Fall Quarter 2024

For day, time, room, and TA information, see our PDF Schedule or the class search tool https://registrar-apps.ucdavis.edu/courses/search/index.cfm.
For all courses not described here, please refer to the General Catalog course descriptions: https://catalog.ucdavis.edu/courses-subject-code/ita/

Language Courses

ITA 001: Elementary Italian

For instructor information, see https://registrar-apps.ucdavis.edu/courses/search/index.cfm

Discussion 5 hour(s), Laboratory 1 hour(s). Pre-requisite(s): None. Students who have studied Italian before and are enrolling for the first time at UC Davis, are encouraged to take the Italian Placement Exam. GE credit: AH, WC

In this course, we aim to create a sound basis for communicating effectively and accurately in Italian while acquiring not only cultural knowledge about Italy but also the intercultural competence to negotiate between our identities and backgrounds and Italy’s cultures. How do you introduce and describe yourself in Italian? What does student life look like in Italy? What is il calcio? As the first course of a year-long sequence that includes Italian 002 and Italian 003, Italian 001 delivers the answers to these and many other questions, and provides unique opportunities to discover together the geography, history, art, society, and cultural norms of Italy while studying the structure of Italian language. More broadly, this course helps students to acquire important skills that are vital in any professional setting, such as interpersonal skills, creative expression, and cultural sensitivity. Italian 001 meets five days a week and students are expected to individually study grammar and complete the homework before each meeting. In class, we gradually absorb the language and recognize the interconnectedness between reading, writing, listening, speaking, and cultural learning. Students can expect the instructor to employ a variety of approaches, including communicative activities, in-pair and group work, grammar reviews, reading sessions, etc., to foster learning. All class meetings are conducted in Italian and in person. Although no prior knowledge of Italian or Italy is required, student attendance, participation, and input are essential and encouraged.

ITA 021: Intermediate Italian

Lecture/Discussion 4 hour(s), Laboratory. Pre-requisite(s): ITA 003 or ITA 003S or ITA 032 or ITA 032S. Students who have studied Italian before and are enrolling for the first time at UC Davis, are encouraged to take the Italian Placement Exam. GE credit: AH, OL, WC, WE

In this course, we aim to expand upon the linguistic and cultural foundations that you have built in your past learning of Italian through grammar exercises, short essays, novel excerpts, short films, and personal reporting. In Italian 021, we also search together for the answers to questions like what brings one to the study of Italian? How do cities in Italy handle antiquity and modernity? What is l’inno di Mameli? We do so by simulating the real-life conversations and debates happening in Italy and among Italians right now. As the opening course of the Intermediate Italian sequence, which then continues with Italian 022 and 023, Italian 021 empowers students to hone your conversational and written Italian, and to develop sophisticated cultural knowledge that puts into dialogue Italian cultures with other cultures. More broadly, this course cultivates skills that are crucial to any future career, such as critical analysis, effective writing, and cultural sensitivity. Italian 021 meets four days a week and students are expected to individually review grammar and complete the homework before each class meeting. In class, we put into practice the rules, address the exemptions, and share ideas. Students can expect the instructor to employ a variety of approaches, including communicative activities, in-pair and group work, grammar reviews, reading and writing sessions, etc., to foster learning. All class meetings are conducted in person and in Italian, and student participation and input are essential as well as encouraged.

Undergraduate Courses

ITA 105: Intro to Italian Lit
Grace Delmolino

Italian literature spans nearly a thousand years. In this course, we'll take a manageable bite out of this rich and delicious literary tradition, surveying some of the best-known (and less-known) works from the 1200s to the present day. We'll consider questions of literary form, personal identity, and cultural exchange throughout the centuries. Taught in Italian

A flyer for ITA 105 with a renaissance painting of a woman in luxurious fabrics

ITA 113: Dante: Commedia
Grace Delmolino

Explore the medieval Christian afterlife in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy: hell (Inferno), purgatory (Purgatorio) and heaven (Paradiso). Written in 14th-century Italy, Dante’s poem asks: What happens after we die? How can some people deserve eternal punishment and others get redemption? Our course will study this literary masterpiece with a focus on the medieval diversity of law, politics, religion, history, and ethics.