In this course we will read a series of texts from the French-speaking world that deal with questions of travel, migration, and of what is means to be at home, to go away, and to leave home behind. We will use these literary texts to help us enter into discussions about national origin, immigration status, race, social class, gender, economic status, and religion, among other factors that can be used to discuss identity. Through texts from Africa, North America, the Caribbean, and Europe, we will study questions about power in the world around us, while also investigating our own personal experiences, origins, and life stories. We will read novels, poetry, plays, and essays. We will also watch a few films. As this course is a first-year writing seminar, we practice writing about the topics that arise from our readings and discussions, and we will actively engage in revising our writing on a regular basis as we explore what it means to leave home and become at home in a new place.

Friendship is a precious relationship often wrongly regarded as less vital, intense, or transformative than love. It encompasses a wide range of social bonds, from playground companionship and wartime camaraderie to Facebook links. Most friendships have a lasting impact in people’s lives and trajectories. Some are toxic and so passionate that they can become dangerous. Others are fragile, sometimes fake, or easily endangered by selfish motives. Through novels and movies this seminar investigates the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of the liberating and alienating dynamics of friendship within an array of relationships: political, inter-gender, inter-racial, inter-religious and inter-generational friendships, as well as the mentor-disciple dynamic.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

A study of the basic forms, structures, and vocabulary in the context of the French-speaking world. Emphasis on the four communicative skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with teaching assistants, plus regular language laboratory assignments. Primarily open to first- and second-year students.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

A study of the basic forms, structures and vocabulary in the context of the French-speaking world. Emphasis on the four communicative skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. A study of the basic forms, structures, and vocabulary in the context of the French-speaking world. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant.

Prerequisites: FRS 1101 or Placement in FRS 1102.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

Vocabulary development and review of basic grammar, which are integrated into more complex patterns of written and spoken French. Active use of French in class discussions and conversation sessions with French teaching fellows.Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session.

Prerequisites: FRS 1102 or Placement in FRS 2203 or Placement in FRS 2203/2305.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

Continued development of oral and written skills; course focus shifts from grammar to reading. Short readings form the basis for the expansion of vocabulary and analytical skills. Active use of French in class discussions and conversation sessions with French teaching fellows. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session.

Prerequisites: FRS 2203 or Placement in FRS 2204.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

An introduction to film analysis. Conversation and composition based on a variety of contemporary films from French-speaking regions. Grammar review and frequent short papers. Emphasis on student participation including a variety of oral activities. Three hours per week plus regular viewing sessions for films and a weekly conversation session with French teaching fellows.

Prerequisites: FRS 2204 or Placement in FRS 2305 or Placement in FRS 2203/2305 or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

An introduction to the cultures of various French-speaking regions outside of France. Examines the history, politics, customs, cinema, and the arts of the Francophone world, principally Africa and the Caribbean. Increases cultural understanding prior to study abroad in French-speaking regions. (Same as: AFRS 2407, LACL 2407)

Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

An introduction to contemporary France through newspapers, magazines, television, music, and film. Emphasis is on enhancing communicative proficiency in French and increasing cultural understanding prior to study abroad in France.

Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

Examines oral and written traditions of areas where French is spoken in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and North America from the Middle Ages to 1848. Through interdisciplinary units, students examine key moments in the history of the francophone world, drawing on folktales, epics, poetry, plays, short stories, essays, and novels. Explores questions of identity, race, colonization, and language in historical and ideological context. Taught in French. (Same as: AFRS 2409, LACL 2209)

Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

Examines questions of power and resistance as addressed in the literary production of the French-speaking world from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries. Examines how language and literature serve as tools for both oppression and liberation during periods of turmoil: political and social revolutions, colonization and decolonization, the first and second world wars. Authors may include Hugo, Sand, Sartre, Fanon, Senghor, Yacine, Beauvoir, Condé, Césaire, Djebar, Camus, Modiano, Perec, and Piketty. Students gain familiarity with a range of genres and artistic movements and explore the myriad ways that literature and language reinforce boundaries and register dissent. Taught in French.

