Natasha V. Chang
Commons Dean - Brainerd
Asst. Professor of Italian
Email: nchang@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.3320
Office Hours: 2011-2012: By appointment. Please contact Diane Burnham, the Brainerd Commons Coordinator, at 443-3320 for availability.
Download Contact Information
Natasha came to Middlebury in 2000 and was a member of the faculty until she became dean of Brainerd Commons in 2010. She teaches courses primarily in Italian language, literature, culture, and history. She completed her undergraduate work at Wellesley College, her Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her doctoral work at Cornell University. As an educator and dean she is committed to the core values of a liberal arts education, and encourages students to think actively and to reflect thoughtfully not only in the academic sphere but also with regard to the personal, social, environmental, and cultural matters that enter their daily lives.
She lives in Addison Vermont with her husband, Timothy Billings, who is a professor at Middlebury in the Department of English and American Literature. Click here to find out more about her personal interests and academic accomplishments:
https://seguecommunity.middlebury.edu/view/html/site/nchang/node/1416901
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
CMLT 0500 - Independent Study ▲ ▹
INTL 0469 / HIST 0469 - Facism: Italy & Germany
INTL 0481 / GRMN 0481 / ITAL 0481 - Memory & National Identity
Memory Matters: National Identity in Contemporary Germany and Italy
In the course we will explore the crucial role of memory in the formation of national identity, and focus on the troubled remembrance of the Nazi period in Germany and the Fascist period in Italy. Using primary sources in their original language, students will study the ways in which the memory of this difficult past decisively informs contemporary national identity. Topics will include commemorative sites, national symbols, autobiographical memory, traumatic memory, and trans-generational memory. Classes will alternate between a plenary English session and discussions in either German or Italian. This course is equivalent to ITAL 0481 and GRMN 0481. 3 hrs. sem./disc.
Spring 2011
INTL 0702 - EUS Senior Thesis
ITAL 0101 - Intensive Beginning Italian
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 2009, Fall 2010
ITAL 0102 - Intensive Beginning Italian
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
ITAL 0251 - Intro Contemporary Italy
An Introduction to Contemporary Italy
Intended for students at the intermediate level, this course will afford the opportunity to expand conversation, writing, and reading skills while consolidating knowledge of the more difficult points of grammar. The contextual focus of the course is contemporary Italian culture, including contemporary history and politics, the economy, the division between North and South, immigration from developing countries, environmental issues, and popular music, among others. Italian films, music, and articles from newspapers and news magazines will enhance and complete the learning experience. (ITAL 0250, waiver, or equivalent)
Winter 2010
ITAL 0252 - Italian Culture: Facism-Pres
Italian Culture II: From the Sixties to the Present Day
To deepen the historical knowledge gained in ITAL 0251, we will discuss and analyze modern and contemporary Italian literature of various genres, as well as essays, art, and film. In the context of reading, critical viewing, textual analysis, and discussion, we will continue to develop both historical and linguistic competence. Discussion and the writing process, along with selected exercises, will continue to refine grammatical competence. (ITAL 0251) 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Spring 2010
ITAL 0352 - Cinema e Letteratura del 900
Cinema e Letteratura del Novecento: Rappresentazioni dell'Olocausto
In this course we will examine the cinematic and literary representation of the Holocaust in Italian culture. Students will engage in interactive discussions on a variety of literary texts, films, commentaries, testimonies, and theoretical writings. Readings will include works by Giorgio Bassani, Primo Levi, Lorenza Mazzetti, and Liana Millu, and films by such directors as Gillo Pontecorvo, Vittorio De Sica, Francesco Rosi, Roberto Benigni, Andrea & Antonio Frazzi, Ferzan Ozpetek and others. In addition to attending regular class meeting times, students will be expected to attend all film screenings. (ITAL 0252 or waiver) 3 hrs. lect./disc./screens.
Spring 2013
ITAL 0450 - Italian Fascism and the Body
Fascist Bodies: Italian Fascism and the Corporeal Idea
The idealize image of the human body-characterized by strength, virility, impenetrability, and wholeness-played a central role in Italian culture during the years of the Fascist regime (1922-45). This interdisciplinary course examines representations of the body under Italian Fascism, focusing particularly on how the regime mobilized its politics through various concepts of the body, both male and female. Students will focus on short readings of primary texts: political speeches, oral histories, legal declarations, magazine articles, photographs, advertisements, films, fiction, and poetry. Each text will be considered carefully for the ideas and values it communicates in relation to its historical context. Emphasis will be placed on the discussion of questions such as: How is meaning about the body created? What is the relation between body and identity? What types of organismal metaphors are used to describe social, political, legislative, and cultural entities? (ITAL 0355 or equivalent) 3 hrs. disc.
Fall 2009
ITAL 0451 - Italian Fiction of Intrigue
Italian Fiction of Intrigue: From Past to Present Day
In this course we will study the social and political anxieties expressed, and possibly tamed, by the popular genre of the "giallo" or Italian pulp crime novel. We will focus on two related historical moments - the period of the fascist regime in early 20th century Italy and the so-called "second republic" which stretches from the late 20th century to the present day - in order to explore the transformation of the genre and to examine potential shifts in the social reflection it presents. We will read the works of well-known writers such as Andrea Camilleri and Carlo Lucarelli, as well as the lesser known Alessandro Varaldo and Vasco Mariotti. (ITAL 0355 or equivalent) 3 hrs disc.
Fall 2011
ITAL 0550 - Independent Study
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, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013
ITAL 0755 - Senior Honors
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
