
- UCAS course code
- QR63
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Course unit details:
Italian Cultural Studies
Unit code | ITAL10300 |
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Credit rating | 20 |
Unit level | Level 1 |
Teaching period(s) | Full year |
Offered by | Italian Studies |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
This course unit is designed to provide an introduction to the culture and society of contemporary Italy in the post-war period, with the particular aim of identifying and challenging traditional stereotypes. In Semester 1 the course identifies the major political, economic, and social changes which have affected Italy since the Second World War. In Semester 2 we begin to consider how we make sense of the process of Italian cultural production in multiple media and across multiple centuries, from the medieval and Renaissance period to the modern era, directing our attention towards the study and interpretation of different kinds texts (poetic, narrative, and filmic) created in this cultural context.
Pre/co-requisites
Available on which programme(s)? | Italian Studies Single Hons; Italian Joint Hons (both MFL and Joints); Post A- Level Flexible Hons |
Aims
The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:
- To develop knowledge and understanding of post-war Italian culture and society, along with modern and premodern cultural production.
- To develop critical thinking and higher order conceptual reasoning and analytical skills
- To equip students with working definition for key concepts in the Italian context: ‘nation’, ‘ideology’, ‘multiculturalism’, ‘canon’, etc.
- To enable to students to analyse and interrogate a variety of forms of cultural production.
Syllabus
Knowledge and understanding
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Apply their analytical skills to render Italian texts, films, and other forms of cultural representation meaningful
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some of the major aspects of national and cultural identity in Italy in the modern period.
Intellectual skills
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.
Practical skills
By the end of this course 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
Transferable skills and personal qualities
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.
- Write a report on a piece of original research.
- Engage in group discussion (both in the class and online).
- Work as part of a team.
Employability skills
- Other
- The course will have particular benefits for any student interested in pursuing a career in teaching and learning, diversity and identity management. The course enhances skills of analysis, synthesis, oral presentation, and written reporting. The course content also encourages students to reflect upon the world outside the University, thereby providing confidence in the use of academic research in a variety of non-academic environments.
Assessment methods
Assessment task | Formative or Summative | Length | Weighting within unit (if summative) |
Semester 1 Literature review and referencing exercise To be submitted Thursday Week 5 | Formative | 500 words | 0% |
Semester 1 Commentary To be submitted by Thursday Week 11 | Summative | 1250 words | 40% |
Semester 2 Fictional Forms essay To be submitted Thursday Week 12 (semester 2) | Summative | 1750 words | 60% |
Resit Assessment
Assessment task | Length |
Essay | 2500 words |
Feedback methods
Feedback method | Formative or Summative |
Collective feedback in class for both formative and summative work | Formative and Summative |
Individual written feedback in Bb9 | Formative and Summative |
Additional one-to-one feedback available (during consultation hours or by appointment). | Formative and Summative |
Recommended reading
- New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies, ed. by Graziella Parati (Madison – Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2012)
- John Foot, Italy’s Divided Memory (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Online access via Library ebook portal.
- Paul Ginsborg, A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics 1943-1988 (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1990).
Further reading is recommended in CU Booklet (in Bb9) and in Reading Lists Online in which digital content is embedded and seminar readings available.
Study hours
Scheduled activity hours | |
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Lectures | 22 |
Seminars | 11 |
Independent study hours | |
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Independent study | 167 |
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
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Stephen Milner | Unit coordinator |
Guyda Armstrong | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes