Last updated: July 19, 2010 @ 10:16AM

Italian Studies

This program is offered through the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures

Chair
Tamara El-Hoss

Academic Adviser
Liz Kaethler

General Information

Administrative Assistant
Cora Solway

905-688-5550, extension 3312
Mackenzie Chown A240
brocku.ca/modernlanguages

The Department aims to provide students with a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the spoken and written Italian language, Italian literature and culture. In addition to the courses taught in the language, the Italian Studies program provides courses in Cinema, Culture, Art and Architecture taught in English. As well, the Department offers a series of courses taught in English (designated SCLC) that may be acceptable for credit toward a degree in Italian Studies. Students are encouraged to participate in one or more of the study programs in Italy.

Summer Studies in Italy
The Italian section of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures offers three summer courses in Italy: ITAL 1F00 Introductory Italian, ITAL 2F99 Reading the Italian City (offered in conjunction with the Department of Visual Arts), and ITAL 3M21 Monumental Rome: From Romulus to the Renaissance (offered in conjunction with the Department of Classics). Contact the Department for information and registration.

Students wishing to study in Italy through other universities may do so in consultation with the Department.

Program Notes
  1. Students with two or more years of high school Italian or a previous university Italian credit take ITAL IF90 and may not take ITAL 1F00 or 1F01 without permission of the Department. Permission is granted only in the most exceptional cases.
  2. Students with one grade 10 Italian credit take ITAL 1F01.
  3. Students with no high school credits in the language take ITAL 1F00.
  4. ITAL 1F00 and 1F01 are introductory language courses. Students who register in these courses must submit an official high school transcript to the instructor as proof of their level of competence in order to receive Departmental confirmation of registration before the end of the second week of classes. Failure to do so will result in de-registration from the course.
  5. Unless otherwise noted in the course description, courses numbered 2(alpha)00 or above are taught in Italian while courses numbered 1F90 and below are taught in Italian to the extent possible.
  6. ITAL 1F00 and 1F01 may be taken for degree credit, but cannot be used to meet requirements for major programs in Italian Studies. However, either of these courses may be included in a minor program in Italian.
  7. ITAL 1F00, 1F01, 1F90 and 2F00 constitute a sequence. Once credit has been obtained in one of these courses, students are not allowed to take for credit a course in the same language with a lower number in the sequence. Students may not take two courses at different levels in the sequence during the same term. This regulation also applies to courses taken at other institutions.
  8. Departmental courses noted as given in English may be included in major programs. Single Pass programs may include no more than one and one-half credits in such courses; combined Pass programs may include no more than one credit in such courses. Combined Honours programs may include no more than one and one-half credits in such courses. If both combined Honours programs are chosen, from French Studies, Iberian and Latin American Studies or Italian Studies, one and one-half credits in each language is allowed.
  9. A minor program may include no more than one-half ITAL credit given in English.
  10. The Department reserves the right to refuse admission to and/or credit for any of its language courses to a student who has, in the view of the Department, a level of competence unsuited to that course.
  11. In 20 credit degree programs a maximum of eight credits may be numbered 1(alpha)00 to 1(alpha)99; at least three credits must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above; at least three credits must be numbered 3(alpha)90 or above; and the remaining credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above.
    In 15 credit degree programs a maximum of eight credits may be numbered 1(alpha)00 to 1(alpha)99; at least three credits must be numbered 2(alpha)90 or above; and the remaining credits must be numbered 2(alpha)00 or above.

Pass Program

Year 1
·   ITAL 1F90 (see program note 1)
·   one Sciences context credit
·   one Social Sciences context credit
·   two elective credits

Year 2
·   ITAL 2F00
·   two ITAL or SCLC credits numbered 2(alpha)00 or above (see program note 7)
·   two elective credits

Year 3
·   Three ITAL or SCLC credits numbered 2(alpha)90 and above (see program note 7)
·   two elective credits

Combined Major Program

Students may take a combined major in Italian and a second discipline. For requirements in the other discipline, the student should consult the relevant department/centre. It should be noted that not all departments/centres provide a combined major option.