Prerequisites: FRS 2305 or higher or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

Examines the fait divers, a news item recounting an event of a criminal, strange, or licentious nature, as a source for literary and cinematographic production. Traces the development of the popular press and its relationship to the rise of the short story. Explores how literary authors and filmmakers past and present find inspiration in the news and render “true stories” in their artistic work. Readings may include selections from Rosset, J-P. Camus, Le Clézio, Cendrars, Beauvoir, Duras, Genet, Modiano, Bon, newspapers, and tabloids.

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Students read, analyze, and produce scenes from French plays. At the end of the semester, student groups produce, direct, and perform in one-act plays. Authors studied may include Molière, Marivaux, Beckett, Ionesco, Sartre, Camus, Genet, Sarraute, and Anouilh. Conducted in French.

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

Analysis of texts and images from early modern literary, philosophical, medical, ecclesiastical, and artistic sources from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, as well as of modern film, Web, and textual media, allows students to explore the conflicting roles of early modern bodies through several themes: birth and death, medicine and hygiene, gender and sexuality, social class, race, monstrosity, Catholic and Protestant visions of the body, the royal body, the body politic. Thoughtful comparison and examination of the meanings of the body today encouraged throughout. Conducted in French.

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2021.

A study of memoir novels, epistolary novels (letters), and autobiography. What does writing have to do with love and desire? What is the role of others in the seemingly personal act of “self-expression”? What is the truth value of writing that circulates in the absence of its author? These and other related issues are explored in the works of the most popular writers of eighteenth-century France: Prévost, Graffigny, Laclos, and Rousseau. Conducted in French.

Prerequisites: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Enslaved Africans who fought against oppression through escaping the European plantation system in the Caribbean for freedom in the mountains are called maroons, and their act, marronnage. Except for Queen Nanny of the Jamaican Blue Mountains, only male names have been consecrated as maroons and freedom fighters (the Haitians Makandal or Toussaint Louverture, the Martinican Louis Delgrès, the Jamaican Cudjoe or the Cuban Coba). The course examines the fictitious treatment French-speaking Caribbean authors grant to forgotten African or Afro-descended women who historically fought against enslavement and colonization. The literary works are studied against the backdrop of “Douboutism,” a conceptual framework derived from the common perception about women in the French Caribbean as expressed in the Creole say “fanm doubout,” which means “strong woman.” Authors studied may include Evelyne Trouillot, Maryse Condé, Simone Schwarz-Bart, André Schwarz-Bart, Suzanne Dracius, and Fabienne Kanor. (Same as: AFRS 3211, GSWS 3211, LACL 3211)

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

Since the eighteenth century, France has developed a seemingly endless list of literary prizes, the Prix Goncourt being the most famous. There are over 3,000 prizes awarded every year -- being awarded one of these prizes represents an official consecration meant to underline the writer’s unquestionable worth. Who serves on the juries for all of these prizes? Is it really the best works that are acknowledged? In recent years, scandals have erupted with accusations of influence peddling by publishers. What does this teach us about French culture and society? What is the relation between literary prizes and the promotion of French culture more broadly? In the context of globalization, what political statement is being made? What is exactly the type of culture, themes, and discourse promoted via this literature given the new makeup of the French population? Immigration has considerably changed the face of France. How does the culture of literary prizes take this into account? Students read four recent prizewinners. Each of these prizewinners created controversy that directly addresses the questions above. Primary readings include works by: Houellbecq, Le Clezio, Paule Constant, Alain Mabanckou.

