French and Italian

According to faculty availability, treatment of either francophone literature and culture of a given geographical area (such as Canada, the Caribbean, North or Sub-Saharan Africa, Belgium), the literary and cultural problems common to several geographical areas, or the work of one or more Francophone writers.

This course discusses Charles Baudelaire's poetry, prose, art and literary criticism, autobiographical texts, and translations, and their pivotal role for perceptions of modernity. Baudelaire's oeuvre is approached through different perspectives, ranging from poetics, aesthetics, literary history, the political and social context of his time, sexuality and gender, popular culture, reception history, trauma studies, etc. We take into consideration influential readings of Baudelaire's work, while particular emphasis is given to Baudelaire's relevance for the 21st century and specifically in contemporary literature and art.

In this course, we explore the connection between the development of new literary forms and the burgeoning of original philosophical notions in the eighteenth century. As they questioned the political, social and ethical norms of their time, the philosophes also started a global rethinking of the literary rules they inherited from the "Grand siècle". Through a significant selection of non-classifiable works, we study how the bubbling laboratory of ideas changed the conception of literature, opening the path to multiple definitions that are still familiar to us today.

Course explores the dynamic interplay between painting, poetry, and fiction in 19th-century France and England. The focus is twofold: painters and paintings as protagonists in novels and short stories, and paintings inspired by literature. Themes include problems of narrative, translation, and illustration; changing theories of the relative strengths of painting and literature as artistic media; realism and the importance of descriptive detail; the representation of the artist as a social (or anti-social) actor; the representation of women as artists and models; and the artist's studio as a literary trope.

This seminar explores the intricate relations of poetry to history and memory in the troubled 20th century. Individual poets are closely studied for their intrinsic interest but also for their (known and still to be discovered) connections with each other. The poets are Eugenio Montale, René Char, Paul Celan, and Anne Carson, but other writers will also be called on from time to time. Questions of war and resistance are important, and above all the course attends to what one might think of as the fate of language under pressure.

A study of the role of culture in literary practice and theory. Topics include postmodernism, post-colonialism, feminism, performance theory, queer theory, and popular cultures, among others.

An examination of either the intersection of linguistic and literary analysis as illustrated by the Romance languages or the theoretical foundations of literary study.

The goal of this seminar is to provide first-year graduate students with a formal introduction to the Department's curriculum and requirements, through practical training in the various methods of research and scholarly activities and productions. It also familiarizes students with fundamental theoretical texts and approaches to a variety of critical fields pertaining to French studies. Finally, it offers concrete outlooks on their professional future by showcasing ways of optimizing their career prospects in the realm of academia, but also in other domains.

To develop the skills of speaking, understanding, reading and writing Italian. The main emphasis is on oral drill and conversation in the classroom. Aspects of Italian culture and civilization are integrated in the course. The Italian Language Program uses a new digital portfolio that serves as students' textbook. Through this medium, students are exposed to a more dynamic mode of language acquisition.

Further study of Italian grammar and syntax with increased emphasis on vocabulary, reading, and practice in conversation. Skills in speaking and writing (as well as understanding) modern Italian will also be further developed. Students will deepen the study of grammatical functions through the analysis of Italian culture and civilization. Prerequisite: ITA 101 or permission of instructor.

Italian 1027 is an intensive double-credit course designed to help students develop an active command of the language by improving upon the five skills of speaking, listening, reading, writing and cultural competency in the interpretative, interpersonal, and presentational modes. The course emphasizes communication and grammatical structures through use of various forms of texts (literary, artistic, musical, cinematographic, etc.) in order to refine students' literacy. Prerequisite: Successful performance in ITA 101 and permission of instructor. Five 90-minute classes.

This course analyzes Italian culture and cultural changes through products such as newspaper articles, essays, comic books, music, film, food, and visual artifacts in connection with Italian history and society. Italian 107 is intended to provide students with tools for communicating effectively in Italian in an informal and formal context, to move students along the proficiency spectrum toward a more advanced language level, and to promote a global awareness and cross-cultural understanding of contemporary Italian life and culture. Classes are conducted entirely in Italian. Prerequisite: ITA 102 or instructor's permission. Five classes.

This course explores crucial topics-such as landscapes, beauty, migration, and travel-that define Italian literature. Through the analysis of materials from different sources and genres (literature, cinema, art, design, journalism) students will acquire a deeper understanding of Italian cultural history, and its present and future trajectory. Particular emphasis will be given to the refinement of the writing process. On the intercultural level, students will conduct task-based activity to compare, contrast and challenge the main ideas acquired in the course vis à vis their own cultural identity. Three 50-minute classes.

