Italian Courses

Courses by Category

Please note: Languages courses may not be audited or taken Pass/No Pass. 

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Explanation of Course Numbers

• Courses in the 1000s are primarily introductory undergraduate courses
• Those in the 2000s to 4000s are upper-level undergraduate courses that also may be taken for graduate credit with permission and additional work assigned
• Those in the 6000s and 8000s are for master’s, doctoral, and professional-level students
• The 6000s are open to advanced undergraduate students with approval of the instructor and the dean or advising office

ITAL 1001. Basic Italian I. 4 Credits.

Handling the immediate context of daily experience in spoken and written Italian: identifying, describing, and characterizing people, objects, places, and events; giving information and instructions; issuing simple commands and requests. Laboratory fee.

ITAL 1002. Basic Italian II. 4 Credits.

Speaking and writing in Italian about past and future events: telling a story (narrating and describing in the past), promising, predicting, and proposing simple hypotheses and conjectures. Laboratory fee. Prerequisite: ITAL 1001.

ITAL 1003. Intermediate Italian I. 4 Credits.

Third-semester course designed for students with a basic overall knowledge of the Italian language; strengthens proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing; enhances critical understanding of Italian culture. Course conducted in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 1002.

ITAL 1004. Intermediate Italian II. 3 Credits.

Consolidation and further expansion of the ability to understand as well as produce a more complex level of oral and written discourse emphasizing subjective expression: issuing indirect commands and requests; giving opinions; making proposals, building arguments; defending and criticizing ideas. Prerequisite: ITAL 1003 . Laboratory fee.

ITAL 1012. Beginning Intensive Italian. 8 Credits.

Basic skills in speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing in standard Italian. Covers an academic year of instruction in one semester.

ITAL 1099. Variable Topics. 1-36 Credits.

ITAL 2005. Language, Culture, and Society I. 3 Credits.

Development of strong conversational skills and the rudiments of expository writing. The vocabulary and structures necessary to move from handling everyday experience and subjective expression to the exposition of more abstract thought and ideas and discussion of political, social, and cultural issues. Laboratory fee. Prerequisite: ITAL 1004.

ITAL 2006. Language, Culture, and Society II. 3 Credits.

Continued expansion of the range and complexity of conversational skills and further development of the writing of effective expository prose on a broad range of subjects. Short literary texts serve as the basis for oral discussion, analytical reading, and writing brief critical essays. Laboratory fee. Prerequisite: ITAL 2005.

ITAL 3010. Advanced Italian Grammar and Style. 3 Credits.

Compositions, drills, dictations; translations into Italian; study of vocabulary and syntax with emphasis on stylistic devices. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2006.

ITAL 3099. Variable Topics. 1-12 Credits.

ITAL 3100. Introduction to Italian Literature. 3 Credits.

Readings, textual analysis, and writing on a broad selection of texts from different genres and periods; study of Italian literature in its cultural context; close reading approach and introduction to literary vocabulary. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2006.

ITAL 3100W. Introduction to Italian Literature. 3 Credits.

Readings, textual analysis, and writing on a broad selection of texts from different genres and periods; study of Italian literature in its cultural context; close reading approach and introduction to literary vocabulary. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Taught in Italian.

ITAL 3201. History of Italian Literature from the Middle Ages Through the Seventeenth Century. 3 Credits.

Development of genre and movements. Selected readings from the relevant periods, including complete texts of epics, essays, novels, and plays. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2006.

ITAL 3202. History of Italian Literature from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century. 3 Credits.

Philosophical and literary movements of the modern period. Selected readings and reading of complete texts of novels and drama. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2006.

ITAL 3202W. History of Italian Literature from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century. 3 Credits.

Philosophical and literary movements of the modern period. Selected readings and reading of complete texts of novels and drama. Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement. Taught in Italian.

ITAL 3290. Textual Analysis. 3 Credits.

Close examination of critical methods and vocabulary used in literary study as applied to Italian Literature; linguistic and stylistic difficulties in textual analysis. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 3100.

ITAL 3300. Italian Literature and Culture in Translation. 3 Credits.

Dynamics of Italian-speaking societies and their cultures studied through literature, art, or film. Topics vary. Readings and lectures in English. The course may be repeated for credit. A laboratory fee may be required.

ITAL 3600. Special Topics in Italian Literature and Culture. 3 Credits.

Topics vary by semester. May be repeated for credit provided topic differs. Consult the Schedule of Classes for more details. Taught in Italian.

ITAL 4100. The Italian American Experience. 3 Credits.

The dynamics of the Italian American experience from its origins to the present day; what it is to be American, how ethnic identity should be expressed, and who has the power to control a group’s representation. Taught in English.

ITAL 4183. History of Italian Film. 3 Credits.

Study of Italian films, directors, and styles, with films examined as aesthetic objects in their own right and in relation to the wider social and cultural environment. The verbal and visual language necessary for decoding and describing film. The course is conducted in English.

ITAL 4184. Contemporary Italian Cinema. 3 Credits.

Contemporary Italian culture viewed through an examination of Italian cinema of the twenty-first century; diversity, immigration and integration; gender and sexuality; and the changes brought about by economic upheaval and the changing role of work. Taught in English.

ITAL 4200. L'Inferno di Dante. 3 Credits.

The medieval Italian context in which the Inferno was written; cultural and political developments that directly affected the author; key issues raised, from the nature and causes of political conflict to the role of morality in society; the history of the Inferno's reception and its continuing importance in Italian political and cultural life. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2006.

ITAL 4300. Il Decamerone di Boccaccio. 3 Credits.

Study of Boccaccio’s Decameron as a foundational text in the Italian literary canon and key work in Western cultural imaginary; historic and cultural context of the author's presentation of his social world, including issues of class structures, gender and family relations, religious and civic rituals, and dress. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 2006.

ITAL 4380. Italian Journeys Medieval to Postmodern. 3 Credits.

Italy’s dual role as the home of legendary travelers and the destination for an endless stream of tourists. The reality and metaphor of travel viewed through travel diaries, ship logs, letters to patrons, maps, travel guides, poetry, and film. The course is conducted in English.

ITAL 4500. Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Literature. 3 Credits.

Works by Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio. Structure, rhetorical features, and problems of narrative organization; historical and ideological aspects of the works as well as to cultural influence. Taught in Italian. Prerequisite: ITAL 3290.

ITAL 4560. Modern Italian Novel. 3 Credits.

Reading of Manzoni, Verga, Bassani, Calvino, Eco, and Sanguinetti, the most important Italian novelists of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. The relationship of each work to its social and cultural context and to the novel as a genre. Prerequisite: ITAL 3290.

ITAL 4800. Independent Study. 1-4 Credits.

Permission of the department chair and instructor required prior to enrollment. May be repeated for credit. Taught in Italian.

ITAL 5099. Variable Topics. 1-99 Credits.