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

Aesthetics—the critical reflection on art, taste, and culture; as much as beauty, the set of properties of an object that arouses pleasure—are central to all aspects of society-building and human life and relationships. Examines the notions of aesthetics and beauty, from precolonial to contemporary times in cultures of the African, Caribbean, and Western civilizations as expressed in thought and various humanities and social sciences texts, as well as the arts, iconography, and the media. Considers the ways Africans and Afro-descendants in the American region responded to Western notions of aesthetics and beauty and posited their own. Authors studied may include Senghor, Cheick Anta Diop, Mudimbe, Gyekye Kwame, Anténor Firmin, Jean Price Mars, Damas, Suzanne Césaire, Aimé Césaire, René Ménil, Fanon, Glissant, Socrates, Plato, Diderot, Montesquieu, Baumgarten, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Ronsard, Erasmus, de Grenailles, and Hugo. (Same as: AFRS 3213, LACL 3213)

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Seminar. Provides insight into contemporary film production from the Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). Explores questions of gender and sexuality, national identity, political conflict, and post- and neo-colonial relationships in the context of globalization and in conditions of political repression and rigid moral conservatism. Examines how filmmakers such as Lakhdar Hamina, Férid Boughedir, Moufida Tlatli, Nedir Moknèche, Malek Bensmaïl, Lyès Salem, Hicham Ayoub, and Leyla Bouzid work in a challenging socio-economic context of film production in consideration of setbacks and obstacles specific to the developing world. Taught in French. (Same as: CINE 3352, MENA 3216)

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

Examines ideas about gender and sexuality and emerging conceptions of race and their relationship to science in early modern France and its North American and Caribbean colonies. Through reading and discussion of literary, testimonial, scientific, artistic, legal, and proto-ethnographic works produced by authors and artists from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, as well as critical work drawn from several disciplines, students explore how scientific ideas about human difference served to justify mechanisms of inequality, control, and violence that continue to have a devastating legacy today. Emphasis is also placed on analyzing responses and resistances to dominant structures and norms by Native Americans, Sub-Saharan Africans, French women, and gender-nonconforming men. Conducted in French.

Prerequisites: Two of: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) and FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

An introduction to some of the main intellectual productions from the French-speaking Caribbean from the nineteenth century to the present, such as the Haitian post-Revolution thought, Indigénisme and Spiralisme or Martinican Négritude, and Diversalité or Tout-monde. Examines theoretical and literary texts by Louis Joseph Janvier, Anténor Firmin, Jean Price-Mars, Frankétienne, René Depestre, Marie Chauvet, René Maran, Léon Gontran Damas, Bertène Juminer, Maryse Condé, Simone Schwarz-Bart, René Ménil, Aimé Césaire, Suzanne Césaire, Joseph Zobel, Frantz Fanon, Édouard Glissant, Vincent Placoly, or Patrick Chamoiseau. Questions addressed include history, memory, ethics, humanism, freedom, relation, Caribbean epistemology, dignity, justice, existence, political theory, identity, race, and cultural autonomy. (Same as: AFRS 3219, LACL 3259)

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Fall 2020.

Explores the ways in which authors refer to history, geography, and most particularly to other literary texts in order to form a community of voices that constitutes a body of expression unique to Francophone Canada. The literature of French Canada evokes a history of displacements, conflicts, triumphs, oppressions, and liberations that play out in relationship to “others” to whom texts respond. We will read essays, novels, plays, and poems from Francophone Canada and familiarize ourselves with events, texts, and places that will help us deepen our understanding and appreciation of the literary traditions of Canada, with an emphasis on Québécois and Acadian authors. Readings may include texts by Marie-Claire Blais, Roch Carrier, Herménégilde Chiasson, Evelyne de la Chenelière, Madeleine Gagnon, Claude Gauvreau, Anne Hébert, Dany Laferrière, Michèle Lalonde, Robert Lepage, Antonine Maillet, Gaston Miron, Wajdi Mouawad, Émile Nelligan, Gabrielle Roy, and Michel Tremblay.

