Italian Courses

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.

Fall 2022▲

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: “Il mio canto libero”: Pop Music and Social Change in Italy (1960-present)

ITAL 295C - McCormick, Stephen P.

This course examines the role of Italian pop music and culture in triggering and responding to social change. We will read and listen to the lyrics of many famous Italian artists from the mid twentieth century to the present and contextualize the themes of Italian pop music within Italian society. Topics will include human rights and dignity, shifts in gender roles, politics, and the aesthetics of Italian pop culture. Through music and selected films, students will examine the Boom economico and the Anni di piombo––two periods of social and economic upheaval spanning from the end of World War II through the 1980s––and investigate how present-day Italy remembers its recent past through song. ITAL 295A picks up where ITAL 113/163 leaves off, providing students with ample opportunity to consolidate knowledge of Italian grammar and to develop a more varied set of vocabulary. Students will focus on developing proficiency in speaking and writing, and all lessons will be conducted in Italian. This course satisfies the HL requirement.

Directed Individual Study: Italian Translation

ITAL 401A - 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.

Spring 2022▲

We do not offer any courses this term.