22 courses with the subject ITAL, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
ITAL 101Elementary Italian 1 Course count1
Designed for students with little or no knowledge of Italian language, this course provides an overview of basic Italian grammar with an emphasis on oral and written communication, listening comprehension, and reading. Five class hours weekly and laboratory practice. Students who have taken any higher level ITAL course may not register for this class. No previous knowledge of language. GPA units: 1.25 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Annually Fall
Designed for students with little or no knowledge of Italian language, this course provides an overview of basic Italian grammar with an emphasis on oral and written communication, listening comprehension, and reading. Five class hours weekly and laboratory practice. Recommended prerequisite: ITAL 101 or equivalent. Students who have taken any higher level ITAL course may not register for ITAL 102. GPA units: 1.25 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Spring
ITAL 103Intensive Elementary Italian Course count1
Students who have taken any higher level ITAL course may not register for this class. No previous knowledge of language. GPA units: 1.25 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Spring
ITAL 199F02 — Italian American Film and Culture Course count1
Explores representations of Italian Americans in film and literature, from early Hollywood to contemporary media. Through figures like Rudolph Valentino, The Godfather's Michael Corleone, and writers such as John Fante and Diane di Prima, students will examine how stereotypes over time were constructed, recycled, and eventually challenged. Topics include identity, assimilation, generational standing, and the intersection of ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality in both popular and critical narratives. Conducted in English. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
Explores representations of Italian Americans in film and literature, from early Hollywood to contemporary media. Through figures like Rudolph Valentino, The Godfather's Michael Corleone, and writers such as John Fante and Diane di Prima, students will examine how stereotypes over time were constructed, recycled, and eventually challenged. Topics include identity, assimilation, generational standing, and the intersections of ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality in both popular and critical narratives. Conducted in English.
Provides a review of Italian grammar with an emphasis on oral and written communication. Students also read and discuss Italian literature and cultural material. Four class hours weekly and laboratory practice. ITAL 102 or ITAL 103 in order to enroll in this course.. Students who have taken any higher level ITAL course may not register for ITAL 201. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Annually Fall
Students must complete a language placement exam or
ITAL 202Intermediate Italian 2 Course count1
Provides a review of Italian grammar with an emphasis on oral and written communication. Students also read and discuss Italian literature and cultural material. Four class hours weekly and laboratory practice. Recommended prerequisite: ITAL 201 or equivalent. Students who have taken any higher level ITAL course may not register for ITAL 202. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Spring
This course will focus on Dante's Inferno, guiding students through an exploration of its historical, narrative, and allegorical intricacies. It provides a platform for discussing enduring ethical dilemmas with modern relevance, encompassing topics such as the nature of evil, hubris, desire, gender portrayal, freedom of thought, punishment, redemption, church-state relations, economics and social justice. As students accompany Dante on his journey through the torment-filled realms of Hell, they will sharpen their abilities in analyzing and constructing persuasive arguments by closely examining both primary and secondary materials. The course will be conducted in English. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Literature Typically Offered: Annually Fall
ITAL 299F01 — How to Be a Crusader: Heroism and Virtue in the Italian1
Renaissance Epic Course count: 1 What does it mean to be a hero and who gets to decide? This upper- level seminar explores the evolving ideals of heroism, virtue, and moral responsibility in the Italian Renaissance epic tradition. Through close reading and discussion, we will examine how poets and thinkers reimagine the figure of the crusader not only as a warrior, but as a moral agent navigating love, duty, faith, violence, and human limitation. The course centers on major works of the Italian Renaissance, including s excerpts from Orlando Innamorato, Orlando Furioso, Gerusalemme Liberata, and Morgante. Together, these texts offer a rich and often contradictory vision of heroism: at once chivalric and ironic, pious and skeptical, idealized and deeply human. We will consider how these works engage with classical epic models, medieval romance traditions, and contemporary debates about ethics, religion, and political life. This course is taught in English, and all readings will be available in translation. GPA Common Area: Literature
ITAL 299-F01How to Be a Crusader: Heroism and Virtue in the Italian Renaissance Epic
What does it mean to be a hero and who gets to decide? This upper-level seminar explores the evolving ideals of heroism, virtue, and moral responsibility in the Italian Renaissance epic tradition. Through close reading and discussion, we will examine how poets and thinkers reimagine the figure of the crusader not only as a warrior, but as a moral agent navigating love, duty, faith, violence, and human limitation. The course centers on major works of the Italian Renaissance, including excerpts from Orlando Innamorato, Orlando Furioso, Gerusalemme Liberata, and Morgante. Together, these texts offer a rich and often contradictory vision of heroism: at once chivalric and ironic, pious and skeptical, idealized and deeply human. We will consider how these works engage with classical epic models, medieval romance traditions, and contemporary debates about ethics, religion, and political life. This course is taught in English, and all readings will be available in translation.
