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Spring 2005
(Course information subject to change)
(Cross-reference with Department Roster)
Italian 110
Elementary Italian
Staff
(See timetables for times)
A first semester elementary language course for students who have never studied Italian before or who have taken a placement test and received a score below 380. All students who have previously studied Italian are required to take the placement test. Classes are conducted in Italian and emphasize the development of listening comprehension and speaking, with training in reading and writing. The course is organized around oral/aural communicative activities such as role-plays and interactive grammar exercises. In Italian 110 your listening skills will be greatly developed for you will be exposed daily to authentic language spoken at normal speed by native Italians. Some of these are short conversations, songs, and poems. As the semester progresses the conversations will be longer. Your classwork will be supplemented with homework using a cassette with a workbook, to further enhance your listening skills. In class you will get ample opportunity to speak, as much of the class period will be spent working in pairs or small groups. You will also be exposed to simple Italian texts so that your reading skills will be developed. These texts will gradually become more complex as you acquire the vocabulary necessary to read at a higher level. You will also be challenged to work on your writing skills, starting with sentences and building up to paragraph-length essays.
Italian 112
Elementary Italian-Accelerated
Staff
(See timetables for times)
Italian 112 is an intensive elementary language
course for students who have never studied Italian before
and who have already fulfilled the language requirement in
another modern language. Students who have fulfilled the language
requirement in a language other than a romance language, will
be considered on an individual basis.
As in other Italian courses, class will be conducted entirely in Italian. Your listening skills will be well for you will be exposed to daily authentic language spoken at normal speed by native Italians. Among these are conversations, both brief and lengthy, songs, letters, and poems. You will be guided through a variety of communicative activities in class which lead you from structured practice to free expression. You will be given frequent opportunity to practice your newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures in a small group and pair work which simulates real-life situations. Your class work will be supplemented with homework using a cassette with a workbook, to further enhance your listening skills. You will also be exposed to authentic Italian texts so that your reading skills will be developed. These texts include articles from newspapers and magazines as well as literary pieces. They will become more complex as you acquire the vocabulary necessary to read at a higher level. You will also be challenged to work on your writing skills, for you will be given ample opportunity to write about diverse topics.
Italian 120
Elementary Italian
Staff
(See timetables for times)
Prerequisite: Italian 110 or a score equivalent for placement in level 120 on the Italian placement exam (see Romance Languages Department). Italian 120 is the continuation of an elementary level sequence designed to develop functional proficiency in the four skills. The primary emphasis is on the development of the oral-aural skills, speaking and listening. Readings on topics in Italian culture as well as frequent writing practice are also included in the course.
Italian 130
Intermediate Italian
Staff
(See timetables for times)
Italian 130 is the first half of a two-semester intermediate sequence designed to help you attain a level of competency that should allow you to function comfortably in an Italian-speaking environment. The course will build on your existing skills in Italian, increase your confidence and your ability to read, write, speak and understand the language, and introduce you to more refined lexical items, more complex grammatical structures, and more challenging cultural material. You are expected to have already learned the most basic grammatical structures in elementary Italian and to be able to review these on your own. The textbook Ponti and other material (readings, films, songs) will allow you to explore culturally relevant topics, develop cross-cultural skills through the exploration of analogies and differences between your native culture and the Italian world, thus building a bridge (ponte) of cultural and linguistic awareness.
As in other Italian courses at Penn, class will be conducted entirely in Italian. Your attendance and participation is of the utmost importance, because you will work collaboratively with your classmates and your instructor towards an increased linguistic competence and a more complex understanding of Italian culture. You will be expected to read and to complete language exercises in preparation for class. Written and oral assignments will provide structured practice of the linguistic forms necessary for negotiating the concepts and questions presented through the course, while also challenging and improving your linguistic and creative skills.
By the end of the course, you will have refined and improved your ability to communicate in Italian while also acquiring a more subtle understanding of Italian culture. You will be given the tools to express your opinions, and to challenge and debate those of others, both in writing and in conversation. Writing assignments will develop your abilities to communicate creatively, practically, and persuasively. Listening to and reading the perspectives of Italians through authentic documents will help to enrich vocabulary and strengthen language skills. Also, by means of communicative activities, role-plays and sketches you will be able to achieve a greater fluency in the language.
Italian 134
Intermediate Italian-Accelerated
Staff
(See timetables for times)
Italian 134 is an intensive intermediate course, covering the equivalent of Italian 130 and 140 in one semester. It is primarily designed for students who have completed Italian 112, but students with a particularly strong performance in Italian 120 are allowed to enroll with a departmental permit. Italian 134 covers the materials explored in 130 and in 140: see descriptions of Italian 130 (above) and Italian 140 (below).
