Fall Quarter 2025
- 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
ITA 001 is designed for absolute beginners*; its goal is to guide you in developing basic oral/aural as well as reading/writing proficiencies in Italian. In this course you will actively practice their speaking, pronunciation, reading and writing through a range of communication patterns and real-life situations, putting to use the grammar and vocabulary you have learned. You will also be exposed to songs, films, customs, and traditions as part of becoming more culturally competent in Italian. By the end of the first quarter, you will be able to use Italian to describe yourself, your friends and family and to talk about your likes and dislikes, school, and your daily routine. You will be able to understand short stories, dialogues, and film clips, and to write short dialogues/blogs and compositions. Along with our language courses, the Department offers an array of events and co-curricular activities such as weekly conversation/practice hours, films, cultural events, C.I.A.O. club activities, and free peer tutoring.
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
ITA 021 is for students who have completed ITA 003 or its equivalent (if in doubt, please take the placement exam). This second-year course will continue to provide you with review and refinement of the communication skills learned in your first three quarters of Italian, and it will also introduce you to new topics and more advanced grammar. While the principal objective of the course is to further develop language abilities (both written and spoken), the course also imparts a foundation for the understanding of modern and contemporary Italy. Students will gain further appreciation for Italian culture and be able to communicate both orally and in writing on a wide variety of topics. We will read short stories and literary excerpts, as well as newspaper and magazine articles. We will also view and discuss clips from Italian films and videos.
Undergraduate Courses
ITA 103 Creative Writing in Italian - Poetry Workshop
Andre Naffis-Sahely
This poetry workshop will include a theoretical overview of major schools or tendencies in Italian poetry over the course of the last few decades, from the public-facing poetry of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gianni D’Elia, to the Neuro-Romanticism of Andrea Zanzotto, Amelia Rosselli and Valerio Magrelli, as well as more contemporary poets including the Italo-Eritrean poet Ribka Sibhatu. Students will be expected to compose poetry in Italian and provide a piece of commentary on a poet of their choice.
ITA 108 Contemporary Italian Culture
Andre Naffis-Sahely
This class will examine how despite a general decrease in migration numbers, the Italian media has continued to speak about a 'migration crisis' using sensationalist, and politically charged narratives rather than balanced, fact-based reporting. We will analyze how the subject of immigration is treated in the Italian media, and familiarize ourselves with articles taken from a wide-variety of sources, from liberal newspapers including La Repubblica and Il Manifesto to more right-leaning outlets like Libero and Il Giornale.