Honours

Year 1
·   ITAL 1F90 (see program note 1)
·   one credit from the co-major discipline
·   one Sciences context credit
·   one Social Sciences context credit
·   one elective credit

Year 2
·   ITAL 2F00
·   one ITAL or SCLC credit numbered 2(alpha)00 or above (see program note 7)
·   two credits from the co-major discipline
·   one elective credit

Year 3
·   ITAL 2P90
·   two ITAL or SCLC credits numbered 2(alpha)90 or above (see program note 7)
·   two credits from the co-major discipline
·   one-half elective credit

Year 4
·   ITAL 3P92, 3P93 3P95, 3P99 and 4P04
·   two credits from the co-major discipline
·   one-half elective credit

Pass

Satisfactory completion of the first three years of the Honours program entitles a student to apply for a Pass degree.

Minor in Italian Studies

Students in other disciplines may obtain a Minor in Italian within their degree program by completing the following courses with a minimum 60 percent overall average:
·   ITAL 1F90 and 2F00
·   one ITAL credit (see program notes 5 and 9)
·   one ITAL credit numbered 2P80 or above (see program note 9)

Course Descriptions

Note that not all courses are offered in every session. Refer to the applicable term timetable for details.

# Indicates a cross listed course
* Indicates primary offering of a cross listed course

Prerequisites and Restrictions

Students must check to ensure that prerequisites are met. Students may be deregistered, at the request of the instructor, from any course for which prerequisites and/or restrictions have not been met.
ITAL 1F00
Introductory Italian
Beginner's course for students with no background in Italian. Acquisition of reading and oral skills, basic grammar; conversation and composition.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Note: students who have taken a previous Italian course in high school or have some knowledge of Italian will not be permitted to take this course.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ITAL 1F01.

ITAL 1F01
Basic Italian Language
Elementary-level Italian language course for students with some background in Italian. Acquisition of reading and oral skills, basic grammar; composition and conversation.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Note: for students who have one grade 10 Italian credit or have some knowledge of Italian. Students with two or more years of high school Italian (or equivalent) must take ITAL 1F90.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ITAL 1F00.

ITAL 1F90
Intermediate Italian
Review of basic grammar; composition and oral practice. Discussions based on cultural topics, cities and the art of Italy.
Lectures, tutorial, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one of ITAL 1F00, 1F01, two or more years of high school Italian or permission of instructor.

ITAL 1P95
Italian Culture and Civilization
Artistic heritage of Italy and the intellectual, political and social forces that have shaped the mentality and way of life of the Italians. Selected texts and multi-media material.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Note: given in English.

ITAL 2F00
Language, Literature and Culture
Grammar review; oral and written practice. Introduction to the study of film, literary texts and principles of criticism.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 1F90 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 2F99
Reading the Italian City
(also offered as VISA 2F99)
Exploring key monuments, churches, museums and urban sites culminating with the Venice Biennale. Concept of the city as expressed through art, literature and architecture from Medieval to Post-modern times. Historical and geographical influences and factors in shaping the city, its culture and traditions, from fine arts to culinary arts and oenology. Cities may include Rome, Orvieto, Assisi, Siena, Florence and Venice.
Restriction: permission of Department.
Prerequisite(s): two ITAL or VISA credits.
Note: offered in Italy. Given in English. Open to students whose interests include either art history or studio. Additionally, Italian Studies majors will receive language instruction and will complete assignments in Italian. Students are expected to pay their own expenses.

ITAL 2P80
Italian Cinema
Major film directors and cultural trends in Italian cinema. Films studied include those by De Sica, Rossellini, Fellini, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Wertmüller, Amelio and Moretti.
Lectures, 3 hours per week, plus film lab.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 1F90 or permission of instructor.
Note: given in English. No knowledge of Italian required.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in FILM 2P80.

