An examination of the cultural and economic forces that drive global tourism, as well as its effects on local communities and the environment. Taking Italy as our case study, we will investigate the cultural experiences (food, art, language, etc.) that make a traveler’s experience “authentic,” as well as the processes that commodify and export this authenticity to a global audience. How do travelers and tourists consume and contribute to local culture? What are the environmental and economic effects of “going off the beaten path”? Should cities that suffer from overtourism, such as Venice, charge an entrance fee to visitors? Or does doing so turn a thousand-year-old city into a theme park? Using the analytical techniques of literary studies and cultural studies, we will examine historical and contemporary cultural artifacts ranging from memoirs and guidebooks to cookbooks and TV shows. Students will develop their critical reading, analytical writing, and research skills through a series of writing assignments that culminate in a research project. This course is taught in English, and there is no language requirement or prerequisite.

Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester

This course is an introduction to the Italian language through the context of Italian geography and society. Students master basic grammar constructions and vocabulary and communicate about their lives, Italy, and the world. Students access numerous forms of media from literature to news feeds, music, visual art, film, and television. Three class hours per week and weekly conversation session in small groups with teaching assistants. Offered every fall.

Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester

This course is a continuation of Italian Studies 1101. Students expand their listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills through more complex language structures and vocabulary. Students continue to access an expanded range of media from literature to news feeds, music, visual art, film, and television. Three class hours per week and weekly conversation session in small groups with teaching assistants. Offered every spring.

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

Puts students’ existing knowledge of a Romance language to good use in an accelerated approach to Italian, covering in just one semester what is typically covered in the two-semester 1101-1102 sequence. Authentic materials and audiovisual resources such as music, films, television series, and news articles immerse students in contemporary Italian culture and society. Prior experience with the principal grammatical elements of French, Spanish, or another Romance language allows students to move quickly through the study of present, future, and past tenses and other key aspects of basic Italian. Three class hours per week and weekly conversation session in small groups with the Italian teaching fellow. Offered every spring.

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

Asks what a digital representation of a city could and should be, particularly in a moment when travel is limited, using Florence, Italy as a case study. Examines digital image, text, and spatial data about the city, juxtaposing it against non-digital primary sources, secondary critical readings, reflections on experiences of urban and other spaces, and data that we will create in class. Emphasizes shifting definitions across time, language, and digital artifacts of what and who is Florentine in these representations. Coursework happens in three phases: going “under the hood” of the popular digital artifacts that provide an experience of Florence in order to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of representation; expanding our definition of Digital Florence to find local perspectives on what the essential features of the city could be; and proposing a digital intervention that better reflects the values we have identified throughout the semester. Assumes no programming knowledge. Taught in English. This course originates in Digital and Computational Studies and is crosslisted with: Italian Studies; Urban Studies. (Same as: DCS 2100, URBS 2100)

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2024 Fall Semester

The intermediate sequence develops communicative proficiency of Italian language and culture by improving upon the skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural competency. Building on existing skills in Italian, it introduces students to new and more complex grammar and communicative structures. Students continue to study Italian culture, geography, and literature and explore crosscultural similarities and differences between Italy and the United States using a variety of digital, literary, and visual texts. The goal of third-semester Italian is to further improve students’ ability to speak and understand Italian, to become familiar with the use of different tenses and moods (compound tenses, imperative, conditional, subjunctive), to increase their writing skills as they begin to read different kinds of texts, from informal to literary. Three class hours per week and a weekly conversation session with the Italian teaching fellow. Offered every Fall.

Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester

The intermediate sequence develops communicative proficiency of Italian language and culture by improving upon the skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural competency. Building on existing skills in Italian, it introduces students to new and more complex grammar and communicative structures. Students continue to study Italian culture, geography, and literature and explore crosscultural similarities and differences between Italy and the United States using a variety of digital, literary, and visual texts. While speaking and listening with an emphasis on interpretational and presentational tasks continue as the center of class activity, the goal of fourth-semester Italian is to focus more intensively on reading and writing Italian. Basic literary analysis and vocabulary building are developed using the selected readings. Three class hours per week and a weekly conversation session with the Italian teaching fellow. Offered every Spring.

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

One of the greatest works of literature of all times. Dante’s Divine Comedy leads us through the torture-pits of Hell, up the steep mountain of Purgatory, to the virtual, white-on-white zone of Paradise, and then back to where we began: our own earthly lives. Accompanies Dante on his allegorical journey, armed with knowledge of Italian culture, philosophy, politics, religion, and history. Pieces together a mosaic of medieval Italy, while developing and refining abilities to read, analyze, interpret, discuss, and write about both literary texts and critical essays. Conducted in English.

