Program Requirements
All students wishing to register for the Major Concentration Italian Studies are strongly urged to meet with a departmental adviser.
Complementary Courses (36 credits)
36 credits selected from the three Italian course lists as follows:
Group A – Basic Language Courses (0-12 credits)
- Students with no knowledge of the Italian language must take 12 credits in language.
- Students with some knowledge of the language may take 6 credits only selected from ITAL 210D1/ITAL 210D2, ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, or ITAL 216.
- Students with competency in the language may substitute courses from Groups B and C for Group A - Basic Language courses.
ALL students with some background must consult with the Department for proper placement.
Group B – Courses Taught in Italian (a minimum of 12 credits, of which a maximum of 6 credits may be at the 200 level)
Group C – Courses Taught in English (0-12 credits)
Group A - Basic Language Courses
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ITAL 205D1 Italian for Beginners (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Grammar, reading, dictation. Intensive practice in speech patterns and written structures. Conversation and composition. Visual material and selected readings will be used in describing the making of contemporary Italy.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Doumanian, Meghri; Furlan, Cristiana; Metni, Rania (Fall)
Fall, Winter
3 hours and laboratory
Students must register for both ITAL 205D1 and ITAL 205D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both ITAL 205D1 and ITAL 205D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ITAL 205D2 Italian for Beginners (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : See ITAL 205D1 for course description.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: ITAL 205D1
No credit will be given for this course unless both ITAL 205D1 and ITAL 205D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ITAL 206 Beginners Italian Intensive (6 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Designed to cover in one term the same material as ITAL 205D1/ITAL 205D2.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: Tumino, Anna Maria; Furlan, Cristiana (Fall) Tumino, Anna Maria; Furlan, Cristiana (Winter)
Fall or Winter
6 hours and 1 hour laboratory
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 205D1/ITAL 205D2
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ITAL 210D1 Italian for Advanced Beginners (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Intended for students who have never studied Italian, but who have had some informal exposure to the language. Grammar, reading, conversation and composition. An outline of Italian civilization, oral presentations and discussions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall, Winter
3 hours and laboratory
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 205D1/ITAL 205D2 or ITAL 206
Students must register for both ITAL 210D1 and ITAL 210D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both ITAL 210D1 and ITAL 210D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ITAL 210D2 Italian for Advanced Beginners (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : See ITAL 210D1 for course description.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: ITAL 210D1
No credit will be given for this course unless both ITAL 210D1 and ITAL 210D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ITAL 215D1 Intermediate Italian (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Direct continuation of ITAL 205D1/ITAL 205D2. Grammar, literary readings, conversation. Grammar exercises and composition. Reading of selected literary works, oral presentations and group discussion.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Furlan, Cristiana (Fall)
Fall, Winter
Students must register for both ITAL 215D1 and ITAL 215D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both ITAL 215D1 and ITAL 215D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ITAL 215D2 Intermediate Italian (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : See ITAL 215D1 for course description.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Furlan, Cristiana (Winter)
Winter
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1
No credit will be given for this course unless both ITAL 215D1 and ITAL 215D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ITAL 216 Intermediate Italian Intensive (6 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Course designed to cover in one term the same material as ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2. Direct continuation of ITAL 206.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: Tumino, Anna Maria (Fall) Tumino, Anna Maria (Winter)
Fall or Winter
6 hours
Prerequisite: ITAL 205D1/ITAL 205D2 or ITAL 206 or permission of the Department
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 210
Group B - Courses Taught in Italian
* Note: Only one of ITAL 250 or ITAL 255 can count toward the program.
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ITAL 250 Italian Literary Composition (3 credits) *
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Analysis and discussion of selected 19th and 20th century literary texts with a view to improving language and composition skills. Review of major grammatical difficulties.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
3 hours seminar
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, ITAL 216, or equivalent
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 300.
