Spring Quarter 2019

Please click here to see the schedule as a PDF


 

Italian 003. Elementary Italian (5 units)

Section Instructor Days/Times Location CRN
 001  Jay Grossi  MTWRF 9:00-9:50A  207 Wellman Hall  77712
 002  Jay Grossi  MTWRF 10:00-10:50A  207 Wellman Hall  77713
 003  Valerie McGuire  MTWRF 11:00-11:50A  207 Wellman Hall  77714
 004  G. Notarianni-Burk  MTWRF 12:10-1:00P  207 Wellman Hall  77715

Course Description: Italian 003 is the third course of Elementary Italian.  Students in this course will continue learning the language in a setting that emphasizes communicative and interactive class activities, e.g., games and role-playing, while focusing also on form (grammar exercises).  The syllabus for Italian 003 comprises Chapters 11 to 16 of the textbook, and the related chapters in the Workbook/Lab Manual (which is available online). Students will review and practice moods and tenses of the verbs they studied in Italian 002. The conditional (present and perfect), the present of the subjunctive, the passive form and the impersonal constructions of the verb, superlative and comparative structures, suffixes in nouns and adjectives, and more uses of prepositions with nouns and verbs will complete the basic knowledge of Italian and increase the students' ability in reading, understanding, speaking and writing. Since the study of a foreign language is different from the study of other disciplines, daily class attendance is indispensable in this course. 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.

Prerequisite: Italian 002 or consent of instructor (jgrossi@ucdavis.edu or vemcguire@ucdavis.edu).

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

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

Textbook:

  • Donatella Melucci and Elissa Tognozzi, Piazza (with iLrn Access)  (Cengage Learning, 2015)


Italian 009. Intermediate Italian (4 units)
Carmen Gomez

MWF 12:10-1:00P
1116 Hart Hall
CRN 77716

Course Description: This is the third course of Intermediate Italian. The purpose of this course is to review and practice 1st and 2nd year language skills with a particular emphasis on reading comprehension skills.  Italian 009 prepares students for the more reading-intensive work of 3rd year Italian (upper-division language and literature courses), and encourages them to interact with the written text (short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, poems) in a communicative and task-oriented classroom, where language and culture are inseparable.  Students will continue to expand their vocabulary and language skills through a variety of class activities and homework assignments in line with the previous Italian intermediate classes (i.e., oral presentations, online lab and workbook, compositions, tutoring sessions, authentic visual materials and music).   Italian 009 covers chapters 9-12 of the textbook and the related chapters in the Workbook/Lab Manual. Grammar review covers chapters 1-8 of the textbook, while new language structures include: hypothetical clauses; passive voice; direct and indirect speech; and the indefinite moods (gerund, infinitive, participle).

Prerequisite: Italian 005/005S or consent of instructor (ccgomez@ucdavis.edu). Students who did not take Italian 005 at UC Davis are encouraged to take the Italian Placement Exam.

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbook:

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

Italian 108. Contemporary Issues in Italian Culture and Society (4 units)        [Taught in English]
Leonardo Giorgetti

MWF 11:00-11:50A
1116 Hart Hall
CRN 91878

Course Description: This course examines several cultural issues in contemporary Italy from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives: historical, geo-political, economic, artistic, and sociological. By adopting a hybrid theoretical approach combining cultural studies and literature, students are encouraged to formulate their own critical analysis of the multiple aspects of contemporary Italian lifestyle, while considering its complex nature as the result of a long historical process. Scholarly readings critically frame a selection of literary texts from the postwar era to the present. The course’s main themes vary on a weekly basis, and range from the problematic definition of the notion of Italy and Italian identities to the study of the most common stereotypes about Italians; from a presentation of their geo-political and sociological diversity to the analysis of their culinary traditions and their ideas about family, gender, and institutions. In addition to literature, popular music and cinema also serve as entryways to the study of Italian culture, as they uniquely reflect the lifestyle and society of the bel paese. The course is taught in English, and all the class readings are provided in English; no prior knowledge of Italian language is required. Non-major students are welcome!

Prerequisite: None.

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

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours (3 one-hour sessions per week); Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • All readings will be available on Canvas.
     

Italian 115A. Studies in the Cinquecento (4 units)
Michael Subialka

TR 12:10-1:30P
205 Wellman Hall
CRN 91879

Course Description: In this course we will examine the flourishing literary, political, and artistic production of the Italian Renaissance by focusing on the court of the Medici family in Florence. We will ask how art and politics reflect and shape one another, and we will investigate how the Medici family used artistic and cultural production for political ends. We will also examine the birth of political theory in Machiavelli’s works, written for and in the context of the Medici dynasty. All of these readings will help us think about the legacies of humanism and the rich intersections between philosophy, politics, and cultural production. They will also raise a problematic question for us to consider about the gendered nature of power and literary/cultural capital in the Florentine Renaissance (which contrasts with some other Renaissance locales, most notably Venice).

Readings will include poetry and prose (including theater, political theory, philosophy, and art history) by: Lorenzo de’ Medici, Marsilio Ficino, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Giorgio Vasari (among others). We will also consider works of visual art and historical readings to contextualize our primary texts.

Prerequisite: Italian 009/009s or its equivalent or consent of instructor (msubialka@ucdavis.edu).

GE credit (New): Arts & Humanities, Oral Literacy and World Cultures.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • Niccolò Machiavelli, Il Principe, edited by Giorgio Inglese  (Einaudi Editore, 2014)
  • Niccolò Machiavelli, La Mandragola, edited by Guido Davico Bonino  (Einaudi Editore, 2015)

Italian 119. Literature of the 19th Century (4 units)
Margherita Heyer-Cáput

TR 10:30-11:50A
229 Wellman Hall
CRN 91880

Course Description: This course will focus on the literature of Italy’s problematic journey to the unification through an intermedial approach that will enhance its historical and philosophical context.  In particular, we will examine the deep connections between literary genres such as lyric poetry (Leopardi), historical novel (Manzoni) and short story (Verga), the literary movements of Romanticism and Verism and the complex process of the Italian unification or "Risorgimento."  In-depth readings will include Giacomo Leopardi's Canti (Songs, 1831), Alessandro Manzoni's I promessi sposi (The Betrothed, 1840-42), and Giovanni Verga's Cavalleria rusticana (1880).  Furthermore, the study of contemporary and classic films and opera recordings inspired by the texts chosen will highlight the expressive synergy of different media, which has defined the art of modernity since 19th century’s Romanticism.

Prerequisite: ITA 009/009S or consent of instructor (mheyercaput@ucdavis.edu).

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

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

Textbooks:

  • Alessandro Manzoni, I promessi sposi  (Mursia, 2007)

[REQUIRED]

  • Alessandro Manzoni, The Betrothed, translated by Bruce Penman  (Penguin Books, 1972)

[RECOMMENDED]