BA Latin and Italian

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Resit Assessment

1. New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies, ed. by Graziella Parati (Madison – Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2012)
2. John Foot, Italy’s Divided Memory (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). Online access via Library ebook portal.
3. 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.