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ITAL 255 Advanced Reading and Composition (6 credits) *
Overview
Italian (Arts) : The understanding of grammatical structures through a variety of exercises; paraphrasing, translating, composition and discussion. Particular emphasis will be placed on syntax through the study of contemporary texts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, ITAL 216, or equivalent
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 306.
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ITAL 260 Reading Italian Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A selection of poetic, narrative and theatrical texts from different historical periods, providing students with advanced tools in textual analysis and close reading of Italian literary texts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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ITAL 270 Manzoni: Novel and Nationhood (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : An analysis of the historical novel "I promessi sposi", by Alessandro Manzoni: its political, social and intellectual role in the evolution of Italy towards nationhood (Risorgimento).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Given in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, ITAL 216, or equivalent
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 320.
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ITAL 281 Masterpieces of Italian Literature 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A survey of Italian literature from Renaissance to the 20th century. Interdisciplinary approach.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Given in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, ITAL 216, or equivalent
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 326.
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ITAL 290 Commedia Dell'Arte (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Playhouses, actors, stage techniques, masks and scenarios of the "Commedia dell'Arte".
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Metni, Rania (Winter)
Fall
Given in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, ITAL 216, or equivalent
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken 1TAL 330.
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ITAL 295 Italian Cultural Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A cultural studies approach to contemporary Italian society. Focus on distinctive traits of Italian popular culture through literature, film, television and other media.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Zampini, Tania (Fall)
Fall
Given in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/D2 or 216 or permission of instructor
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 328.
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ITAL 310 The Invention of Italian Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : The course presents Italian's major texts and authors over the ages, by critically exploring how the invention of Italian literature impacts the formation of a national identity.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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ITAL 329 Italian Cinematic Tradition (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Italian films in original language. Films are examined from a wide historical and cultural perspective. Introduction to issues and preoccupations central to the Italian cultural tradition.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: ITAL250 or above, from amongst courses taught in Italian or permission of Department.
Note: Course taught in Italian
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ITAL 332 Italian Theatrical Traditions (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : An overview of the major works and genres of Italian theatre from the Renaissance to the present, analyzing their reception and influence on Italian society.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL250 or above, from amongst courses taught in Italian or permission of Department.
The course will be given in Italian.
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ITAL 345 Romanticism in Italy (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : The course introduces key figures in early-19th century Italian culture (Leopardi, Foscolo, Manzoni), and problematizes both the notion of Romanticism in Italy, and its relationship to the movement for Italian unification.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: ITAL250 or above, from amongst courses taught in Italian or permission of Department.
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ITAL 356 Medieval Discourses on Love (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Medieval ideas, attitudes and behaviour surrounding love as represented in literature: readings will include excerpts from early Italian love lyrics, Dante's Vita Nuova, Petrarch's Canzoniere, Boccaccio's Decameron.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Given in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL 215D1/ITAL 215D2, ITAL 216, or equivalent
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ITAL 360 Contemporary Italian Prose (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A study of Italian fiction, docu-fiction and non-fiction published since 1990, examined in the context of the debates on post-modernism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Given in Italian
Prerequisite: ITAL 210D1/D2, ITAL 215D1/D2, ITAL 216, or permission of instructor
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ITAL 362 Post-World War 2 Literature and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A study of Italian prose fiction and non-fiction in the context of some of the events and issues that marked these years: the aftermath of Fascism, the economic boom, terrorism, the Mafia, the North-South question.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Given in Italian
Prerequisites: ITAL 215D1/D2, ITAL 216 or equivalent
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ITAL 371 The Italian Baroque (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : An analysis of the Italian Baroque period through an interdisciplinary overview of its major figures (Caravaggio, Bernini, Galileo, Marino, Vico) and cultural genres (commedia dellâ•Žarte, opera, still life)
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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ITAL 383 Women's Writing since 1880 (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A study of Italian women writers and their search for literary identity.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: any 300 level course given in Italian or permission of the Department
Course for the Women's Studies Concentrations
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ITAL 400 Italian Regional Identities (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : The course explores tensions between national and regional narratives in Italy's literature, culture, language, and society.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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ITAL 410 Italian Modernism (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A study of representative works of major Italian authors from the fin-de-siècle to WWII.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Given in Italian
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ITAL 560 Topics in 19th and 20th Century Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Exploration of individual authors, genres, and literary or cultural movements that have marked Italian culture in the 19th and 20th century.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Given in Italian
Prerequisite for Undergraduate students: permission of the Department
Group C - Courses Taught in English
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ITAL 199 FYS: Italy's Literature in Context (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : The purpose of this seminar is to re-visit, problematically, the commonsense notion that literature "reflects" reality (or society). Classics of twentieth-century Italian writing shall be analyzed as the response of that nation's literary imagination to the contradictions of its turbulent political and social history.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Given in English
Restriction: Open only to newly admitted students in U0 or U1, who may take only one FYS. Students who register for more than one will be obliged to withdraw from all but one of them.