Italian 140
Intermediate Italian
Staff
(See timetables for times)
Italian 140 is the second half of a two-semester intermediate sequence designed to help you attain a level of competency that should allow you to function comfortably in an Italian-speaking environment. The course will build on your existing skills in Italian, increase your confidence and your ability to read, write, speak and understand the language, and introduce you to more refined lexical items, more complex grammatical structures, and more challenging cultural material.
The textbook Ponti and other material (readings, films, songs) will allow you to explore culturally relevant topics, develop cross-cultural skills through the exploration of analogies and differences between your native culture and the Italian world, thus building a bridge (ponte) of cultural and linguistic awareness. The detective story Una storia semplice, will strengthen your linguistic abilities and introduce you to the fascinating world of Italian literature.
As in other Italian courses at Penn, class will be conducted entirely in Italian. Your attendance and participation is of the utmost importance, because you will work collaboratively with your classmates and your instructor towards an increased linguistic competence and a more complex understanding of Italian culture. You will be expected to read and to complete language exercises in preparation for class. Written and oral assignments will provide structured practice of the linguistic forms necessary for negotiating the concepts and questions presented through the course, while also challenging and improving your linguistic and creative skills.
By the end of the course, you will have refined and improved your ability to communicate in Italian while also acquiring a more subtle understanding of Italian culture. You will be given the tools to express your opinions, and to challenge and debate those of others, both in writing and in conversation. Writing assignments will develop your abilities to communicate creatively, practically, and persuasively. Listening to and reading the perspectives of Italians through authentic documents will help to enrich vocabulary and strengthen language skills. Also, by means of communicative activities, role-plays and sketches you will be able to achieve a greater fluency in the language.
Italian 180
Italian Conversation in Residence
Staff
Must be resident of the Modern Language House
Italian 202-301
Advanced Italian
Prof. Abbona-Sneider
MTWF 12-1
This course aims at developing and deepening the language abilities which students acquire in their first two years of study. Through the reading, analysis, and discussion of the best-selling novel Io non ho paura by Niccolò Amanniti students will increase their vocabulary and speaking skills. Movies and other audiovisual material will be used to enrich the learning experience and open windows onto aspects of Italian culture and society. Emphasis will be placed on thoroughly reviewing advanced grammar. Short weekly compositions will aim at developing writing skills. This course is a prerequisite for other 200-level courses and for majors and minors in Italian.
Italian 208
Business Italian
Prof. Gentili
MW 4:30-6:30
The purpose of the course is to enable students to acquire language proficiency in the area of current Italian business-related culture. Italian business language and culture in terms of structural language knowledge and form of cultural behavior will be emphasized. Through a communicative approach, the course intends to develop students' understanding in real situations by perfecting their two competencies, linguistic and cultural, in an interactive way by adapting the contexts with the aid of informative material (Italian Internet, magazines and newspapers.) The course will also emphasize business written skills through the textbooks L'Italiano in Azienda and Introduzione al Commercio Italiano. Classes will also include lectures on current political, economic, and labor developments in Italy as well as in the European Community. The students will have two oral presentations during the semester, and midterm, and a final exam. Readings and class discussions in Italian.
Italian 214-301
Italian Play Production
Prof. Marini-Maio
R 2-5
The purpose of this course is to reinforce students' command of Italian language and to improve their knowledge and understanding of Italian culture through a play production, which will be performed at the end of the semester. Class meetings will analyze a play of a 20th-century Italian writer in lectures, discussions, and demonstrations as well as provide lab time for extended workshops in acting, directing, design, and production problems. Students will be required to attend all the rehearsals. The course will be conducted entirely in Italian.
Italian 216
Introduction to Literature II
Prof. Cracolici
MWF 11-12
Conceived as a road map of Italian history and culture, this course addresses the major historical, anthropological, and ideological forces that shaped the culture of Italy along its history-from the Roman foundation to its postmodern present. Drawing on a variety of documents, both textual and visual, and material of an ethnographic nature, the course seeks to provide a plot of empirical clues to get a dynamic understanding of what we call "italianness" (italianità). Topics for discussion will include macro-historical issues, such as war and epidemic, reforms and revolutions, religion and mythology; and questions of micro-historical and sociological character, such as folk music and regional customs, eating habits and food, family and community. Special effort will be given to strengthen students' language skills through guided reading, oral presentations, video viewing, short papers, and a final research project on a topic of their choice. Class discussions and requirements will be in Italian.
