BA Italian Studies

This course unit seeks to furnish students studying Italian language and culture with the intellectual and analytical tools needed to understand the processes of cultural production, circulation and reception as a necessary prequel to ‘making sense’ of the history of Italian cultural production. In Semester 1 we will explore what we understand by ‘the Arts’ and the ‘humanities’ and their roots in the classical tradition of the Academy before moving on to consider how symbols work within urban and spatial contexts to generate identities and subjectivities through cultural translation and multiple forms of media, including film.  In semester 2, the focus shifts to the analysis of specific forms of cultural production including the analysis of prose, poetic, and still and moving visual forms.Seminars focus on Italian language-specific and area-specific material that relate to the themes covered in lectures, allowing students to develop further linguistic and cultural competence in their language of study. 

Please note that if you  take ITAL10500 at Level 1, you cannot take ITAL20500 at Level 2.

The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:

• To develop knowledge and understanding of specific aspects of Italian culture and society from the medieval period to the present day
• To develop critical thinking and higher-order conceptual reasoning and analytical skills
• To equip students with working definitions for key concepts in the Italian context such as periodization, identity, ‘nation’, ‘ideology’, ‘multiculturalism’, etc.
• To enable students to analyse and interrogate a variety of forms of written and visual cultural production in their contexts.

Students on this course will hone their skills of analysis, academic writing and independent research.

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Semester 1 

Semester 2

33 contact hours. Language of Teaching: English, with use of Italian as appropriate.

• One weekly 50-minute lecture every week for 22 weeks, across Semester 1 and 2.
• One fortnightly seminar for 11 weeks, across Semester 1 and 2
• Two scheduled weekly consultation hours, with additional drop-in consultation scheduled for course students for assessment advice and feedback.
• Further consultation by request.
• Blackboard discussion/noticeboard forum to facilitate debate.

Useful web links, bibliographical/referencing guides, and MyLearning Essentials material made available on Blackboard.

Extensive eLearning resources will be available via Blackboard. These will include: copies of slides used in classes; links to digitized material and relevant online resources in the course Reading List; and supplementary materials to aid students in preparing for classes and assessment.

By the end of this course students will be able to: 

• Demonstrate their ability to analyse the formal qualities of a range of different kinds of Italian cultural production, which may include visual artworks, political propaganda, poetry, films, novels and/or children’s literature.  

• Apply their analytical skills to render Italian texts, films, and other forms of cultural representation meaningful in their historic contexts 

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some of the major aspects of national and cultural identity in Italy in the modern period. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.
• Engage in the discussion and critical evaluation of Italian cultural production
• Use empirical evidence to support synthetic conclusions and interpretations
• Analyse a body of data and provide a synthesis of the most relevant findings.

On successful completion of this course unit, students will be able to:

• Use library, electronic, and on-line research resources
• Follow correct citation procedure for the professional presentation of academic writing
• Build argumentative frameworks for the analysis of cultural artefacts
• Carry out individual research and select material judiciously

On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:

• present information, ideas and arguments, orally and in writing, with due regard to the target audience;
• participate constructively in group activities (e.g. class discussions);
• assess the relevance and importance of the ideas of others;
• demonstrate powers of analysis.

Resit Assessment:

Summative essay on the themes covered in Semester 1 and Semester 2. 

Weekly readings and visual texts will be supplied in seminars and on Blackboard. Secondary readings will be provided via Blackboard.