This course is designed to familiarize the student with major features of contemporary Italy and its culture. Its purpose is to develop the student's ability to communicate effectively in present-day Italy. The course emphasizes Italian social, political, and economic institutions, doing so through the analysis of cultural and social differences between Italians and Americans in such everyday concerns as money, work and leisure. Prerequisite: ITA 107 or permission of instructor.

This course is designed to give an overview of pivotal moments in Italian culture, such as the relationship between Church and Empire in the Middle Ages, Machiavelli's political theory during the Renaissance, and the rise and fall of Fascism in the 20th century. Through the examination of the most relevant intellectual, historic and artistic movements and their main geographical venues, students will be able to acquire a comprehensive understanding of the development of Italian history and civilization. Prerequisite: Italian 107 or instructor's permission.

Working at the crossroads of American influences and the tradition of political songs, Italian cantautori merge popular appeal and literary sophistication. For at least three generations, their songs have provided an engaged soundtrack to Italy's turbulent social, political and cultural transformations in the post-WWII years. As lyrics on the page, as music to be listened to, and as performances recorded in video, Italian canzoni d'autore are part of Italian history and identity today. Prerequisite: ITA 107 or permission of instructor. This course is taught in Italian.

Considered by many the greatest scholar of his age, a successful rival to Dante, the revered teacher of Boccaccio, Petrarch bequeathed to posterity the most beautiful sonnets ever written in the Florentine vernacular. In the course, we will study the "Canzoniere", his collection of lyric poetry, a book which shaped the language of love in the European Renaissance, and a sample from his "Trionfi". The texts will be analyzed in relation to their historical and cultural context and for the impact they will have on modern European Literature. Prerequisite: One 200-level ITA course or permission of instructor.

Intensive study of the Inferno, with major attention paid to poetic elements such as structure, allegory, narrative technique, and relation to earlier literature, principally the Latin classics. Course conducted in English in a highly interactive seminar format. Prerequisites: One 200-level ITA course or permission of instructor required.

This course will introduce students to the basic trends and problems of Renaissance literature as the main source of our civilization. The major literary figures of the 16th-century Italian revival (such as Machiavelli, Leonardo, Galileo, Castiglione, Michelangelo, etc.) will be studied in relation to their time, the courts or the cities where they lived, and their seminal contributions to modern Europe culture including works of visual art, theater, and good living. Prerequisite: a 200-level Italian course or instructor's permission.

Intensive practice of written and spoken Italian through close analysis of grammatical and syntactic structures, literary translation, and the stylistic study of representative literary works from the Middle Ages to the present. Focus on rhetorical structures and on Italian linguistic change. Prerequisite: a 200-level course in Italian or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute classes.

Topics will range from the study of a single author (such as Pirandello, Montale, Pavese, D'Annunzio) to the investigation of specific literary and poetic problems. One three-hour seminar. Prerequisite: ITA 107, ITA 207I, ITA 208 or permission of instructor.

The evolution of Italian contemporary civilization through the study of historical, sociopolitical, and cultural topics. The approach will be interdisciplinary; each year a different topic will be selected and studied as portrayed in representative samples of slides, films, and pertinent reading material. One-hour lecture, two-hour precept. Prerequisite: a 200-level Italian course or instructor's permission. Offered in alternate years.

An introduction to Italian cinema from 1945 to the present. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the course will focus on sociopolitical and cultural issues as well as on basic concepts of film style and technique. Specific topics will change from year to year, and prerequisites will vary. No knowledge of Italian is required to enroll. One 90-minute lecture, one 90-minute precept, and one film showing.

Topics will range from the study of a single author (such as Leopardi, Manzoni, Verga) to the thematic, artistic, and cultural analysis of either a genre or a literary movement (such as Romanticism, Verismo). One three-hour seminar. Prerequisite: a 200-level Italian course or instructor's permission.

This course, conducted in English, is a study of Fascism through selected films from World War II to the present. Topics include: the concept of Fascist normality; Racial Laws; the role of women and homosexuals; colonialism and the opposition of the intellectual left. Films include: Bertolucci's The Conformist, Fellini's Amarcord, Rossellini's Rome Open City, Rosi's The Truce, Benigni's Life is Beautiful, and Wertmüller's Seven Beauties. The approach is interdisciplinary and combines the analysis of historical themes with an in-depth cinematic reading of the films.