Global Arc

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.

The main goal of this course is to improve fluency in Italian and prepare students for upper level courses in the Italian program. Through film clips, film screenings, and readings, students will increase their understanding of grammatical functions and vocabulary applications, and improve their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. The course has been enhanced with a digital platform, which allows students to actively interact with texts, films and each other through exercises and activities.

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.

A four-week summer intensive language course, equivalent to 207, taught at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, Italy. The course will be team taught by a resident Princeton faculty and a SNS faculty member. The course is designed to elevate students' writing and speaking language proficiency levels and deepen their understanding of Italian culture, history, and literature. Admission by application and interview. Prerequisite: 107,108,102-7, or instructor's permission. Five four-hour classes per week, plus activities and trips.

This course is a discussion-based seminar designed to introduce students to key aspects of contemporary Italy and its diverse culture We will focus on the striking contrast between tradition and innovation across a variety of fields, including cinema, art, literature, music, and society. The course aims to raise awareness of the interconnections between past and present, while also developing students' ability to communicate and write effectively in Italian on a broad range of topics. Emphasis will be placed on the critical analysis of cultural and social differences between Italians and Americans. See prerequisites in Course Offerings.

This course will explore the direction Italian culture has taken from WWI to the present, bringing into focus notions of identity and nationhood. Its purpose is to consider both historical developments and the impact of change in the formation of the Italian democratic state. We shall examine the ways film artists have identified visual images with specific socio-political factors. Close reading and extensive practice of writing in a variety of genres. Focus on composition of short essays.

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.

Topics will range from the work of a single author (such as Boccaccio) and certain major texts to specific cultural, literary, and poetic problems (such as the medieval comune). Major figures include Giacomo da Lentini, Guido Guinizelli, Guido, Cavalcanti, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. Alternates with ITA 306. 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 format.