italy from the post-war period until the current day. Using an environmental humanities framework, it introduces students to a diverse range of Italian texts that explore issues such as climate change, urban expansion, extractive industry, and environmental justice, as shaped by Italy’s recent histories. As it does so, it asks: How do narrative texts allow us to make sense of these issues as they relate to collective realities, individual identities, and our relationship to the nonhuman environment? Additionally, what is unique to the Italian experience and what might we learn from it? This course is rooted in the specificities of Italian culture and geography, but it engages with transnational themes that also hit much closer to home. In this, it asks students to imagine a far-flung lived experience while also making comparisons and connections to their own daily lives.

From a regional phenomenon of criminal rebellion in Sicily, to a semi-legal global network, Cosa nostra has captured the attention of many filmmakers. In this course, we will examine the cinematic representations of the Italian mafia both in the US and in Italy. Employing the multidisciplinary frames of cultural studies, we will try to understand the impact of the mafia on society and culture. The making and unmaking of the American dream, the corruption of political systems in Italy, the disintegration of communities, and the multiple attempts to resist by activists and the judiciary will be the themes at the center of our discussion. No previous knowledge of Italian is required. The course will be entirely in taught in English.

This course is designed to permit in-depth study in an area of literature, linguistics or culture not available in current course offerings. A written petition to instructor and approval of section coordinator required before registration.

A mentored teaching internship experience for students to work closely with a faculty member in teaching either a language or content course.