Terms offered: 2025 Spring Semester

This course guides students to increasing their fluency in reading, writing, and speaking through engaging various genres of Italian cultural production, contemporary Italian life, and current events. Students deepen their knowledge and practice of critical textual analysis through the study of various media (short stories, poetry, journalism, a novel, an opera libretto, a work of theater, and film), continue to solidify their mastery of Italian grammar, and augment their reading and speaking vocabulary. Regular in-class presentations and essays serve to help students express themselves with more complex and authentic spoken and written style. Conducted in Italian.

Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester

In the recent past, Italy has experienced violent political, economic, and cultural changes. In short succession, it experienced fascist dictatorship, the Second World War, the Holocaust, and Civil War, a passage from monarchy to republic, a transformation from a peasant existence to an industrialized society, giving rise to a revolution in cinema, fashion, and transportation. How did all this happen? Who were the people behind these events? What effect did they have on everyday life? Answers these questions, exploring the history and the culture of Italy from fascism to contemporary Italy, passing through the economic boom, the Years of Lead, and the mafia. Students have the opportunity to relive the events of the twentieth century, assuming the identity of real-life men and women. Along with historical and cultural information, students read newspaper articles, letters, excerpts from novels and short stories from authors such as Calvino, Levi, Ginzburg, and others, and see films by directors like Scola, Taviani, De Sica, and Giordana.

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

An introduction to Italian cinema with an emphasis on Neorealism and its relationship to other genres, including Comedy Italian Style, the Spaghetti Western, the horror film, the 'mondo' (shock documentary), and mafia movies, among others. Readings and discussions situate films within their social and historical contexts, and explore contemporary critical debates about the place of radical politics in Italian cinema (a hallmark of Neorealism), the division between art films and popular cinema, and the relevance of the concept of an Italian national cinema in an increasingly globalized world. No prerequisite required. Taught in English (films screened in Italian with English subtitles). Note: Fulfills the non-US cinema requirement for cinema studies minors. This course originates in Romance Languages and Literatures and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 2553)

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester

In their attempt to write Sicily, nineteenth- and twentieth-century Sicilian authors have had to come to terms with a land rife with contradictions that have often been considered a reality unto themselves. Since ancient times, Sicily has been a crossroads of cultures and civilizations whose influence has created a Babel of languages, customs, and ideas that separates it from, while uniting it to, the mainland. Examines the construction of the idea of Sicily and sicilianità in the writing of twentieth-century natives like Luigi Pirandello, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Vitaliano Brancati, Leonardo Sciascia, Vincenzo Consolo, and Andrea Camilleri. Emphasis placed on a critical analysis of attempts to define the essence of the Sicilian character within the social and historical context of post-Unification Italy.

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester

An introduction to the literary tradition of Italy from the Middle Ages through the early Baroque period. Focus on major authors and literary movements in their historical and cultural contexts. Conducted in Italian.

Focuses on the development of narrative and theatrical prose written by women in Italy over the course of the twentieth century and on the cultural and social issues raised by their narratives in the context of the dramatic changes that the country was undergoing. These works lead progressively through an examination of Italy at the turn of the last century, of the image of the ideal female created during the fascist era, of the condition of women in postwar Italy, of the dramatic impact that the feminist movement had on women writing in the 1960s and 1970s and, finally, of the experimentation in theme, style, and technique that has marked the most recent generation of women writers. Students are encouraged to reflect on the relationship between literature written by women and the social and cultural context in which it is produced. Readings include novels and short stories by, among others, Sibilla Aleramo, Natalia Ginzburg, Alba De Cespedes, Dacia Maraini, and Grazia Verasani, and the theater of Franca Rame. Conducted in Italian.

Terms offered: 2023 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester

Examines the digitization of Renaissance Italy (spanning the years 1350–1650). Studies how the medium of a work impacts its interpretation and how digital humanities tools can reveal how new knowledge and creative practices developed in this rich period of innovation and experimentation. Emphasis on the unlikely genre partners in the dissemination of ideas in the period: comedy, correspondence, epic poetry, and natural science treatises. Materials include primary source texts in Italian and digital projects. Assumes no knowledge of programming or any software that will be used. Taught in Italian.

This course asks how different computational text analysis can be in two cultural environments: the digital humanities as practiced in the US and informatica umanistica in Italy. Our case study for texts to study will be Italian epic poetry of the Renaissance, the equivalent of today’s Marvel comic universe in terms of range of characters, complexity of plotlines, action sequences, humor, popularity, and fan-fiction spinoffs. We will draw on the multiple language backgrounds of all students in the course and the combined skills of advanced students in DCS and Italian. We will practice collaborative, iterative research development around the geographies, networks, and textual features of our texts. Activities will include discussion, hands-on use of digital tools, assigned readings, and a culminating project. This course originates in Digital and Computational Studies and is crosslisted with: Italian Studies. (Same as: DCS 3012)

