Fall Quarter 2014: Expanded Course Descriptions

EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Please click here to see the Fall Schedule as a PDF.

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LOWER DIVISION COURSES 
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ITALIAN 1: Elementary Italian (5 units)

Course

Title

Units

CRN

Days/Times

Location

Instructor

ITA 001-1

Elementary Italian

5

48468

M-F 9:00-9:50A

 105 Olson

 Jay Grossi

ITA 001-2

Elementary Italian

5

48469

M-F 10:00-10:50A

 105 Olson

 Jay Grossi

ITA 001-3

Elementary Italian

5

48470

M-F 11:00-11:50A

 105 Olson

 Jay Grossi

ITA 001-4

Elementary Italian

5

48471

M-F 12:10-1:00P

 105 Olson

 Carmen Gomez

ITA 001-5

Elementary Italian

5

48472

M-F 1:10-2:00P

 125 Olson

 Carmen Gomez

Course Description: This course is an introduction to Italian language. Students attending Italian 1 will learn the language with an emphasis on communicative, interactive classroom activities. Students will come into contact with the language not only through drills and exercises, but also via games, role-playing, and active class participation. The overall goal of this course is to provide the students with "survival" skills in the target language and, at the same time, acquaint them with Italy and its culture. This course emphasizes listening and speaking skills, and the students' oral proficiency level is regularly assessed during the course. The syllabus for Italian 1 comprises the Preliminary Chapter and Chapters 1 through 6 of the textbook, and the related chapters in the Workbook/Lab Manual (which is available online). In this course students will learn pronunciation, and formal and familiar use of the language. They will also learn how to ask and answer questions about simple topics (e.g., daily routines at home and at school, likes and dislikes) and ask for simple directions. Definite and indefinite articles, nouns and adjectives, plural formation, indicative present of the verbs, numbers, days of the week, months, seasons, how to tell time, weather-related expression, use of the prepositions, and many idiomatic expressions will give students the ability to communicate at the basic level. Short dialogues, daily practice, conversation and use of videos make class attendance indispensable.  Unjustified absences will cause a student’s participation grade to drop, and his/her overall grade will suffer accordingly.  Just as important as daily class participation are homework assignments.  Laboratory is required, and instructors will collect and grade the lab work as scheduled in the syllabus. Failure to comply with the lab requirements will result in a failing lab grade.

Course Placement: Students who have successfully completed, with a C- or better, Italian 2 or 3 in the 10th or higher grade in high school may receive unit credit for this course on a P/NP grading basis only. Although a passing grade will be charged to the student's P/NP option, no petition is required. All other students will receive a letter grade unless a P/NP petition is filed. For more information, please directly contact the instructor, Jay Grossi (jgrossi@ucdavis.edu) or Carmen Gomez (ccgomez@ucdavis.edu), or the Italian staff adviser, Amy Lowrey (allowrey@ucdavis.edu).

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

Textbook:

  • Janice Aski, et al., Avanti [3rd Edition] Bundle (McGraw Hill, 2011)


ITALIAN 4: Intermediate Italian (4 units)
Carmen Gomez, Lecturer

MWF 10:00-10:50A
209 Wellman
CRN 48476

Course Description: This is the first course of Intermediate Italian. The emphasis of this course is on reviewing and practicing 1st year skills in a communicative and task-oriented classroom, where language and culture are inseparable.  Students will expand their vocabulary and language skills through a variety of class activities (oral presentations, collaborative exercises to critically understand written and spoken Italian) and homework assignments (online lab and workbook).  Students will also strengthen their writing skills though writing activities (compositions) and regular use of tutoring sessions.  Movie clips, videos and music are fundamental learning tools in this course.  Italian 4 covers chapters 1-4 of the textbook, and the related chapters in the Workbook/Lab Manual.  First-year grammar review includes: articles; gender and number of nouns; indicative and imperative moods; descriptive adjectives; personal pronouns (subject and direct object).

Prerequisite: Italian 3 or consent of instructor. Students who did not complete Elementary Italian at UC Davis are encouraged to take the Italian Placement Exam.

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Laboratory - 3 hours.

Textbook:

  • Elissa Tognozzi and Giuseppe Cavatorta, Ponti: Italiano Terzo Millennio Bundle (Cengage Learning, 2012)
     

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 UPPER DIVISION COURSES
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ITALIAN 101: Advanced Conversation, Composition and Grammar (4 units)
Margherita Heyer-Caput, Professor

TR 10:30-11:50A
290 Hickey Gym
CRN 63617

Course Description:  This course is aimed at improving oral and written proficiency through group discussions and oral presentations in class, wekley compositions and grammar review exercises at home.  Students work on linguistic structures in context through close readings of short, modern and conemporary literary texts included in the course textbook.  Participants expand vocabulary and enhance conversational skills while discussing cultural changes in today's Italy, with particular attention to human relationships as they are portrayed in contemporary narrative and film.  Audiovisual materials (songs, film-clips, etc.) will regularly complement class activities.  ITA 101 is required for the Italian Major / Minor and will be conducted in Italian.

Prerequisite: ITA 9 or consent of instructor.

GE credit (Old): None.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours.

