Italian (ITLN)

ITLN 1110 Elementary Italian I    3 Credits

Designed for students with no prior experience with Italian or whose placement scores are in the range for this course level. This course, the first in a two-semester sequence, teaches the essentials of pronunciation, structure, and usage, allowing students to acquire the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The culture of Italy is explored through a variety of media. Students attend three classes per week and do mandatory online work determined by the instructor. Previously IT 0110.

ITLN 1111 Elementary Italian II    3 Credits

Prerequisite: ITLN 1110.

This course, a continuation of ITLN 1110, teaches the essentials of pronunciation, structure, and usage, allowing students to acquire the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The culture of Italy is explored through a variety of media. Students attend three classes per week and do mandatory online work determined by the instructor. Previously IT 0111.

ITLN 2210 Intermediate Italian I    3 Credits

Attributes: MWAC Magis Core: Writing Across Curriculum

Prerequisite: ITLN 1111.

This course, the first in a two-semester sequence, prepares students to continue the study of language on a more advanced level, and includes review of essential points of grammar, vocabulary building, and regular practice in speaking and writing. Italian culture is explored through a wide variety of materials including literary texts, press articles, and films. Students attend three classes per week and do mandatory online work determined by the instructor. Previously IT 0210.

ITLN 2211 Intermediate Italian II    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIT Italian Studies: Italian, MWAC Magis Core: Writing Across Curriculum

Prerequisite: ITLN 2210.

This course, a continuation of ITLN 2210, prepares students to continue the study of language on a more advanced level, and includes review of essential points of grammar, vocabulary building, and regular practice in speaking and writing. Italian culture is explored through a wide variety of materials including literary texts, press articles, and films. Students attend three classes per week and do mandatory online work determined by the instructor. Previously IT 0211.

ITLN 2271 Italian Cinema    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian, ITEN Italian Course Taught in English, VPCH Visual and Performing Arts Core: History Course

This survey of Italian films as textual, cultural, and historical artifacts analyzes movements such as neorealism, commedia all'italiana, the spaghetti western, and new Italian cinema through the works of selected directors. The course follows a chronology from the silent period to present day, with special emphasis on the "golden ages" of Italian cinema, neo-realism of the postwar period, the 1960s' comedy of manners, and the new Italian cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. Students analyze the works of Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Visconti, Germi, Antonioni, Wertmüller, Leone, Pasolini, Moretti, Benigni, and others. Crosslisted with FTMA 2271. Previously IT 0271.

ITLN 2289 Dante    3 Credits

Attributes: CAOT Catholic Studies: Non-Religious Studies, E_BF English Literature Before 1800, ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian, MELT Magis Core Exploration: Literature, MWAC Magis Core: Writing Across Curriculum

This course examines the works of Dante Alighieri, including the Vita nuova, in addition to the "Inferno," "Purgatorio," and "Paradiso" from the Divine Comedy. Students are introduced to the political, linguistic, theological, and poetic ideas that make Dante's works not only significant in the medieval context, but also continue to challenge and inform modern debates. This course, which is conducted in English, counts towards the core requirement in literature. Crosslisted with ENGL 1150. Previously IT 0289, ITLN 3289.

ITLN 2290 Italian American Cinema    3 Credits

Attributes: ASGW American Studies: Gateway, ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian, ITEN Italian Course Taught in English, MEVP Magis Core Exploration: VPA, MWAC Magis Core: Writing Across Curriculum, VPCH Visual and Performing Arts Core: History Course

This course investigates salient aspects of Italian American cinema, including the representation of Italian Americans, works directed by Italian American directors, and roles played by Italian American actors. It also examines the difference in roles and representation for men and women in this subgroup of American society, with particular consideration given to the ethnic roots of these differences. Throughout the semester we will examine the ways in which film displays Italian ethnicity in the United States. The course also analyzes the profound influence of Italian cinema on the film-making of Italian American screenwriters and directors. This class is taught in English. Crosslisted with FTMA 2290. Previously IT 0290, ITLN 3290.

ITLN 2291 Boccaccio’s Decameron in Translation    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian, WSGF Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: Gender Focused

Written just a few years after the Black Death swept through Florence in 1348, Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron offers poignant testimony to the resilience of the human spirit in the wake of immeasurable loss. In this class we will follow Boccaccio’s troupe of 10 young men and women as they fill their days singing, dancing, playing games, and telling tales. We will analyze Boccaccio’s stories in terms of gender, class, and authorship, and see if his crafty wives and hypocritical clerics still have the power to shock and delight their modern readers.

ITLN 3219 Italian for Professional Applications    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

This is a language course designed to give students who have completed Intermediate Italian the grammatical, lexical, and cultural literacy to engage in professional transactions in Italian. Students will gain a cross-cultural understanding of business communication in Italian through the introduction and refinement of pertinent grammar and vocabulary. As a class, we will research notable Italian industries, including fashion, food, and tourism, and analyze their commercial appeal in Italy and abroad. Students will also become familiar with Italy's political, industrial, and financial institutions, while keeping abreast of current events that affect Italian commerce. Previously IT 0219.

ITLN 3220 Topics in Language and Culture    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

This course improves proficiency in written and oral expression by focusing on particular topics in Italian language and culture. Students develop advanced writing and speaking skills while concentrating on grammar, style, and appropriateness. Weekly compositions, based primarily on the genres studied (short story, theater, memoir, essay) allow students to identify and correct grammatical mistakes. Students present speeches in class and conduct situational dramas such as job interviews, television reporting, courtroom trials, and debates in Italian. Films and various cultural artifacts (comic strips, proverbs, songs) familiarize students with idiomatic Italian. Previously IT 0220.