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester

Examines the aesthetic and narrative qualities of recent Italian television in the globalized context of the streaming era. Focuses in particular on the role of cultural specificity, or 'italianità,”, in Italian-language media intended for the international market. Explores developments in the transnational circulation of Italian television series in relation to streaming technology, platforms, economics, and media policies in Italy and abroad. Analyzes contemporary series like Gomorrah, Luna Nera, My Brilliant Friend, and Mare Fuori, as well as their popularity with global audiences. Coursework includes the creation of an analytical or creative video essay in addition to traditional written research. Previous experience with video- editing software like Premiere or Final Cut Pro is beneficial, but not required. Note: Students taking the course to fulfill a 3000-level course requirement for the Italian Sstudies or Romance Languages and Literatures major or the minor in Italian Studies will view media and submit written and videographic assignments in Italian, meeting regularly with an instructor and/or Italian teaching fellow to support continuing development of Italian-language skills. Course may be counted toward the non-US cinema requirement for the cCinema sStudies minor. Language of instruction is English. This course originates in Romance Languages and Literatures and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 3013)

Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester

Examines the genre of the Italian Giallo and its importance in contemporary Italian fiction. Considers critical approaches to the genre and addresses specific theoretical and cultural issues in the context of modern Italy, with specific focus on the cultural/geographic context that so thoroughly informs the Giallo. Examines the style and the formal and thematic choices of authors such as Sciascia, Scerbanenco, Macchiavelli, Lucarelli, Carlotto, and Camilleri.

Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester

One of the greatest works of literature of all times. Dante’s “Divine Comedy” leads the reader through the torture-pits of hell, up the steep mountain of purgatory, to the virtual, white-on-white zone of paradise, and then back to where we began: our own earthly lives. Accompanies Dante on his allegorical journey, armed with knowledge of Italian culture, philosophy, politics, religion, and history. Pieces together a mosaic of medieval Italy, while developing and refining abilities to read, analyze, interpret, discuss, and write about both literary texts and critical essays. Conducted in Italian.

Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester

This course explores issues of race, identity, and citizenship in colonial and postcolonial Italy and, through the analysis of the cultural production of migrant authors (novels, short stories, graphic novels, films) examines and challenges the multiple ways in which the idea of race and racism have contributed to a persistently white and culturally and religiously homogeneous definition of the Italian nation in the twentieth century. Does the juxtaposition of terms such as “Black” and “Italian” constitute an oxymoron? Do these works succeed in conjuring up plural identities within the Italian national space, the way in which postcolonial writers have done in other countries?

Examines Italy’s role in the evolution of the modern-day diva, star, and celebrity: from the transformation of religious icons such as the Madonna and the Magdalene into the divas, vamps, and femme fatales of early cinema to the development of silent cinema’s strongman into a model for charismatic politicians like Fascist leader Benito Mussolini and media-mogul-turned-prime-minister Silvio Berlusconi. Pays special attention to tensions between Italy’s association with cinematic realism and its growing celebrity culture in the second half of the twentieth century through today. Texts may include Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, A Fistful of Dollars, A Special Day, and The Young Pope, along with readings on key topics in star studies, such as silent stardom; stardom and genre; transnational stardom; and race, sex, and stardom. Students make use of bibliographic and archival sources to conduct independent research culminating in term papers and audiovisual essays. Note: fulfills the non-US cinema and theory requirements for Cinema Studies minors. Taught in English. This course originates in Romance Languages and Literatures and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: CINE 3077)

Sicily has long been a contested, multicultural space. At once starkly rural and vibrantly urban, environmentally barren and resource rich, economically wealthy and impoverished, the island is both a part of Italy, part of the Mediterranean, part of Europe, and apart from all of them. This course investigates digital textual representations of Sicily and Sicilian culture by residents to document and challenge prevailing images of the island created primarily by foreign tourists, mainland Italians, and regional conquerors. Combined with a planned trip to Sicily, students will compare perspectives on the ground with the results of distant and computational reading of literature, history, social media, and generative AI texts about the relationships among the built, natural, and cultural environments of Sicily. Does not require knowledge of Italian, but does require previous experience coding in Python or R. This course originates in Digital and Computational Studies and is crosslisted: Italian Studies; Urban Studies. (Same as: DCS 3114, URBS 3114)

Explores Mediterranean crime fiction or “noir” (novels, short stories, graphic novels, films) whose events describe and question the society in which the crime has taken place and that actively engage with the idea of otherness. The course examines how fiction fosters questions about a paradigm of thinking and solving crimes. Does a different provenance make a difference in how one approaches crime and evil? Writers and filmmakers may include: Jean-Claude Izzo, Costa Gavras, Driss Chraïbi, Camilleri, Massimo Carlotto, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán and Alicia Giménez Bartlett. Conducted in English, with students reading works in the original language or in translation as appropriate. Includes a fourth discussion hour in either French, Italian, or Spanish, with the respective professors to be scheduled following registration. This course originates in Romance Languages and Literatures and is crosslisted with: Francophone Studies; Hispanic Studies. (Same as: FRS 3300, HISP 3300)