Courses in Italy

During the first semester at the School in Italy program, students will take three classes at the Sede. Students will choose among courses that will aid in meeting the requirements of their stream. In the second semester students will take a methodologies class aimed at helping students acquire the techniques necessary to write an advanced level research paper such as the Independent Research Project.

Following are the course descriptions for the language, linguistics, literature, and culture/communication courses that will be taught at the Sede during the 2006-2007 academic year. Please note that all courses are subject to change.

Language

Methods of Critical and Applied Analysis (Fall)

This course intends to improve writing skills in Italian. Students will analyze various types of texts for language structure, vocabulary, and idiomatic usage, with special attention paid to logical presentation and the language of literary and cultural criticism. (1 Unit)

Linguistics

History of the Italian Language (Spring)

Within the context of the historical evolution of Italian and its modern literary practice, students will advance their understanding and use of syntax and levels of style. After examining how Italian and other Romance languages evolved from Latin, we will then consider the development of the vernacular and the preeminence of Florentine in the late Middle Ages. Next, we will turn to the influence of dialects and the development of modern standard Italian from 1861 to the present. Finally, we will discuss the style of three important narrative works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to determine what constitutes modern usage and style. (1 Unit)

Culture and Communication

The Genius of Michelangelo and the Development of Florentine Sculpture in the Sixteenth Century (Fall)

The art of sculpture found particularly favorable terrain in Florence during the sixteenth century: a historically important time, as the city was going through a major change, becoming a Princedom after years of republican government. The formal and artistic innovations, therefore, connected themselves to modes of representation coinciding with both a precise proto-academic scheme and with the need to depict a state undergoing significant change. The innovative possibilities of monumental sculpture as explored by Michelangelo, were developed by a group of artists (Jacopo Sansovino, Baccio Bandinelli, Benvenuto Cellini, Bartolomeo Ammannati, and ending with Giambologna) who established fundamental rules in sculpture that spread all across Europe. Once considered by critics as mere followers or artists negatively influenced by Buonarroti’s art, the artistic path these authors traced on the contrary, enables students to understand how Florentine art of the late Renaissance finds its strength in the reformulation of the concepts and solutions anticipated by Michelangelo and touches on one of the critical problems of the sixteenth century, that of the concept of “maniera”: innovation within tradition, a scheme made stronger by the presence of genius. (1 Unit)

Recent Events and Politics in Italy (Fall)

Italian politics has undergone an almost incredible transformation during the past 14 years. This phenomenon, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, has assumed almost revolutionary social and political proportions. Within a short period of time, parties and politicians that had dominated national life for 45 years have disappeared from the scene; the world of journalism and information has changed dramatically; Italy has become part of the European community. The term “new” has certainly dominated the last decade. One must ask, however, whether this change corresponds to a genuine social and cultural emancipation, or is merely a mass media-engendered illusion that will soon reveal a reality quite different from the one hoped for. To investigate this, we will use not only contemporary political texts but also newspapers and magazines, trying to understand current Italian politics through instruments of daily communication. (1 Unit)

The independent research paper should be based in part on course work done during the preceding summer on the Vermont campus or during the first semester in Florence. Permission may be granted to write a paper on other topics under the supervision of a faculty member. The paper (35-40 pages in length) should demonstrate a high level of written control of the language as well as critical and analytical skills. Once completed students will prepare a final oral defense of their work in front of a project committee.

Courses at the University of Florence

Courses at the University of Florence offer a unique opportunity for deepening students’ intellectual and linguistic growth as well as providing additional opportunities for social immersion. Each course requires approximately six contact hours per week.

Students enrolled in courses are subject to both the privileges and restrictions established by the university administration. Final enrollment is contingent upon passing an oral examination administered by a University of Florence professor.

It is important to note that a course in an Italian university is usually a series of lectures or seminars to guide students in their study and preparation for a final comprehensive oral examination. Certain courses may also require a paper or a written exam prior to the oral examination. A typical university course at the Facoltà di Lettere is made up of two academic sections. The first modulo tends to be a general overview of the basic themes of the subject, while the second modulo is normally a more indepth investigation of a specific component of that same topic. Courses at the university entail classroom instruction; and independent preparation by the student of critical readings, texts, etc. assigned by the docente, which plays a very important part in the final exam. Students are therefore reminded that classroom instruction is only one aspect on which they may be examined.