Prerequisites: Two of: either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher and either FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LAS 2209) or FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LAS 2210) or FRS 3000 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

Analyzes the depiction of the Algerian War of Independence in Algerian and French novels and films, drawing on trauma, postcolonial and decolonial theories. The Algerian War of Independence lasted nearly eight years (1954–62), cost between one million and one and a half million lives, saw atrocities like the use of torture by the French army and remained an obscure part of the national history of both Algeria and France. Algerian and French writers and filmmakers depict this war differently. Adopting a chronological and comparative approach to the representations of the conflict in Algeria and France, this seminar follows the various phases behind the construction of the collective memory of the Algerian War of Independence in each country. From state censorship, trauma, melancholic renderings of the past and nationalist appropriations of history, Algerian and French writers and filmmakers confront distinct problematics. (Same as: MENA 3223)

Prerequisites: Two of: FRS 2409 (same as AFRS 2409 and LACL 2209) and FRS 2410 (same as AFRS 2412 and LACL 2210).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

Provides an introduction to the 1612 novel Don Quixote, widely celebrated as the first modern novel and translated across languages. Through study of the novel and its contemporary adaptations in literature, film, television, and popular culture, students will consider the lasting social, cultural, and political impacts of Miguel de Cervantes’s novel. Students will focus especially on the depiction of readers and books, consumption of information, and censorship. (Same as: LACL 1020)

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

This course offers an introduction to the language and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Students will learn general forms, structures, and vocabulary based on project-based learning where students acquire language through a rich content environment. As an entry-level course, this class is designed for students with little or no prior Spanish language experience. Three class hours per week, plus a required weekly conversation session with a learning assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2203 (Intermediate Spanish I).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021.

This course is designed to develop student’s language skills based on project-based activities and to build cultural understanding of the diversity in various regions of the Spanish-Speaking world. The course practices specific grammar problems, multi-paragraph writing in Spanish, and discussions on increasingly complex topics through readings, audio and short-subject films, both fiction and non-fiction. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2204.

Prerequisites: HISP 1102 or HISP 1103 or Placement in HISP 2203 or Placement in HISP 2203/2204 or HISP 1100 or Placement in HISP 1100/2203.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

This course is designed to develop student’s language skills based on project-based activities and building cultural understanding of the diversity in various regions of the Spanish-Speaking world. The course practices specific grammar problems, written compositions and discussions on increasingly complex topics through readings, audio and short-subject films, both fiction and non-fiction. Three class hours per week and one weekly conversation session with assistant. This course prepares students for HISP 2305.

Prerequisites: HISP 2203 or Placement in HISP 2204 or Placement in HISP 2203/2204.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

This course examines the history, politics, and cultures of the Hispanic World, from the 20th century to the present. Key moments include the Mexican Revolution, the Spanish Civil War, the Cuban Revolution, dictatorships in Chile and Argentina, and Latinx movements in the US. Through the study of a wide variety of literary and cultural icons from La Malinche and Octavio Paz, Pedro Almodóvar and Carmen Laforet, to Nancy Morejón, Julio Cortazár and Luís Valdez, students will reflect on individual experiences and collective movements. The course provides students with advanced practice in grammar, reading, speaking, listening, writing and research in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 2205)

Prerequisites: HISP 2204 or Placement in HISP 2305.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

Designed for heritage speakers (who grew up speaking Spanish in the home), bilinguals, and other Spanish-speaking students. The class will examine nonfictional accounts of current events and issues in the Hispanic world written by leading Spanish and Latin American authors and journalists. Throughout the semester, students will conduct research on a given topic or a particular environment of their choosing, writing their own nonfictional accounts of their research. Students will gain valuable real world experience researching, reporting, and working with speakers of Spanish in Brunswick or the surrounding communities. Through work specifically tailored to individual needs, students will hone their writing skills and build confidence in the language. (Same as: LACL 2306)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022.

