Italian Courses

Fall 2023▲

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Accelerated Elementary Italian

ITAL 113 - Hardin, Patricia

An accelerated course in elementary Italian emphasizing grammar and the skills of speaking, writing, reading, and listening comprehension..

Topics in Italian Culture: Introduzione al cinema italiano

ITAL 295E - McCormick, Stephen P.

This course will explore filmmaking in Italy from the Silent Era to the present both from chronological and thematic perspectives. Students will view key films of major directors in the Italian cinematic tradition and understand these works within cinematic developments in France and Hollywood. In class students will also discuss the relationship these works have to culture and society. Emphasis will be on post-WWII Italy, a period of modern Italian history that corresponds to major economic and societal development, while also understanding the political implications of the Istituto Luce, a government filmmaking agency that, during the Italian fascist regime, was charged with promoting the benefits of colonial expansion. The course program will include films by directors such as Pasolini, Fellini, Sorrentino, De Sica, Moretti and Rossellini. A major objective of this course is also a systematic review of key grammar points from ITAL 163 (or equivalent), emphasizing greater proficiency in spoken and written expression. All readings and discussions will be in Italian.

Spring 2023▲

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Directed Individual Study: L'Italia spagnola

ITAL 403A - McCormick, Stephen P.

Advanced study in Italian. The nature and content of the course is determined by the students' needs and by an evaluation of their previous work.

Winter 2023▲

See complete information about these courses in the course offerings database. For more information about a specific course, including course type, schedule and location, click on its title.

Accelerated Intermediate Italian

ITAL 163 - Hardin, Patricia

This course develops intermediate communicative Italian vocabulary and active intermediate competence in the language. The traditional skills of world-language instruction (structure, listening comprehension, reading, writing, and speaking) are stressed.

Topics in Italian Culture: L’America vista dall’Italia

ITAL 295D - McCormick, Stephen P.

Italian films, literature and comic strips reveal that l’America exists as an idealized, imaginary concept that is often independent from a more critical perspective of the political reality of gli Stati Uniti (the United States). This course examines how this idea of l’America contrasts with the political reality of the United States through the lens of Italian history, cultural production, and current events. Students will learn about the role Italy played in forming the European imagination of the Mondus Novus (New World) and investigate subsequent historical interactions between the Italian peninsula and the United States. Discussion topics include immigration to the United States from Italy, the formation of the modern Italian republic, the American role in rebuilding post-WWII Italy, the “spaghetti Western”, and Italian perspectives on current political and social debates in the United States. This course will highlight how racism and discrimination in the United States and Italy are culturally and historically specific while also articulating in what these have in common. Students will present on news media, and class discussion will bring into focus the role historical events play in shaping contemporary society. This course continues to develop advanced knowledge of grammatical concepts and, through discussion, speaking proficiency at the ACTFL intermediate-low and -mid levels. Pre-requisite: ITAL 163, or equivalent course abroad, or instructor consent. Fulfills FDR-HL (or fourth humanities requirement).

Directed Individual Study: Narrativa e adattamento

ITAL 401B - McCormick, Stephen P.

Advanced study in Italian. The nature and content of the course is determined by the students' needs and by an evaluation of their previous work.