Textbook:

  • Laura Bresciani, Claudia Donna, and Alessandra Garolla, Amicizia, Affetto, Amore (Edizioni Farinelli, 2012)
     

ITALIAN 107: Survey of Italian Culture and Institutions (4 units)      IN ENGLISH
Jay Grossi, Lecturer

MWF 12:10-1:00P
192 Young
CRN 48487

Course Description:  Italian 107 is a course designed to present students with an overview of Italian history and culture from the Middle Ages to the present.  The first few lessons will deal with the history and culture of the Etruscans and Romans before arriving at the Medieval Period.  In this class we shall cover the following topics: Humanism, the Baroque, Enlightenment, and the culture of Italian unification, the Risorgimento with special emphasis on the works of St. Francis of Assisi, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Machiavelli, Castiglione, Della Casa, Galileo, Beccaria, and Manzoni.   Moreover we shall also cover topics, such as the development of the Italian language, Italian cuisine, and great Italian cities. Thus at the end of the course the student should have a general knowledge of the historical and cultural background of Italy.

Readings will be assigned for each class meeting from the text, the reader and handouts and, the student will be expected to have completed the assigned readings before attending each class meeting. 

Attendance and class participation are an integral part of the course. There will be periodic exams.  An oral presentation and a research paper will also be required.

Prerequisite: None.

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, Social Sciences, Visual Literacy, World Cultures and Writing Experience.

Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • Claudia Baldoli, A History of Italy (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009)
  • A Course Reader
     

Italian Quarter Abroad

Italian Language and Culture Program in Florence

View the dedicated page at UC Davis Study Abroad to find out more about the program

Please click here to see the UC Davis Study Abroad - Italy Program Schedule as a PDF.


EAP classes will include:

ITALIAN 121S: New Italian Cinema (4 Units)   [Cross-listed with Film Studies 121S]
Margherita Heyer-Caput, Professor

Course Description: This course explores the thriving Italian cinema of the twenty-first century in relationship with the deep cultural and social changes that Italy has undergone in the last two decades. This class will be particularly interesting for QA students.  Immersed in the vibrant urban life of Florence, QA participants will analyze filmic representations of the Italian reality that they will experience in their daily life.

In the course of the quarter we investigate how contemporary Italian filmmakers, from Marco Tullio Giordana to Cristina Comencini and Ferzan Ozpetek, have overcome a paralyzing sense of “afterness” and infused Italian cinema with a new vitality.  These directors-writers-producers-lead actors have successfully integrated in their works the inspiring but also challenging legacy of the great auteurs of Italian Neorealism of the ‘40s and ‘50s (Rossellini, De Sica, etc.) and of the art cinema of the ‘60s and ‘70s (Antonioni, Fellini, etc.).  Moreover, contemporary Italian filmmakers have creatively overcome the disillusions suffered by the political cinema of the ‘80s and ‘90s (Rosi, Petri, the Taviani Brothers, etc.).  The movies analyzed revisit classic genres of Italian cinema, from the Comedy Italian Style to historical productions, and reinvent film as a powerful art form with a social reference and a moral accountability.

Prerequisite: Italian 1 and upper division standing, or consent of instructor.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Film Viewing - 3 hours.

GE credit (Old): Arts & Humanities, Diversity, and Writing Experience.
GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy, Visual Literacy, World Cultures, and Writing Experience.

Textbooks:

  • Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing about Film [8th Edition] (Longman, 2011) - (Available for purchase prior to departure at the UC Davis Bookstore)
  • Ed. Margherita Heyer-Caput, New Italian Cinema, A Reader - (Available for purchase prior to departure at the Davis Textbook Exchange)
     

ITALIAN 192S: Italian Internship Abroad
Margherita Heyer-Caput, Professor

Course Description: All program participants enjoy the opportunity to integrate in the Florentine community (and practice their language skills) through unique internship experiences in various settings (elementary schools, public hospitals, community centers, etc.).  If you would like to read testimonials of past QA Florence interns regarding our award-winning internship program, please go to: 
http://www.ceastudyabroadblog.com/2012/01/giving-back-to-florence-cea-st...

Students enroll in ITA 192S, Italian Internship Abroad, which is a P/NP, variable unit course.  Beginning and Intermediate Italian students select ITA 192S for 1 unit (for a minimum of 40 hours total throughout the program with Transcript Notation). The 1-unit internship is OPTIONAL for Beginning and Intermediate Italian students, while it is MANDATORY for Advanced Italian students.  Advanced Italian students have the option to enroll in ITA 192S for 2 units (for a minimum of 60 hours total with Transcript Notation).  All interested students attend a specific Internship Orientation Meeting with Professor Heyer-Caput offered within the on-site orientation upon their arrival.

While all internships in Firenze are officially recognized through the UC Davis Internship and Career Center for academic credit, students will receive Transcript Notation on their UC Davis transcripts only if they intern for a minimum of 40 hours in the course of the program.  Therefore, You should calculate approximately a time commitment of 3 hours per week for 15 weeks of instruction. Please go to icc.ucdavis.edu to log in to Aggie Job Link and create an AJL account if you do not already have one in order to fill out on-line the Transcript Notation Form.  Further instructions will follow at the on-site meeting.

Please note:  The internship will represent one of the most memorable aspects of your experience abroad.  Enjoy it to the fullest!

For more information about QA Florence internships, please go to: 
https://summerabroad.ucdavis.edu/documents/qa-italy-internships.pdf
http://www.ceastudyabroadblog.com/2012/01/giving-back-to-florence-cea-st...


ITALIAN 198S: Directed Group Study Abroad
Margherita Heyer-Caput, Professor

Course Description: Pass/No Pass grading only.

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

Documents