ITAL 2P85
Italians in Canada and Italy-Canada Relations
History of Italian immigration in Canada, focusing on Ontario. Italian-Canadian literature including such writers as Nino Ricci and Mary Di Michele. Cultural and economic relations between Italy and Canada.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 1F90 or permission of instructor.
Note: given in English.

ITAL 2P90
Translation and Language Practice
Translation of selected material from magazine articles, essays and various texts focusing on interference between English and Italian. Introduction to business correspondence.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 1F90 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 2P92
Early to High Renaissance Art and Architecture
(also offered as MARS 2P92 and VISA 2P92)
Major monuments, buildings and art works of the period from several critical perspectives including the humanist influence on the arts in Florence and Rome, the issue of patronage and the question of the artist's cultural status.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): one of ITAL 1F90, MARS 1F90, VISA 1Q98 and 1Q99 or permission of instructor.
Note: given in English.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ITAL (VISA) 2P40.

ITAL 2P94
Linguistic and Cultural Regionalism in Italy
Cultural, socio-political and economic issues and conditions that characterize the regions of Italy. Emphasis on regional linguistic variants and dialects, and the establishment of a linguistic standard.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Corequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 2P95
Modern Culture and Civilation
Historical changes and key issues in 19th- and 20th-century Italy focusing on Italian unification, Fascism and modern Italy. Arts and literature representative of the period.
Lectures, seminar, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 1F90 or permission of instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ITAL 2P11.

ITAL 3M20-3M24
Special Topics in Italian
Special topic in an area not represented by other courses.

ITAL 3P90
Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Literary and cultural movements of the mid-19th and early 20th centuries; socio-cultural issues in pre- and post-Unification Italy. Authors may include Manzoni, Foscolo, Leopardi, Verga and Pirandello.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 3P92
Medieval Italian Literature and Culture
(also offered as MARS 3P92)
Literature, arts and culture of the Middle Ages emphasizing Petrarch's Canzoniere (Song Book) and Boccaccio's Decameron.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00, MARS 1F90 or permission of instructor.
Note: given in English. No knowledge of Italian is required. Italian Studies majors will complete some assignments in Italian.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ITAL 3F93.

ITAL 3P93
Dante and His Medieval World
(also offered as MARS 3P93)
Dante's Divine Comedy and the world it created and reflected. References to relevant visual arts (illustrations of the Divine Comedy and works depicting the Last Judgement) as well as to Dante's The New Life and the Monarchy.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00, MARS 1F90 or permission of instructor.
Note: given in English. No knowledge of Italian is required.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade and credit obtained in ITAL 3F93.

ITAL 3P95
Contemporary Italian Narrative
Critical reading of modern and contemporary exponents of the novel and short story; writers may include Buzzati, Camilleri, Capriolo Moravia, Maraini, and Mazzantini.
Lectures, tutorial, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 3P96
Themes and Forms in Italian Poetry
Selected Italian poetry from the 14th to the 20th century; evolution of stylistic trends; diversification of thematic content; functions of poetic discourse; role of the poet.
Lectures, tutorial, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 3P97
Italian for Teachers
Approaches to the teaching of Italian as a second language. Teaching methods, educational materials and multi-media resources.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 and one ITAL credit numbered 2(alpha)00 or above or permission of instructor.
Note: offered under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Dante Alighieri Society, Niagara Region. Lectures by guest speakers.

ITAL 3P99
Advanced Grammar and Composition
Principles of syntactical analysis and elements of style; study of figurative language and compositions on literary and non-literary topics.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 4P04
Translation: Applications
Lexical, morphological, syntactic and semantic interrelationships between source text and target text; application of translation methodologies to a variety of texts.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 2F00 or permission of instructor.

ITAL 4P97
Strategies in the Teaching of Language, Literature, and Culture
Recent theories and developments in the teaching of language and culture, including literary texts, music, artistic works and monuments.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: permission of instructor.
Prerequisite(s): 3.0 ITAL credits or teaching experience.
Note: offered under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy, through the Dante Alighieri Society, Niagara Region.