ITAL 295 - Topics in Italian Culture

Credits: 3

Prerequisite: ITAL 163 or equivalent. A second-year topics course focusing on issues and texts related to Italian literature and culture. All discussion, writing, and exercises are in Italian. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.

Fall 2015, ITAL 295-01: Contemporary Italy through Film and Media (3). Prerequisite: ITAL 163. This course aims to give students a panorama of issues and debates of contemporary Italy. Material is introduced and examined through the lens of film and media, and students have ample opportunity to improve their listening and speaking skills through discussion of these films and video clips. Topics include immigration, university life, women and gender, work and unemployment, gastronomy, travel, and history. An important goal of this course is also to review and develop grammar and vocabulary, with students practicing targeted linguistic forms through the context of contemporary Italian culture and society. All classes, discussions, homework and projects are conducted entirely in Italian. (HL) McCormick.

Winter 2016, ITAL 295-01: Introduction to Italian Medieval and Renaissance Literature (3). Prerequisite: ITAL 261 or equivalent. This course offers an overview of Italian literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, focusing on a selection of major works in poetry and prose of the major authors (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Marco Polo, Cristofaro Colombo, Machiavelli) and minor figures of the first centuries of ltalian literature (San Francesco, Rustico, Angiolieri, and Serlio). Readings concentrate on earthly and spiritual life, comedy and tragedy, men and women, beauty and horror, with a focus on commonalities between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance;. We address historical, political, cultural, and literary issues important to an understanding of these texts and their contexts, and read the texts in modern and medieval Italian. We also use video adaptations of medieval and Renaissance literature, as well as music and artworks from the periods, and conclude with students performing selected scenes of Machiavelli’s play La Mandragola. Hardin, McCormick.

Planned Offering: Fall, Winter when sufficient student interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.