Designed for students who were exposed to Spanish at home or had extended exposure in a Spanish-speaking community or country. Builds on the linguistic and cultural competence students already have in order to expand their language skills in a wide variety of contexts, with particular emphasis on writing skills in Spanish. Throughout the semester, students will engage in a critical exploration of the (socio)linguistic and cultural diversity of Latinx and diaspora communities in the US by looking at themes such as language and migration, language use and variation in multilingual communities, and language and identity, among other topics related to the dynamic situation of Spanish in the US Students will also strengthen their command of specific grammar points and achieve more confidence using Spanish through the implementation of projects in which they deepen their knowledge and understanding of communities while reflecting on their individual experiences. (Same as: LACL 2308)

Prerequisites: HISP 2204 or Placement in HISP 2308.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Examines theater and poetry in Spain and Latin America from the eleventh-century verses of Jewish and Muslim authors to the twentieth-century works of Nobel Prize winners. Through class discussions and critical analysis, students will discover how the structure, form, content, and performance of poetry and theater relate to a work’s aesthetic movement, historical context, and contemporary adaptations. Some of the topics for discussion include: religious conflicts and their influence in literary forms; the cultural and political implications of the colonization of the Americas, its legacy, and the resistance to it; the Baroque, its innovative aesthetic techniques, and its transatlantic influence; the mechanisms used by writers to subvert discourses of patriarchy; the importance of Indigenous cultures in the development of Latin American nations and cultural traditions; and the political and artistic relationships with the US and other European avant-garde movements. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 2409, THTR 2409)

Prerequisites: HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205) or HISP 2306 (same as LACL 2306) or HISP 2308 (same as LACL 2308) or Placement in HISP 2409 or 2410.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

Examines narrative forms and essays in Spain and Latin America from pre-Conquest times until the twentieth-century works of Nobel Prize winners. Through class discussions and critical analysis, students will discover how the structure, form, and content of narratives and essays relate to a work’s aesthetic movement, historical context, and contemporary trends in Hispanic cultures. Topics include religious conflicts and their influence in literary forms; the cultural and political implications of the colonization of the Americas, its legacy, and the resistance to it; the aesthetic and social renovation of Early Modern Spain, including the first modern novel, Don Quixote; the mechanisms used by writers to subvert discourses of patriarchy; the importance of Indigenous cultures in the development of Latin American nations and cultural traditions; and the political and artistic relationships with the US and other European avant-garde movements. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 2410)

Prerequisites: HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205) or HISP 2306 (same as LACL 2306) or HISP 2308 (same as LACL 2308) or Placement in HISP 2409 or 2410.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020.

The course is designed as a cultural history of Spanish language and cultures through its dictionaries, across time periods (early modern to more contemporary) examining questions of power and authority, collection practices, and how dictionaries change over time. The class will approach asymmetrical relationships between Spain and Latin America, Spanish and Spanglish in the US, and the political, social, and commercial value of language in these contexts. Bringing in the vocabularies of indigenous, enslaved Africans and immigrant languages, students will engage in an in-depth exploration of lexicographers including Antonio de Nebrija, Sebastián de Covarrubias, Andres Bello, and Maria Moliner. Key works include: Tesoro de la Lengua Española o Castellana, the Diccionario de Autoridades, the Diccionario de la Lengua Española, the Moliner, Larousse, and Clave. Course is taught in Spanish and will feature opportunities for collaboration with Ilan Stavans (Amherst) and his students on this topic. (Same as: LACL 3307)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

Takes the Spanish Civil War as a case to study the way in which war in its many facets has been represented in cinema from the 1930s to the present. Examines how the subject of war is taken up by different genres: newsreel, documentary, adventure, drama, horror, fantasy, and romantic comedy. Analyzes films from Spain alongside examples from the United States, Britain, France, and Mexico, paying special attention to how the political dimensions of the Spanish war, in the international context of the fight against Fascism, are subject to different interpretations of the conflict’s significance for history. Conducted in English. Writing assignments in Spanish.

