Exciting Course Offerings in Italian Studies

Spring 2013

Next semester, defy the plague (Boccaccio’s Decameron) and travel the cosmos (Dante’s Paradiso) with Prof. Martinez; make sense of the Inquisition with Prof. Castiglione (Truth on Trial); dissect Modern Italy with Prof. Kertzer; deconstruct Casanova and investigate Italian mysteries with Prof. Riva.

 

Language and Culture Courses

ITAL0200 - Elementary Italian
Elective for students without previous training in Italian. No credit for first semester alone. Fundamentals of Italian grammar and development of skills in speaking, comprehension, and writing. Overview of contemporary Italian society. Sufficient for enrollment in the Bologna Program. Five meetings per week, audio and video work, two Italian films. Note: This is a year course.
ITAL0200 - S01 – 23836
M.,W.,F. 1:00-1:50 PM and T.,Th. 1:00-2:20 PM
ITAL0200 S02 – 23837
M.,W.,F. 10:00-10:50 AM and T.,Th. 9:00-10:20 AM
ITAL0200 S03 – 23838
M.,W.,F. 10:00-10:50 AM and T.,Th. 10:30-11:50AM
ITAL0200 S04 – 23839
M.,W.,F. 12:00-12:50 PM and T.,Th. 10:30-11:50AM

ITAL0400 Intermediate Italian II
Review of specific grammar problems. Reading of one novel and newspaper articles. Compositions and oral presentations. Three Italian films. Prereq: IT 300, or placement by examination.
ITAL0400 S01 – 23865
M.,W. 12:00- 12:50 AM and T.,Th. 12:00-12:50 PM
ITAL0400 S03 - 23867
M.,W. 2:00- 2:50 PM and T.,Th. 12:00-12:50 PM

ITAL0600 Advanced Italian II - 23868
Continuation of 500. Emphasis on formal and informal styles of writing and speaking, using literary and nonliterary texts. Compositions, oral presentations, and film screenings. Prerequisite: IT 500, placement by examination, or written permission.
IT0600 S01 - T.,Th. 2:30- 3:50 PM
Instructor: Cristina Abbona-Sneider

Literature and Culture Courses

ITAL1020 - Boccaccio's "Decamerom" - 24255
Close study and discussion of Boccaccio's collection of 100 tales told by ten narrators over a period of two weeks, while in flight from the devastating plague of 1348. The Decameron defined the standard of Italian prose narrative for almost four centuries, and furnished a great number of the plots of Italian (and French and English) Renaissance drama. Students will be invited to contribute to the Decameron Web, the Boccaccio award-winning web site administered by the department of Italian Studies. Other, shorter, works of Boccaccio will be read to prepare for tackling the Decameron. Sections in both English and Italian.
Instructor: Ronald Martinez
IT 1020 S01 – Tu+Th. 1-2:20PM

ITAL1350A - S01 - Narratives for the Next Millenium: Italian Mysteries and the New Italian Epic - 23871
"New Italian Epic" (Wu Ming 1) describes a body of literary works published in Italy between 1993 and 2010. Blending fiction and non-fiction, many of these works investigate shady aspects of Italian history and society, such as organized crime and political corruption. The term has also been applied to cinematic works such as Matteo Garrone's film Gomorrah (based on Roberto Saviano's best seller of the same name) and other multi-media hybrids emerging from the contemporary world of garage media. We will explore this textual/visual mini-corpus, within the context of the Berlusconi era. Taught in Italian.
Instructor: Massimo RIVA
Tu+Th 2:30-3:50PM

ITAL1390 – 24400 - Modern Italy
Examination of Italian society, culture, and politics over the past two centuries. Topics include: the struggle to unify Italy in the 19th Century; the creation of a national identity; the political role of the Catholic Church; changing family life and gender relations; conflict between North and South; Mussolini and the fascist ventennio; and the struggle for political stability over the past 50 years.
Instructor: Prof. David Kertzer
Tu+Th: 9-10:20AM

ITAL 1400J – 23869 - The Many Faces of Casanova
Philosopher or charlatan, magician or trickster, seducer or seduced, Casanova's life contains multitudes. His name, unlike those of Sade or Sacher Masoch, does not designate a "perversion," but a sort of exuberant hetero-sexual "normalcy." He is the Venetian alter-ego (and possibly real-life inspiration) of Mozart's Don Juan. In this course, we will dissect the myth of Casanova, from his own monumental autobiography to novels, films and plays which cast him as protagonist (films by Federico Fellini, Ettore Scola, Lasse Hallström, impersonations by Donald Sutherland, Marcello Mastroianni and Heath Leger). Lectures in English; discussion group in Italian.
Instructor: Massimo RIVA
Tu+Th 10:30-11:50AM

Truth on Trial: Justice in Italy, 1400-1800 (HIST 1430) - ITAL 1431 - S01
Interested students must register for HIST 1430 S01 (CRN 24748).
Law courts had a profound impact on Italian society and culture between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Law courts helped define what constituted deviance, legitimate knowledge, and individual rights. They did so in a long ago world in which it was possible to imagine that some gifted individuals could fly, that certain people were created superior to others, and that the sun revolved around the earth. From the persecution of heretics and witches, to the trial of Galileo and the increasing use of courts by women and other marginalized groups, the Italian legal arena mediated what was political, social, scientific, and religious truth. By the eighteenth century many judicial practices came under criticism, including the use of torture and the death penalty. How did reformers attempt to remake the legal regime and the society in which it was by then so intricately entangled? LILE WRIT P
nstructor: Prof. Caroline Castiglione
Tu+Th. 1-2:20PM

ITAL1620 - The Divina Commedia: Dante's Paradiso: Justifying a Cosmos - 24256
Close study of the third and final part of Divine Comedy, in which Dante unfolds how, in his view, the planetary and stellar spheres condition human lilfe and fashion the Providential plan of history. There will be ancillary readings from Dante's other works: Convivio, the Monarchia, and the Epistles. In Italian. Prerequisite: IT 0500 or 0600.
Instructor: Ronald Martinez
M 3-5:20PM

ITAL2050 - Microhistory – 23884
Italian historians pioneered a methodology called "microhistory," emphasizing the importance of interpreting seemingly insignificant details in order to understand individuals for whom we typically have little information. We will examine some classic examples of this genre, alongside debates about the method. Students should pursue their own geographic and disciplinary interests in the final assignment by writing a microhistory.
Instructor: Prof. Caroline Castiglione
W 3-5:20 PM

ITAL 2820 - S01 - Italian Studies Colloquium - 24257
The Italian Studies Colloquium is a forum for an exchange of ideas and work of the community of Italian scholars at Brown and invited outside scholars. Students are expected to come prepared with informed questions on the topic presented. Presentations in both Italian and English. Written permission required.
Instructor: Ronald Martinez
W. 5:30-7:00PM