Italian 322
Italian Cinema
Prof. Marcus
MW 3:00-4:30, T 5:00-7:30
When Fellini died on October 31, l993, he was given a funeral equal in scale and solemnity to those reserved for religious leaders and heads of state. "Fellini was one of those extraordinary artists who created our second Renaissance: the great Italian cinema of the postwar era" claimed screenwriter and author Tonino Guerra. According to journalist Alan Cowell, "what he gave Italy, people said, was the sum of their dreams and fantasies and sins, encased in an artistry that helped define the nation's self-image, at home and abroad." In this course, we will consider Fellini's entire cinematic production in the following terms:
l. as a progressive autobiographical account of one idiosyncratic life, raised to the level of allegorical significance by virtue of its universal concerns and its stylistic virtuosity
2. as a critical reflection of, and causal factor in, the creation of an Italian national identity, both for domestic and international consumption
3. as a summa of postwar Italian filmmaking, from neorealism (he collaborated in Rossellini's ground-breaking Città aperta in l945) to postmodernism (as exemplified by his last film, La voce della luna in l990)
The course will involve a chronological study of Fellini's production, beginning with his apprenticeship as cartoonist and gag writer for humor magazines and radio shows before he began to collaborate on screenplays for the pre-eminent neorealist filmmakers. We will then study a film a week (screened outside class time) and will devote our class periods to in-depth analysis of the works and their critical reception. The films will all be in Italian with English subtitles and the classes will be conducted in English. Students with expertise in Italian are expected to write their essays in the language, and are encouraged to read and share with the class important secondary source material emanating from Italy that is not yet available in translation.
Italian 333
Dante's Divine Comedy
Prof. Brownlee
TR 10:30-12:00
In this course we will read the Inferno, the Purgatorio and the Paradiso, focusing on a series of interrelated problems raised by the poem: authority, fiction, history, politics and language. Particular attention will be given to how the Commedia presents itself as Dante's autobiography, and to how the autobiographical narrative serves as a unifying thread for this supremely rich literary text. Supplementary readings will include Virgil's Aeneid and selections from Ovid's Metamorphoses. All readings and written work will be in English. Italian or Italian Studies credit will require reading Italian texts in their original language and doing the written assignments in Italian.
Italian 380
La seconda Guerra mondiale nello sguardo dei ragazzi
Prof. Abbona-Sneider
TR 3:00-4:30
The Second World War left an indelible mark on the culture of the twentieth century. This course will examine the effects of that war on children and adolescents who may not have taken an active part in the fighting but who were often deprived of their dreams and their hopes by it. These were young people forced to leave their youth behind and venture into an adult world whose rules and logic they often did not understand. “Adults are an ambiguous and treacherous race. Their games lack that terrible seriousness of childhood but they are becoming ever more serious; games within games where the real game is never clear”. So writes Calvino in his first work I sentieri dei nidi di ragno. What is war in the eyes of a child or an adolescent? How does he understand the history in which he is caught up? We will begin with an analysis of fascist propaganda and Mussolini’s celebration of ardent youth. We will discuss the values represented by young people in this phase of Italian history down to their crucial role in the resistance movement. We will read a number of postwar novels reflecting this theme (Calvino, Berto, Bassani) and will view several masterworks of Italian cinema (De Sica, Rossellini, Fellini).
The course will require short papers, presentations and the creation of a final project on a theme chosen by the student according to his or her interests.
The course will be conducted entirely in Italian.
Italian 383
La Novella Italiana
Prof. Kirkham
TR 12-1:30
Boccaccio's Decameron (ca. 1350) will orient a "viaggio in Italia" through the novella, a form of short fiction particularly Italian in its flavor and fertile history. The course will consist of three sections: 1) medieval examples of the genre (e.g., the Novellino, a collection of witty, elegant tales composed in the 13th-c. orbit of the Sicilian court of Emperor Frederick II); 2) selections from the Decameron chosen to illustrate life in early Renaissance Florence and the master story teller's range, from fable to history, from hillarious sexual escapades to high tragedy); 3) novelle after Boccaccio, which in the 16th and 17th centuries created such world famous characters as Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Cindarella; and in the 19th and 20th centuries began to attract female authors, including Grazia Deledda, a Sardinian who won the Nobel Prize in 1926. The course will conclude with such Novecento writers as Sibilla Aleramo, Pirandello, Buzzati, and Calvino. We shall also screen Pasolini's film version of the Decameron, as well as two other Italian films constructed as short story anthologies. Course conducted in Italian with informal discussion and lecture format. Prerequisite: 5 semesters of Italian or in exceptional circumstances by permission of instructor.
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