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Examines how cinema portrays urban spaces in Latin America, Spain and USA from an aesthetic point of view that facilitates discourses on Hispanic history and identity. It looks at the city (Barcelona, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Habana, Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico DF and New York) as a cinematic setting for narratives on crime, immigration, political activity and romance, and how it conveys utopic or distopic views of physical and social urban development. Also considers how cities lend themselves as transnational subjects for directors who cross national boundaries, such as Luis Buñuel, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Conducted in English. Writing assignments in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3217)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

Through the exploration of art, literature, architecture and the unique worldview of the ancestral Andean societies, this course will take a look at the different ways in which the three main countries in the Andes—Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia—have dealt with processes of social, political, and cultural modernization since the late nineteenth century until the present day. Readings will include works by Peruvian, Bolivian, and Ecuadorian writers to examine modernist, avant-garde and postmodernist aesthetics. Students will analyze how internal migration to the cities of Lima, Quito and La Paz has reconfigured them, changed their urban dynamics, and impacted the economy and the natural environment. One example students will engage with includes architecture from iconic Bolivian architect Freddy Mamani ,who invented the construction of the Cholets in the city of El Alto, Bolivia. Cholets offer a unique way of connecting urban space to Aymaran identity (an identity that is very connected to the land in Boliva). Students will also address the issue of migration and the reconfigurations of Andean identities in the United States, through the works of Bolivian author Edmundo Paz Soldán and the Ecuadorian-American writer Ernesto Quiñónez and his experience living in Harlem. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3215, URBS 3211)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Studies the main topics, techniques, and contributions of Colombian Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez as presented in “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” Explores the actual locations and the social, cultural, and literary trends that inspired the creation of Macondo, the so-called village of the world where the novel takes place, and the universal themes to which this imaginary town relates. Contemporary authors include Fuenmayor, Rojas Herazo, and Cepeda Samudio . (Same as: LACL 3218)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022, Spring 2021.

Explores the concept of madness and the varying ways in which mental illness has been represented in twentieth-century Latin American fiction. Readings include short stories and novels dealing with the issues of schizophrenia, paranoia, and psychotic behavior by authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Carlos Fuentes, Cristina Rivera Garza, and Horacio Quiroga. . Also studies the ways in which certain authors draw from the language and symptoms of schizophrenia and paranoia in order to construct the narrative structure of their works and in order to enhance their representation of social, political, and historical conjunctures. Authors include César Aira, Roberto Bolaño, Diamela Eltit, and Ricardo Piglia, . (Same as: LACL 3219)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

This course explores a range of literary and cultural texts related to the theory, practice and experience of medicine, health and healing in the early modern Hispanic world. Students will analyze how early Spanish literature impacts our understanding of contemporary health practices and examine how health histories provide insight into racial and ethnic health disparities and general inequities in health care systems. Topics include drug trials, herbalists and apothecaries; health and spiritual practices; gardens and gardeners; diet and food; healer and patients; and race, ethnicity, gender and medicine. The course provides an introduction to the topics of narrative medicine and the health humanities. Course is taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3220)

Prerequisites: Two of: HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) and HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2021.

Who speaks in a text? What relationship exists between literature and identity? How can we portray ourselves in specific political contexts? Addresses these and other questions by studying contemporary Southern Cone literary texts that deal with problems of subjectivity and self- representation in poetry and novels. Concentrates on texts that display a literary “persona” in contexts of violence and resistance (the dictatorships of the 1970s) and in more contemporary Latin American ones. Some authors include Borges, Gelman, and Peri-Rossi. Films and contextual historical readings used. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3225)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Spring 2021.

What kind of stories do bodies tell or conceal? How does living in a gendered and racialized body effects the stories told by women? How do bodies and their stories converge with History or complicate historical “truths”? These are some of the questions addressed in this study of contemporary writing by women from the Hispanic Caribbean and the United States Latinx/Chicana communities. Feminists of color frame the analysis of literature, popular culture and film to guide an examination of the relation of bodies and sexuality to social power, and the role of this relation in the shaping of both personal and national identities. Theorists include Alexander, Barriteau, Curiel, Mendez and Segato. Novelists include Álvarez, Buitrago, García, Indiana Hernández, and Santos-Febres. Taught in Spanish with readings in Spanish and English. (Same as: AFRS 3226, GSWS 3226, LACL 3226)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

