Course

ITAL 110   Accelerated Italian

Professor

Nina Cannizzaro

CRN

15363

 

Schedule

T W Th F     11:30  - 12:30 pm  Olin L.C. 118

+ 1 hour tutorial on Mondays, to be arranged.

Distribution

OLD: D

NEW: Foreign Language, Literature, & Culture

This beginning course is designed for the student with some prior exposure to Italian, or excellent command of another Romance language. The course will cover the major topics of grammar and give intensive practice in the four skills (speaking, comprehension, reading and writing). The grammar textbook will be supplemented by traditional homework exercises and a variety of multimedia work in the Bard Foreign Language Resource Center. Student must also enroll in a weekly tutorial (required) to practice oral skills.  The course will concludes with one month of study in Venice, Italy, in June 2005.

 

Course

ITAL 225   Dante's Divine Comedy

Professor

Nina Cannizzaro

CRN

15274

 

Schedule

Wed Fr        3:00  -4:20 pm      OLIN 303

Distribution

OLD: B/D

NEW: Foreign Language, Literature, & Culture

A close reading of the Divine Comedy in its historical, philosophical, and literary contexts. The course will incorporate a variety of critical perspectives (from the Middle Ages to the present), relevant passages from other texts by Dante (Vita Nova, Rime, Convivio, De Vulgari Eloquentia)or other Provençal or early-Italian poets, and brief exploration of the figurative tradition born of this poetic masterpiece. Discussion will focus on the medieval underpinnings and connotations of concepts used by Dante such as intelligence (human and divine), time and history, faith, virtue vs.  sin,  revelation, providence, allegory and the responsibilities of authorship. Conducted in English; students of Italian welcome, but might prefer to take Ital 233 next fall (see f 2003 course description).

 

Course

ITAL 280   Advanced Conversation  and Composition

Professor

Amelia Moser

CRN

15166

 

Schedule

Tu Th          11:30  - 12:50 pm  OLIN 309

Distribution

OLD: D

NEW: Foreign Language, Literature, & Culture

The aim of this course is to help students obtain a sense of fluency in their oral and written expression of Italian, through focused writing (expository and creative), strategic vocabulary building, and scheduled discussion, debate, and short presentations in class.  Course will continue a comprehensive review of grammar, offer a basic introduction to Italian prose stylistics (through examination of excerpts from various genres: fiction, current political commentary, humor, literary essays, philosophical texts, newspaper/magazine articles, children’s literature, etc.), and finally, introduce students to the birth of Italian cinema and its cultural impact. Students are required to enroll in a weekly laboratory session for multimedia work.

Prerequisite:  Intensive Italian or permission of department.

 

Course

ITAL 317   The Fantastic Tale

Professor

Amelia Moser

CRN

15167

 

Schedule

Tu Th          3:00  -4:20 pm      Olin L.C. 118

Distribution

OLD: D

NEW: Foreign Language, Literature, & Culture

Italo Calvino once stated that fantastic fiction “meditates on the nightmares and hidden places of contemporary man”.  This course aims to discuss this seminal idea through a reading of classic short stories by important modern Italian authors including, among others, Luigi Pirandello, Calvino, Umberto Eco, Anna Maria Ortese and Antonio Tabucchi.  Students will investigate the unique contribution of Italian writers to the fantastic tale, which was – and continues to be – intensely present in the literary production of the peninsula.  Special attention will be devoted to contextualizing Italian fantastic fiction within the international trend of this body of writings.  Topics include the inherently subversive nature of the fantastic, the link between fantastic texts and politics, the relation between Magical Realism in Italy and in South America, and the theoretical debate about the fantastic in critics such as Freud and Todorov.  A final project could include the writing of an original fantastic tale.  Film screenings will also be included.  Scheduled to be taught in Italian. Students will meet for weekly grammar review with tutor.