ITLN 3222 Made in Italy    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

Made in Italy, a term that indicates the uniqueness of Italy in abbigliamento (clothing), agroalimentare (food), arredamento (furniture) and automobili (automobiles), dates to the 1980s. This course seeks to further our understanding of Italian culture by investigating the reasons for the popularity and preeminence of products made in Italy. Designers have ensured Italy's prominence in the world of fashion. Pasta, prosciutto, and olive oil are synonymous with Italy, the birthplace of the Slow Food movement. Innovative design, both interior and exterior, is another hallmark of Italian excellence. Italy has produced both high performing, luxury cars and more economical modes of transportation. Conducted in Italian. Previously IT 0222.

ITLN 3233 Creative Writing in Italian    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

This course will explore the craft of fiction, touching on both its theory and practice. Students will begin by examining some masters of prose in order to discuss key elements of fiction writing (plot, character, point of view, and style). They will consider the panorama of modern and contemporary Italian fiction, from the novella to the historical novel, coming-of-age fiction to the postmodern immigrant narrative. Students will develop individual creative projects, which will be shared with their workshop classmates and revised in cooperation with the instructor. Previously IT 0233.

ITLN 3240 Language of Food in Italian Culture    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

"Dimmi ciò che mangi e ti dirò chi sei… Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." Perhaps more than any other modern nation, Italy is defined by and celebrated for its food. Exports such as vino, pizza, and gelato, so quintessentially Italian, are now readily available across the globe. But what does food mean to Italians, and how does it reflect, magnify, and shape their collective identity? In this course, students will explore references to food and gastronomy in Italian literature, television, cinema, and art. We will investigate how Italians past and present have used food to talk about mechanisms of social belonging, disparity, and alienation. Beginning with today’s celebrity chefs and moving back to Dante and the origins of Italian literature, we will learn about the historical forces that influenced Italy’s evolving culinary traditions while honing our Italian language skills. Previously IT 0240.

ITLN 3253 Contemporary Italian Culture    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

This course examines aspects of contemporary Italian culture in the arts, film, music, media, and literature. Students analyze the debates that inform the political, social, and cultural dimensions of Italian society today. Readings include magazine and newspaper articles, print advertisements, novels, short stories, and comic books. Students view television news reports, soap operas, commercials, and movies, and listen to various types of contemporary Italian music. The course is conducted in Italian. Previously IT 0253.

ITLN 3255 The Novella    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, MELT Magis Core Exploration: Literature

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

This course analyzes the most successful genre in Italian literature, the novella (short story), as it evolved from the medieval era through the Renaissance to present day. Students read selections from Boccaccio, Basile, Bandello, Verga, Pirandello, Deledda, Morante, Moravia, Calvino, and others. The course is conducted in Italian. Previously IT 0255.

ITLN 3257 Theatre in Italy: Comedy    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, MELT Magis Core Exploration: Literature

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

From the erudite satires of the humanists to the political farces of contemporary playwrights, Italian comedy has always done more than just entertain. In this course we will study dramatic works by some of Italy's most prominent authors (Machiavelli, Aretino, Goldoni, Pirandello, et al.) and explore the development of comic theater in Italy from the Renaissance to the present. We will weigh the social function of humor in Italian theater, along with issues relating to gender, power, and performance. We will focus on the literary and historical dimensions of these texts, but also use these lively comedies to hone our reading, writing, and oral skills in Italian. To that end, we will watch clips of the plays, regularly perform scenes together in class, and even experiment with improvised "commedia dell'arte" scenarios. Previously IT 0257.

ITLN 3980 Internship    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused

The internship program gives students first-hand experience in the fields of translation, interpretation, cataloging, public relations, advertising and teaching in the language of their specialization. Department members, who agree to guide the endeavor, supervise student work. When required by a faculty supervisor, an evaluation of student interns may be required from the institution where students work. The student's work should demand no less than one full day per week, or its equivalent. Previously IT 0377-0378.

ITLN 3990 Independent Study    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, ISIT Italian Studies: Italian

Students undertake readings and studies in a specialized area of Italian, under the direction of a staff member. Designed to fill the special needs of specific students, this course is offered at the discretion of the department chair. Enrollment by permission only. Previously IT 0381-0382.

ITLN 4330 Redefining the Cosmos: Voyages    3 Credits

Attributes: ISIF Italian Studies: Italy-Focused, MELT Magis Core Exploration: Literature

Prerequisite: ITLN 2211.

The Italian Renaissance has traditionally been understood as the very laboratory of Modernity. In a time where new and revolutionary ideas about art, politics and science took shape, Europe faced an extraordinary challenge: how to integrate into "the Renaissance experiment" the new natural and human experience that opened up with the discovery of the New World. Italy produced an extraordinarily heterogeneous body of work that stemmed from these voyages: that is, a "literature of discovery." This course will explore this literature, which includes epic poems, popular cantari, travelogues, historical and geographical treatises, as well as epistolary collections. Previously IT 0330.

ITLN 4999 Capstone Seminar    3 Credits

Prerequisite: Senior standing.

Majors in Italian participate in an interdisciplinary seminar in the spring of their senior year. The focus of this seminar varies according to the professor, but possible topics include European Film, The Grand Tour, Immigration in Europe, Capital Cities, Language Teaching and Technology, Europe and America. Students research their capstone papers in the target language and present the final work in English and Italian. The instructor may, in some cases, evaluate work in the target language in consultation with colleagues in the area of expertise in the department. Seminar is conducted in English. Previously IT 0399.