Questions what is meant by "avant-garde": how it was manifested in the Hispanic world in the first half of the twentieth century; how contemporaneous politics shaped or became shaped by it; how this relates to the world today. Focuses on poets such as Aleixandre, Garcia Lorca, Borges, Neruda, Huidobro, Storni, Lange, Novo, and Vallejo, while also considering a wide array of manifestos, literary journals, films, and other art forms from Spain, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Brazil. Taught in Spanish with some theoretical and historical readings in English. (Same as: LACL 3227)

Prerequisites: Two of: HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) and HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

From the first chronicles of Columbus, who believed he had arrived in "The Indies,” to the fantasies of global visitors lured by the comforts of secluded resorts, imagination has been a defining force impacting both the representation and the material lives of Caribbean people. Explores the historical trends that have shaped Caribbean societies, cultural identities, and intellectual history through a panoramic study of twentieth- and twenty-first-century fiction, essays, and films, with a focus on authors from the Hispanic Caribbean and US-Latinas of Caribbean descent. Engaging with the responses from Caribbean intellectuals to the challenges of the distorting mirror, addresses: how writers and artists have responded to the legacy of colonialism, slavery, and the plantation economy; how literature and art have depicted dominant trends in the region’s more recent history such as absolutist regimes, massive migrations, the tourist industry, and even natural disasters; how the Caribbean drawn by artists and intellectuals relates to global representations of the region. Authors include Piñera, Padura, Santos-Febres, Chaviano, and Junot Díaz. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: AFRS 3228, LACL 3228)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Did feminism exist in the early modern period? Examines key women authors from the early Hispanic World, considering the representation of gender, sexuality, race, and identity in distinct political and social contexts. Focuses on Mexican author Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695) and Spanish author María de Zayas (1590-1661), alongside other prominent women writers from the period. Students read short stories, essays, poems, and personal letters. Conducted in Spanish. (Same as: GSWS 3231, LACL 3231)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

Why does Mexican literature have so many ghosts as characters? What distinguishes the representation of ghosts in Mexican literature from their representation in American gothic literature? In this seminar we will read contemporary Mexican literature through the figure of the ghost. I argue that the ghost in Mexican literature allows us to think and analyze a variety of topics such as immigration (US-Mexico), exile, politics, trauma, race and environment. Readings may include works by Rulfo, Fuentes, Tario, Nettel, Luiselli, Mendoza, Herrera, and Bicecci. The course is conducted in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3234)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023.

An investigation of the short story as a literary genre, beginning in the nineteenth century, involving discussion of its aesthetics, as well as its political, social, and cultural ramifications in the Spanish-speaking world. Authors include Pardo Bazán, Borges, Cortázar, Echevarría, Ferré, García Márquez, and others. (Same as: LACL 3237)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

An examination of the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges’s work, focusing not only on his short stories, poems, essays, film scripts, interviews, and cinematic adaptations, but also on the writers who had a particular influence on his work. Also studies Latin American, European, and United States writers who were later influenced by the Argentinian master. An organizing concept is Borges’s idea that a writer creates his own precursors. (Same as: LACL 3239)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

Explores the production of Romantic images of Spain and their lasting influence on literature from the nineteenth century to the present. Works by Spanish Romantics (de Castro, Becquer, Espronceda, Zorrilla) and those by others, mostly writing in English, for whom Spain is a romanticized backdrop (Byron, Dos Passos, Hemingway, Irving, Longfellow), are examined in light of the aesthetic and cultural foundations of the movement in Europe (historical hindsight, the political dissent, finding national identity). Also discussed are the resulting Romantic archetypes (Don Juan, Carmen, bandits and bulls) and the way in which these arise and evolve through interaction and contact. Readings in English and Spanish, discussions and required writing in Spanish.

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

How do artists distinguish their contemporary moment from the past? What challenges does it pose to literature and film? Building on ideas by Agamben, Benjamin, and Didi-Huberman, explores these questions in the context of contemporary Argentinean, Chilean, and Uruguayan poetry, short stories, novels, and films. Topics include post-dictatorship societies, text/image dynamics, new forms of subjectivity, human/post-human interactions, and economic and bio-political violence, as seen in works by Sergio Chejfec, Cristina Peri Rossi, Nadia Prado, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, Pedro Lemebel, Fernanda Trías, and others. Taught in Spanish. (Same as: LACL 3250)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2021.

