Elementary
Italian I and II
Meant
for students with no previous study of Italian, the first
year sequence is designed to help students acquire basic speaking,
reading and writing knowledge of the language. Over the course
of two semesters, students study the entire range of
Italian grammar and have abundant opportunities to improve
their speaking and writing skills in a relaxed and friendly
atmosphere. The first year courses also provide students will
a look at Italian culture in general through selected readings,
music and video.
Intermediate
Italian I and II
This
second year of Italian language study presents a thorough
review of the grammar presented in Elementary Italian with
a focus on efficient communication. Students explore a significant
amount of literary and cultural material, discuss several
Italian films and even read an entire novel in the second
semester of the sequence. Emphasis is given to accurate expression
in writing and to achieving a fluent conversational style
in speaking. [Required for major.]
Composition
and Conversation
This
course is designed for students who have a solid grasp of
the fundamentals of Italian grammar. The objective of the
course is two-fold: to improve students' oral and written
skills and to further familiarize them with the issues that
define contemporary Italian culture. These goals will be achieved
through the study of a wide variety of authentic materials,
including newspaper and magazine articles, comic strips, Italian
literary works, song lyrics, and video, presented in a thematic
fashion. Certain materials will be taken from or accessed
via the World Wide Web. Students will analyze the cultural
significance of the text in question through oral,
in-class discussion or debate and written compositions. Grammar
will be reviewed in context; particular emphasis will be placed
on the more advanced grammatical points. [Required for major.]
Dante
In this
course students explore Dante's masterpiece as an encyclopedic
compendium of medieval thought as well as a very personal
vision of the individual's place in the universe, a poetic
journey that is as meaningful now as it was seven hundred
years ago. Subjects of discussion range from poetry to theology,
philosophy, history and humanism. Required readings include
the Vita nuova and, of course, the Divina commedia. Discussions of interpretative approaches and background
readings help place this classic of Western literature in context.
Although the course is taught in English, one optional extra
hour per week is dedicated to a reading of the text in Italian
for those who speak the language and want to read the poem
in its original form. [Required for major.]
Survey
of Modern Literature
The
course examines the genesis and development of several literary
movements from the Enlightenment to the twentieth century.
Students will study the classic Italian texts of the modern
era that are largely representative of the social and esthetic
concerns in vigor during Italy's rise from Napoleon's "garden"
to a dynamic unified nation. Discussion of the most significant
shaping forces in Italian society will focus on a range of
subjects from politics to existentialism and beyond. Authors
to be studied include Goldoni, Alfieri, Foscolo, Leopardi,
Manzoni, Carducci, Verga, Pascoli, D'Annunzio, Svevo, Pirandello,
Moravia and Calvino. Taught in Italian. [Fulfills a major requirement.]
The
Nineteenth-Century Novel
This
course focuses on the "classic" novels of
Italian literature by Alessandro Manzoni, Giovanni Verga,
Gabriele D'Annunzio, and others. The nineteenth-century Italian
novel, influenced by the literary traditions of France, Germany,
and England, and the aesthetic concerns of Romanticism, Naturalism,
and Decadentism, tells the human stories behind Italy's evolution
into a unified and "modern" European nation. Both
plot-driven and experimental in form, these works reflect
the political and artistic tumult that marked the age. Taught
in English. [Fulfills a major requirement.]
The
Twentieth-Century Novel
This
course provides an introduction to twentieth-century Italian
literature and, in particular, to the novel of the Novecento,
through the study of several renowned authors and their works.
The novels will be considered in the light of contemporary
historical events (the World Wars, the Holocaust, the economic
boom of the 60s, etc.) as well as in their specific literary
contexts. Subjects of discussion include the sources, literary
movements and intertextual influences that contributed to
the production of the selected texts. A full understanding
of the century's masterpieces will be attained through the
analysis of the history of the Italian novel and, at the end
of the semester, a consideration of the genre's future.
Taught in Italian. [Fulfills a major requirement.]
The
Twentieth-Century Novel and World War II
A study
of twentieth-century Italian narrative focusing on the experience
of the WWII. Topics include antifascist resistance, the partisan
war, the Holocaust and Italian Jews, and changes in Italian
political, economic, social and cultural life that resulted from
the war. Authors studied include Italo Calvino, Carlo Levi,
Giorgio Bassani, Cesare Pavese, Natalia Ginzburg, Primo Levi,
Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante. Students will also view and
discuss films adapted from several works. Taught
in Italian. [Fulfills a major requirement.]
Italian
Women Writers
This
course is designed to introduce students to Italian literature
and to women's writing through the study of celebrated
Italian female authors and their works. The novels will be
presented within a historical and theoretical context: students
will consider the evolution of the women's movement in Italy
and feminist theory in their literary analyses. Class discussion
will focus not only on the plots and characters of these works,
but also on the themes that unite them, such as relationships
between women, motherhood, the oppression of women, and the
nature of female creativity. While all of the novels in question
were written in the twentieth century, reference will be made,
where pertinent, to historical and literary precedents. Taught
in English. [Fulfills a major elective.]
Italian
Cinema
In this
course, students will examine the major trends and styles
of some of the most important filmmakers of Italy, from the
silent era to the modern day. Cinematic periods considered
over the semester include Fascism, Neorealism, the Comedy
of the 1950s, the rise of the auteurs, the Spaghetti Western,
the Political Drama of the Left, and the new Cinema of the
1980s and '90s. In addition to historical investigations, students
will be introduced to the major currents in film theory such
as Russian Formalism, Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Feminism,
Semiotics and Postmodernism. Weekly screenings feature the
work of De Sica, De Santis, Fellini, Germi, Antonioni, Leone,
Pasolini, Bertolucci and others. Taught in English. [Fulfills a major elective.]
Italian
Cinema and Society
An examination
of society through the medium of film, this course highlights
the intriguing interaction between aesthetic and sociological
concerns of some of the most important figures in Italian
cinema. Students will explore significant social, political
and cultural issues such as the North-South question, political
corruption and the disintegration of the family. Directors
whose works will be screened include Pasolini, Scola, Rosi,
Germi, Moretti, Tornatore, Salvatores and others. Taught in
English. [Fulfills a major elective.]
Renaissance Florence: History and Literature
Florence has been praised for centuries as the "cradle" of the Renaissance, as the birthplace of some of the most enlightened minds of the Early Modern Age. But was the city really like? In this course students look closely at the life of the Florentines from the time of the Black Death to the remarkable social successes of the 1550s. Through readings of historical and literary texts, they examine the lofty ideals of princes, poets and philosophers as well as the apparently unsophisticated perspectives of merchants, laborers and slaves. We will investigate a time in which extraordinary advances were made in almost all areas of human endeavor, from revolutionary ideas in the fields of art and literature to the invention of the fork. Students will study and discuss concepts that were hotly debated in the Renaissance and that, indeed, are still of immediate interest even today. Readings include selections of poetry, prose, history, philosophy, theology, biography, diaries and personal correspondence by authors such as Petrarch, Boccaccio, Pico, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Machiavelli and others. Taught in English. [Fulfills a major requirement.]
The following courses have been offered in the past as
Special Topics courses:
Boccaccio's
Decameron
Survey
of Medieval and Renaissance Literature
History of the Language
Recent
Italian Narrative
Note: For a complete list of course offerings, please consult the current College Catalog.
The final authority on college and departmental policy is the College Catalog.
