ITALIAN

Courses

AWAKENING THE SENSES IN AN ITALIAN CITY

Prerequisites: ITAL UN2102 or ITAL UN2121 Intermediate Level Italian or higher.

In this course we will consider the different ways we can learn to use and express our senses while exploring Italy’s most sensational city – Venice. We will become more aware of the way we plan, monitor and assess our understanding and performance; learning to deploy expressions describing our feelings, memories and reactions; finding the Italian words we need for these tasks, and occasionally expressing ourselves through images (photos and drawings), that will provide further opportunities for discussion and comment. We will read Italian authors, listen to different kinds of music, as well as contemplate the sounds of specific sites within Venice; we’ll look at paintings, frescoes, architecture and landscapes to refine our appreciation of visual beauty; taste different typical Venetian and Italian food preparations; we will explore the link between smells and memories; we will also use our hands to experience various textures and tactile sensations around the city.
Venice is the ideal place to appreciate sensorial experiences. Each class will have a component of exploring in situ our reaction to different stimuli.

Mediterranean Venice: Living and Losing a Maritime Empire

Please note: This course is NOT open to summer visiting students

Venice is today a northeast province of the Italian state. For the largest part of its history, however, the city had very little to do with the rest of the Italian peninsula; it was instead the northwestern metropolis of an Eastern Mediterranean Empire, stretching all the way to (today’s) Croatia, Albania, Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. By studying the history of Venice’s imperial past, the course aims precisely to relocate the students’ geographical and cultural perception of the city. Combining readings and documentaries with weekly walks and guided tours in the city, it invites students to explore themes such as the history of the Venetian Republic (and especially of the maritime state- stato da mar), Venice’s relations to the Ottoman world, the city’s ethnic and confessional diversity, the ‘myth of Venice’ and the fate of Venice after ‘Venice’. Visits include the Correr Museum, the Doge’s Palace, the Arsenal, the Jewish Ghetto, the Campo Dei Greci, the Church of San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, the Island of San Lazzaro degli Armeni, the Fondaco dei Turchi, and others. An one-day trip to Trieste will be optionally offered.

Elementary Italian, I

Equivalent to ITAL V1101. Students will develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Italian and an understanding of Italian culture. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to provide basic information in Italian about themselves, their families, interests, likes and dislikes, and daily activities; participate in a simple conversation on everyday topics; to read edited texts on familiar topics; and produce Italian with basic grammatical accuracy and accurate pronunciation.

Elementary Italian, II

Prerequisites: ITAL S1101, or the equivalent.

Continues the work of ITAL 1101 and completes the study of elementary Italian. Students continue to develop communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills). Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to provide basic information in Italian about wants and needs, personal opinions and wishes, personal experiences, past activities, and daily routines; read simple texts on familiar matters of high frequency everyday or job-related language; draw on a repertoire of vocabulary and syntax sufficient for dealing with everyday situations.