In 1970, the Chilean Salvador Allende became one of the first Marxists in the world to be democratically elected president of a country. His attempted reforms led to years of social unrest. In 1973, a right-wing military coup led to what would be General Augusto Pinochet’s seventeen years of brutal dictatorship. This course discusses that period of Chilean (and Latin American) history through locally produced sources, both from the social sciences and the arts, with a focus on literature (Bolaño, Meruane, Lemebel, Neruda, Lihn) and cinema (Ruiz, Larraín), with the goal of understanding the ways in which Latin American nations deal with their historical past with regard to issues of memory, collective memory, postdictatorial political negotiations, human rights, and social reconciliation. (Same as: LACL 3252)

Prerequisites: Two of: either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher and either HISP 2409 (same as LAS 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LAS 2410) or HISP 3200 or higher.

The 1960s Latin American Boom changed world literature, opening global book markets to writers of the postcolonial world and their distinctive styles. Yet it centered on male writers. “A New Boom?” explores the conditions favoring the last decade’s apparent “explosion” of Latin American women writers in world literature. Discussions focus on key authors and the context of their works, their themes, and aesthetic innovations, and the market forces affecting the dissemination of women’s cultural production. Topics include the ambitions of twenty-first-century women in Latin American cities, and the obstacles they face (i.e., violence and marginalization); the role of editors and other stakeholders in featuring women’s voices; the place of readers in advancing new tastes and sensitivities; and the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, sexuality, education, and other factors fostering the inclusion of some writers over others. Readings include Melchor, Ojeda, Quintana, Reyes, and Shweblin. Course will be taught in Spanish. (Same as: GSWS 3257, LACL 3257)

Prerequisites: Two of: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) and HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

Through an exploration of self-fashioning and performance from early modern to contemporary Iberian cultural production (Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan theater, dance, film, visual arts, music), this course will study how marginalized groups have historically constructed and negotiated their identities in response to official narratives of both exclusion and appropriation. We will examine theoretical and cultural debates surrounding race, ethnicity, gender, and identity in Spanish discourses of culture and nationhood. Topics include early to contemporary Spanish portrayals of exile, colonization, and the periphery; Roma identity and representation; and Afro-Iberian contributions to the history of music and theater. The seminar will involve active workshops with theater and dance components (no prior experience required). All discussions and assignments will be in Spanish with some theoretical perspectives in English. (Same as: AFRS 3215)

Prerequisites: HISP 2409 (same as LACL 2409 and THTR 2409) or HISP 2410 (same as LACL 2410).

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.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 1101 or Placement in ITAL 1102.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

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.

Prerequisites: Placement in HISP 2305 or Placement in ITAL 1103 or Placement in FRS 2203/2305 or Placement in FRS 2305/2400 level or Placement in FRS 2400 level or Placement in HISP 2409 or 2410 or FREN 2305 or higher or SPAN 2305 (same as LAS 2205) or higher or FRS 2305 or higher or HISP 2305 (same as LACL 2205) or higher.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

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. (Same as: DCS 2100, URBS 2100)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 1102 or ITAL 1103 or Placement in ITAL 2203.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2203 or Placement in ITAL 2204.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

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.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2204 or Placement in ITAL 2305.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2020.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2305 or Placement in ITAL 2400 level.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021.

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. (Same as: CINE 2553)

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2022.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2020.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2023.

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. (Same as: DCS 3012)

Prerequisites: DCS 2335 or DCS 2350 (same as CSCI 2350) or DCS 2470 or DCS 2500 or ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2023.

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 lLanguages and lLiteratures major or the minor in Italian sStudies 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. (Same as: CINE 3013)

Prerequisites: ITAL 2000 - 2969 or CINE 2000 - 2969.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2024.

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.

Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Fall 2022.

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?

Prerequisites: ITAL 2408.

Previous terms offered: Spring 2021.