Patricia Zupan
Office
Voter Hall 112
Tel
(802) 443-3072
Email
zupan@middlebury.edu
Office Hours
On leave 2023-2024.

Courses Taught

Course Description

Growing up in Italy: 1950 to Present
What is the role of a liberal arts education in the lives we lead? This question is central to several international blockbusters dramatizing their Italian protagonists’ growth from adolescence into adulthood: Marco Tullio Giordana’s mini-series, The Best of Youth (film, 2003), Elena Ferrante’s novels My Brilliant Friend (2011-12) and The Story of a New Name (2012-13), and Saverio Costanzo’s HBO film series (2019-20). We will consider these works’ stories of personal evolution against Italian and Western historical developments from 1950 to the present: post-war reconstruction; economic expansion; educational reform; reform in the care of the mentally ill; student and worker movements; feminism; left- and right-wing terrorism; the Mafia. No previous knowledge of Italy or Italian is required. 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2020

Requirements

CW, EUR, HIS

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Course Description

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

Terms Taught

Fall 2020, Fall 2022

Requirements

LNG

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Course Description

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)

Terms Taught

Winter 2020, Winter 2022

Requirements

LNG, WTR

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022

Requirements

LNG

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Course Description

Elena Ferrante: The Neapolitan Novels (in English)
An international sensation since the 2011 publication of this four-novel series, Elena Ferrante depicts the life-long, ambivalent relationship between Lenù and Lila, two “brilliant friends,” attempting escape from Neapolitan poverty and crime, from late 1940s Reconstruction Italy into the new Millennium. The first two novels, translated by My Brilliant Friend (2011) and Story of a New Name (2012), also subject of Saverio Costanzo’s 2018-2020 HBO series, will provide our particular focus. Blogs, short essays, oral presentations, research project; possible video. 3 hrs.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021, Spring 2023

Requirements

EUR, HIS, LIT

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Course Description

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 0103, ITAL 0123, waiver, or equivalent) 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022

Requirements

EUR, LNG, SOC

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2023

Requirements

LIT, LNG

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Course Description

Boccaccio’s Decameron in the Age of Coronavirus
Composed at the end of the 1348 Black Plague, the Decameron engages the social crises emerging from pandemic. Popularly considered only a collection of bawdy stories, we will challenge this popular stereotype of the work, discussing also how its storytelling emerges as a responsible act critiquing the society passing away, and proposing alternatives foundational to modern Western society regarding class, gender, and religion. We will also consider how contemporary Western essays and media (some in translation) re-engage the Decameron. Class work includes short analytical essays with rewrites, blogging, scrapbooking, and a class project rewriting the Decameron for today. This course will be conducted exclusively in English, with English language sources. 3 hrs. lect.

Terms Taught

Spring 2021, Spring 2022

Requirements

CW, EUR, HIS, LIT

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Course Description

The Italian Family
Recent sociological analyses indicate that in Europe, family solidarity still remains strongest in Italy. The Italian family offers positive benefits, as the wide-spread image of close-knit, multigenerational families suggests. However, recent studies also demonstrate negative results, occasioned by adult children’s long dependence on the family, power struggles between matriarchs and patriarchs, and a relatively closed attitude toward blending Italian families with those of other ethnicities and races. How did Italian families evolve from the early 20th century to the present? Supported by historical and social science analyses, modern and contemporary literature and film will provide the focus of our explorations. (ITAL 0252 or equivalent) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2019

Requirements

EUR, HIS, LIT

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Spring 2020

Requirements

EUR, LIT

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Course Description

Elena Ferrante: The Neapolitan Novels
An international sensation since the publication of this four-novel series, Elena Ferrante depicts the life-long, ambivalent relationship between Lenù and Lila, two “brilliant friends,” attempting escape from Neapolitan poverty and crime, from late 1940s Reconstruction Italy into the new Millennium. Although we will consider the whole four-novel series, the first two novels, subject of Saverio Costanzo’s HBO series as well, will provide this seminar’s particular focus. Blogs, short essays, oral presentations, research project; possible video.(ITAL0351, 354 or equivalent) 3 hrs. sem.

Terms Taught

Fall 2021

Requirements

EUR, HIS, LIT

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Course Description

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.

Terms Taught

Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024

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Course Description

Students majoring in Italian must complete an independent senior project. Italian faculty as a group will consider and approve the proposals, which should be submitted before the last week of the preceding semester. The senior project will be advised by one member of the Italian department, but will be presented to the whole department. Italian honors will be awarded to eligible students depending on the final grade. (Staff)

Terms Taught

Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Winter 2023, Spring 2023, Winter 2024, Spring 2024

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Course Description

Boccaccio’s Decameron in the Age of Coronavirus
Currently topping the charts in the West, composed 1348-50 at end of the Black Plague, Boccaccio’s Decameron returns to relevance as it engages the issues and threats we are living internationally today: social distancing (or ignoring it), privilege and radical social inequality, financial ruin, scarcity and hoarding of necessary resources, exploitation of others, religious crisis, and self-protective survialism. The work encodes privilege in its frame story: escaping infected Florence, the lieta brigata pass ten days focused on the telling of the one hundred novelle, most often reputed to be bawdy and comic. We will challenge this popular stereotype of the work. As an early humanist, via the frame and the novella, Boccaccio proposes the making of literature as a complex and responsible act, creating an essential space of reflection, dialogue, critique, and polemic concerning the society that is passing rapidly away. It proposes alternatives, particularly with regard to religion, gender, and class, that remain foundational to secular Western society. Parallel to discussing and understanding the original text and its historical and social circumstances, we will also consider Italian contemporary essays and media that engage and critique the Decameron and its mentality as a viable cultural example for today.

Terms Taught

Summer 2020 Language Schools, Bennington 6 Week Session

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Course Description

Traveling through the Medieval Mediteranean: Dante’s Commedia
We will explore the Commedia in a contemporary key: the poet’s visionary journey through the pan-Mediterranean literary, intellectual, and religious traditions, including the classical, Christian, Jewish, and Islamic. While a visionary journey, the Commedia actually proposes the reformation of earthly life, religion, and politics. We will consider the particularly Mediterranean nature of this transformation. We will read selected cantos, and other of Dante’s works, in relation to literary or visionary journeys across the traditions: not only to Virgil’s Aeneid and the prophets of the Bible, but also to the Islamic Libro della Scala, Mohammed’s own visionary journey, and Francis of Assisi’s encounter with the Sultan. We will also consider Islamic figures of the Commedia and those thinkers influencing its proposals for earthly life: the crusader hero Saladino, and Mohammed himself; the philosophers Avicenna, Averroes, and Al-Farabi. In so doing, we aim to reveal the poet’s modernity: his synthesis of the three traditions, proposing to his readers a “interpretive” journey that broadens the Western Christian imagination in a radical re-visioning of ethical and spiritual life on earth.

Terms Taught

Summer 2021 Language Schools, LS 6 Week Session

Requirements

Literature

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