Offers students intensive oral and written practice in Italian language through an exploration of Italian culture. Authentic materials such as literary texts, newspaper and magazine articles, and video are utilized as a basis for class discussion and written compositions. Grammar is reviewed in context. ITAL 202 in order to enroll in this course. Students who have taken any higher level ITAL course may not register for ITAL 301. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Annually Fall
Students must complete a language placement exam or
ITAL 323Intro to Contemporary Italy Course count1
Explores the history and the culture of Italy from Fascism to contemporary Italy, passing through the economic boom, the ¿Leaden Years,¿ and the Mafia. Along with historical and cultural information, students will read newspaper articles, letters, excerpts from novels and short stories from authors such as Calvino, Levi, and others. They will also see films by directors like Scola, e Sica, and Giordana. GPA units: 1 Typically Offered: Spring
A study of selected Novellas from Giovanni Boccaccio's masterpiece, The Decameron. Students will learn about the culture, literary tradition, and language of 14th-century Italy. In addition to reading and analyzing the most important of Boccaccio's one hundred stories, they will explore themes, such as merchant culture, the condition of women, and the art of the practical joke, that recur throughout the work. Students will also view selected episodes from Pasolini's homonymous film. Conducted in Italian. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Literature
ITAL 328Medieval-Renaissance Medicine Course count1
In this course we will review the long-term development of Western medicine in the pre-modern period, including its contact and exchange with other medical cultures. What makes a person healthy or unhealthy? What do health care practitioners and patients do to fight illness and promote health? How does society support and regulate the practice of medicine? The course will deal with these and other questions about health care during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a period of the of European history that included the widespread use of herbal remedies, the arrival of the Black Death, and the increasing importance of both anatomical observation and astrology. Enrollment limited to 1st and 2nd year students only GPA units: 1 Common Area: Literature Typically Offered: Alternate Years
This course explores the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of the African diaspora and its impact on Italy. The course delves into the experiences of people of African descent in Italy, examining topics such as migration, identity, racism, integration, and cultural exchanges. It also explores the contributions of Black Italians to various aspects of Italian society, including arts, literature, sports, and music. The aim is t foster a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between race, ethnicity, and nationality within the Italian context and to encourage critical thinking about issues of diversity and inclusion. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies Typically Offered: Annually
The course aims to provide students with the elementary background knowledge needed to appreciate the relevance of a few, selected Medieval/Renaissance authors, along with an adequate knowledge of their works in terms of form, structure, style, imagery, and themes. Students will become familiar with the writings of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Manetti, Bibbiena, Aretino, Machiavelli and other Renaissance authors. The course will also explore the history of the book throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance with particular emphasis on its development in Western culture. The course will also focus on the physical aspects of texts, their production, manufacture, authorship, publication, distribution, and reception. The course is intended 1) to develop students' understanding of the creative context in which the texts originated, namely the world of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance and its varying social contexts; 2) to introduce the terminology associated with the period; 3) to help students to develop critical approaches to the texts; 4) to learn how the physical and material formats of books have evolved over the time and 5) to understand the practice of manuscript creation, production, dissemination and reception in the larger social, economic and political context of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Language Studies Typically Offered: Fall
ITAL 411Italian Renaissance Literature Course count1
Representative works of the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries are studied in the context of Renaissance culture and history. Selected works by Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Leon Battista Alberti, Poliziano, and Castiglione will be studied. Conducted in Italian. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Language Studies, Literature Typically Offered: Every Third Year o
ITAL 415Sicily through Literature & Film Course count1
Introduces students to the celebrated literature of Sicily, the land of mythology and the Mafia, and home to many of Italy¿s most important writers. The course concentrates on modern Italian literature, tracing the evolution of Sicily¿s culture from the Unification in 1861 to today. Students will read works by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Giovanni Verga, Maria Messina, Luigi Pirandello, Leonardo Sciascia, and Andrea Camilleri and see films based on their works. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies
ITAL 420Twentieth Century Novel & World War 2 Course count1
A study of 20th-century Italian narrative that focuses on the experience of the war. Topics include Fascist policies, the partisan resistance, the Holocaust and Italian Jews. Authors studied include Ignazio Silone, Giorgio Bassani, Cesare Pavese, Natalia Ginzburg, Primo Levi, and Renata Viganò. Students will also view and discuss films adapted from several of the works in class. Conducted in Italian. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Historical Studies, Literature
In this course you will learn about Italian womens writing through the study of diverse female authors and their autobiographical novels that span the 20th- and 21st centuries. The texts will be examined in the context of Italian womens history, the twentieth-century womens movement, and feminist theory. The question of gender, racial, and class identity will be addressed through an analysis of different characters and at least one novel by an Italian woman author of color. We will also pose and explore the larger questions suggested by the readings: How do the experiences of women living in another century and in another country relate to our own? Why are most women writers excluded from the literary canon? How does the woman artist/writer find her voice in a patriarchal society? Two overarching considerations of the course are whether womens rights are still considered a pressing concern by todays young women and men; and whether it is still necessary to teach a course such as this one, which focuses exclusively on literature written by (cisgender) women. Finally, in addition to offering a new perspective on Italian literature and society, the course will give you the opportunity hone your writing and speaking skills in Italian. GPA units: 1 Common Area: Literature Typically Offered: Alternate Years
ITAL 457Making Modern Italy: Innovation in Italian Society, Culture1
and Art Course count: 1 The 1800s was a revolutionary century that led to Italys liberation from foreign rulers and to its unification under a monarchy. As the modern Italian state was taking shape, remarkable social, cultural, and artistic change was happening: the emergence of the middle class, industry, and journalism; the birth of movements, like feminism and communism; and the evolution of new artistic forms, including photography, cinema, and the Realist narrative style. Many contemporary phenomena that we associate with contemporary life, like fashion and the Mafia, also had their beginnings in the nineteenth century. This course shows the relevance of the 1800s to our perception of today's Italy through readings, film, and other media, and asks you to develop and share your own research on this transformative century in Italy's history. GPA Common Area: Literature Typically Offered: Alternate Years
Eligible third-year students may elect one or both of these courses only with the permission of the department chair. For students who have previously taken all other advanced courses offered in a given semester. GPA units: 1 Typically Offered: Annually
