Representations of Urban Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice
Rome, Florence, and Venice are central to the Western image of the city. With ancient Rome as a model, we will enrich our historical knowledge of these cities and their famous sites. We will explore how literature, urban planning, and the arts represent them. Genres to be explored (in English) will include travel memoirs, classic films (Rome Open City, La dolce vita), adaptations of novels (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Room with a View), “magic realism” (Winterston’s The Passion), detective fiction (Donna Leon, Michael Dibdin), modern and contemporary Italian prose and film (Moravia, Ozpetek’s Facing Windows), and toga epics (Gladiator, Rome). Culinary history and practice will be included. 3 hrs. sem.

Fall 2009, Fall 2012

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Sophomore Seminar in the Liberal Arts
This course is designed for sophomores who are interested in exploring the meaning and the purpose of a liberal arts education. To frame this investigation, we will use the question "What is the good life and how shall I live it?" Through an interdisciplinary and multicultural array of readings and films we will engage our course question through intellectual discussion, written reflection, and personal practice. There will be significant opportunities for public speaking and oral presentation, as well as regular writing assignments, including a formal poster presentation. Readings will include reflections on a liberal arts education in the U.S. (Emerson, Brann, Nussbaum, Oakeshott, Ladsen-Billings, bell hooks); on "the good life" (excerpts from Aristotle, sacred texts of different traditions); on social science analyses of contemporary life; texts on the neuroscience of happiness; as well as literary and cinematic representations of lives well-lived. CMP (J. Miller-Lane; P. Zupan)

Fall 2013

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Intensive Beginning Italian
This course is an introduction to the Italian language that provides a foundation in both spoken and written Italian. Focus on the spoken language encourages rapid mastery of the basic structures and vocabulary of contemporary Italian. The exclusive use of Italian in dialogue situations and vocabulary building encourages the student to develop skills in a personalized context. Conversation and drill are stimulated and fostered through active reference to popular Italian music, authentic props, and slides of Italian everyday life and culture. Students are required to participate in the Italian table. 6 hrs. disc./perf.; 2 hrs. screen

Fall 2010

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Intensive Beginning Italian II
This course is a continuation of ITAL 0101, and emphasizes spoken and written Italian and the mastery of more complex grammatical structures and vocabulary. Students continue to work with conversation partners, but will also incorporate more specific cultural references in oral presentations and in written assignments. Students attend the Italian table and mandatory film screenings. (ITAL 0101 or equivalent)

Spring 2009, Winter 2011, Winter 2013

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Intensive Beginning Italian III
This course emphasizes increased control and proficiency in the language through audiovisual, conversational, and drill methods. Italian life and culture continue to be revealed through the use of realia. Short reading selections on contemporary Italy and discussions enlarge the student's view of Italian life and culture. Students continue to participate in the Italian table. (ITAL 0102 or equivalent) 6 hrs. disc./perf.; 2 hrs. screen.

Spring 2013

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Dante (in English)
An introduction to Dante's major literary works, La Vita Nuova (The New Life) and the Divine Comedy. Close readings of the text will seek to give students an appreciation of Dante's place in world literature. Dante's masterpieces will also be discussed in a historical and philosophical perspective, and supplementary readings will acquaint the reader with the medieval view of life and literature.

Spring 2011

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Representations of Urban Italy: Florence and Ferrara
In this interdisciplinary seminar, we will consider broadly how Italian cities are represented in historical novels, in film and in the arts. Middlebury's two university cities provide the primary, but not exclusive, focus of the course. After considering "the urban" through selected theoretical material, memoirs, and fiction, we will discuss two modern historical novels on famous Renaissance and Baroque women, by women, Bellonci's (Rinascimento privato; Isabella d'Este) and Banti's (Artemisia[Gentileschi]). Through their heroines' peripatetic lives, these two novels encourage a consideration of other Italian cities. In the works of Bassani and Pratolini, we will consider how Florence and Ferrara are portrayed between and after the two World Wars. Relevant urban sites, art works, and films will also be discussed. 3 hr sem./screening (ITAL 0354, 0355, or equivalents)

Spring 2009

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Dante in Italian
This course concentrates on a close reading of the whole of Dante's Inferno. Students will learn about the historical and literary context of the work, read excerpts from the Purgatorio and the Paradiso, get acquainted with the long tradition of Dante commentaries, and contribute twice a week to an on-line discussion on the weekly readings. After two short papers that will analyze specific aspects of a canto, students will prepare as a final project a Lectura Dantis: a detailed analysis of a canto of the Inferno that will include critical material. (ITAL 0355 or equivalent) 3 hrs. disc.

Spring 2010

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Independent Study
Italian faculty as a group will consider and approve requests by qualified juniors and seniors to engage in independent work. Students must submit a prospectus that includes a bibliography of no less than five sources. Interested students should contact members of the Italian faculty before the end of the preceding term to discuss their project and to see if they are available to direct the Independent Study. Students must submit a prospectus with the department chair by the end of the first week of classesfor fall and spring term approvals, by the end the last week of fall semesterfor winter term approvals. Prior to submission, sufficient advance consultation with project directors is required.Junior students are strongly encouraged to consider independent study as preparation for senior honors thesis work.

Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Winter 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014

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As prerequisite, students must have an A- or above average in Italian courses and a B overall average to be considered for honors work. They may achieve honors through a one-credit thesis of 25 or more pages, whose work may extend over one or more semesters, or through a comprehensive exam. Italian faculty as a group will consider and approve requests by qualified juniors and seniors to engage in honors work.

Spring 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2014

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Dante in Translation
Central to world literature, Dante's Divine Comedy traces the Poet's journey from the darkness of the Inferno, through the chiaroscuro of the Purgatory mountain, to the celestial vision of the Paradiso. We will situate the work in the context of Dante's poetic predecessors (Virgil, Provencal troubadours/trobaritz, the Sicilian School, Guido Cavalcanti), and in the cultural and historical context of the Middle Ages. We will also consider modern art, literature, and film influenced by the Comedy. Readings will be complemented with audio support in English and Italian.

Winter 2010

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