Course Description
Italian culture through literature, sociopolitical history, and the arts. Italian history in a specific period or periods as seen through a study of these three areas. Development of an integrated approach to culture, literature, and language. Given in English.
Athena Title
Italian Culture
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ITAL 2500
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online. Assignments, discussions, and student works are managed online according to the Guidelines for Online Teaching and Digital Literacy of the Romance Languages department.
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will study the development of Italian culture from a specific historical period through media and literature, and make connections with their own experiences and knowledge.
- Students will recognize ethical issues and apply different ethical perspectives to ethical dilemmas in a variety of settings.
- Students will analyze the impact of human behavior(s) on the physical, organizational, and/or social environment.
- Students will reflect upon how one's social identities and roles shape one’s worldview and interactions.
- Students will develop an awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of cultures and communities beyond one’s own.
- Students will examine a specific period of Italian history through media (film, literature, TV, etc.), culture, and politics to construct a wider perspective about a given topic.
- Students will reflect on opposing viewpoints in history, film, literature, etc. and make connections to other relevant historical periods.
- Students will engage in online group discussion about course materials and consider the author’s/creator’s tone, message, aesthetics, etc. to forge a deeper link between representation of a given historical period and reality.
Topical Outline
- This course in Italian Culture will serve as an introduction to the life and mores of Italy: its social, cultural, and artistic history. The topical outline will vary according to the specific historical period(s) and thematic emphasis of the instructor.
The following materials are examples of what content could be included in this course:
1. Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy
2. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard
3. Italo Calvino, The Path to the Spiders’ Nest
4. Italo Calvino, Marcovaldo: Seasons in the City
5. Vittorio De Sica (dir.), Bicycle Thieves
6. Selected short stories, plays, and other literary works by writers from different regions in Italy.
7. Documentaries.
General Education Core
CORE IV: World Languages and Global Culture