Maximum 25
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ITAL 230 Understanding Italy (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : An introductory critical perspective on a series of issues (North/South, Church/State, the family, regionalism, Fascism) related to contemporary Italy through novels, films and essays.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Soranzo, Matteo (Fall)
Course will be taught in English
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ITAL 307 Topics in Italian Culture (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Selected topics in Italian culture (topics may vary and may concentrate on one or more of the following areas: geography, history, music, art history, political science, and/or literature).
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Zampini, Tania (Winter)
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ITAL 355 Dante and the Middle Ages (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : An introduction to the work of Dante Alighieri, a pillar of medieval European literature. The times in which he lived, the institutions and cultural shifts of that era, the influence exercised by Dante's work, as well as how it has been perceived in our time.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Soranzo, Matteo (Winter)
Fall
Given in English
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ITAL 363 Gender, Literature and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Questions of gender identity and literary representation as they emerge from women's texts or from comparisons of women's and men's texts, in relation to specific social and historical conditions. May focus on any time period in Italian history, from medieval to contemporary.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Given in English
Course for the Women's Studies Concentrations
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ITAL 365 The Italian Renaissance (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A presentation of the main ideas and literary masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance (13th-17thC), in the context of Italy's social, political, religious and cultural climate. Reading and discussion of selected literary texts and visual material.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Soranzo, Matteo (Fall)
Winter
Given in English
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ITAL 374 Classics of Italian Cinema (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Key works in the history of Italian cinema; an in-depth analysis of a few exceptional works; emphasis on the complex web of relationship connecting each work to a wide range of cultural products and expressions, from literature to popular culture, in Italy and internationally.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Note: Course taught in English.
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ITAL 375 Cinema and Society in Modern Italy (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A survey of the most important trends in post-war Italian cinema seen in the context of the rapidly and dramatically evolving society of modern Italy.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Given in English
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ITAL 450 Italy and the Visual Age (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : A study of the emergence of a mass culture industry in the 19th and 20th centuries, through the survey of a variety of visual sources.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: ITAL250 or above, from amongst courses taught in Italian or permission of Department.
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ITAL 464 Machiavelli (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Machiavelli, the political thinker and man of letters. A portrait of Machiavelli as political strategist, playwright and observer of his times. Reading of The Prince as well as selected plays, letters and other writings.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Given in English
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ITAL 465 Religious Identities in Italy (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : This course examines the role played by religion in shaping Italian identities by looking at the works of Dante, Marsilio Ficino, Giovanni Pico, Galileo Galilei and other Early Modern authors in their cultural and institutional contexts. By looking at how these authors expressed their beliefs and interacted with religious institutions, students are invited to critically engage on the concept of "religion".
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
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ITAL 477 Italian Cinema and Video (3 credits)
Overview
Italian (Arts) : Different Italian film maker or videomaker every year, presenting a selection of his/her significant works. Discussions will include script analysis, interviews, articles and books by the director in focus, in addition to theoretical and critical statements by scholars. Established and new directors will be considered alternately.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Carnemolla, Cristina (Winter)
Winter
Given in English
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken ITAL 377