ITALIAN
Department of Modern Foreign Languages
Leonard R. Koos, Chair
Faculty
Associate Professor
Federico Schneider
The Program in Italian
Through courses in Italian, students gain proficiency in understanding, reading, writing, and speaking this language. Laboratory facilities are used extensively to supplement classroom instruction. Upper-level classes are conducted primarily in Italian. The program is complemented by courses on literature, culture, and civilization, some of which are taught in English, to give students with different backgrounds an opportunity to benefit from these offerings. Any student may use Italian to satisfy the University’s general education requirement for proficiency in a foreign language. A special major in Italian Studies is possible for students who wish to make application. Double majors are possible, and non-majors may also enter the language program. Students have the opportunity to reside in a campus residence area in which Italian is spoken, and which sponsors a variety of activities. The resident program coordinator is always a native speaker of Italy. Graduates in Italian Studies may pursue careers in fields in which knowledge of this language and culture is essential, including interpreting, translating, research, art history, music, fashion, design, historic preservation, and international business.
The University operates a four-week, summer study abroad program in Orvieto, Italy, and offers a semester exchange program at the Universita Cattolica di Milano.
*For information regarding General Education language requirements for students not currently majoring in Modern Foreign Languages, please see page 53 in this Catalog.
Italian Course Offerings
101, 102 – Beginning Italian (3, 3)
Grammar, composition, conversation, reading, laboratory use.
201, 202 – Intermediate Italian (3, 3)
Grammar review, reading, oral work, laboratory use.
291, 292 – Studies in Language (3, 3)
Reading, conversation, and composition in Italian with emphasis on communication and analysis of language through lectures and discussions.
300 – Topics in Italian Culture (3)
Important literary works and authors, ideas, movements, and institutions in Italian culture.
316 – Society and Civilization (3)
Literary, social, and cultural history of the Italian people from the Renaissance to the 20th century.
373 – Nineteenth-Century Literature (3)
Includes Manzoni, Foscolo, Leopardi, D’Annunzio, Verga, Pascoli, Carducci, Nievo.
381, 382 – Modern Italian Literature (3, 3)
From Pirandello to Montale; prose and poetry of Gozzano, Svevo, Ungaretti, Moravia, Carlo Levi, Cardarelli, Palazzeschi, Buzzati, Silone, and others.
383 – Modern Italian Literature (3)
A study of modern Italian works, including selections from Ungaretti, Moravia, Carlo Levi, Buzzati, Silone, Pasolini, Calvino, and others.
395 – Italian Literature in Translation: Dante’s Divine Comedy (3)
Taught in English. A thorough study of the Divine Comedy in its historical and cultural background.
396 – Italian Literature in Translation: Masterpieces of the Renaissance (3)
Taught in English. A study of major Renaissance authors. Petrarch, Boccaccio, Cellini, Ariosto, Castiglione, Tasso, Machiavelli, etc.
491, 492 – Individual Study (3, 3)
Intensive study of one or more authors selected by student in consultation with advisor.
499 – Internship (Credits variable)
Supervised off-campus experience, developed in consultation with the department.