Spring Quarter 2013 Courses

SPRING QUARTER 2013 COURSES

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 LOWER DIVISION COURSES  
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ITALIAN 3: Elementary Italian (5 Units)

Course Description: Italian 3 is the third course of Elementary Italian.  Students in this course will continue learning the language in a setting that emphasizes communicative and interactive class activities, e.g., games and role-playing, while focusing also on form (grammar exercises).  The syllabus for Italian 3 comprises Chapters 11 to 16 of the textbook, and the related chapters in the Workbook/Lab Manual (which is available online). Students will review and practice moods and tenses of the verbs they studied in Italian 2. The conditional (present and perfect), the present of the subjunctive, the passive form and the impersonal constructions of the verb, superlative and comparative structures, suffixes in nouns and adjectives, and more uses of prepositions with nouns and verbs will complete the basic knowledge of Italian and increase the students' ability in reading, understanding, speaking and writing. Since the study of a foreign language is different from the study of other disciplines, daily class attendance is indispensable in this course. Unjustified absences will cause a student’s participation grade to drop, and his/her overall grade will suffer accordingly. Just as important as daily class participation are homework assignments.  Laboratory is required, and instructors will collect and grade the lab work as scheduled in the syllabus. Failure to comply with the lab requirements will result in a failing lab grade.

Prerequisite: Italian 2.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 5 hours; Laboratory - 1 hour.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): World Cultures.

Texts:

• Janice Aski & Diane Musumeci, Avanti: Beginning Italian - 2nd Edition (Textbook)  (McGraw Hill, 2009)
• Janice Aski, Diane Musumeci, & Carla Wysokinski, Avanti: Beginning Italian - 2nd Edition(Workbook/Laboratory Manual)  (McGraw Hill, 2009)
   

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ITALIAN 9: Reading Italian (4 Units)

Course Description: This is the third course of Intermediate Italian. The purpose of this course is to review and practice 1st and 2nd year language skills with a particular emphasis on reading comprehension skills.  Italian 9 prepares students for the more reading-intensive work of 3rd year Italian (upper-division language and literature courses), and encourages them to interact with the written text (short stories, newspaper and magazine articles, poems) in a communicative and task-oriented classroom, where language and culture are inseparable.  Students will continue to expand their vocabulary and language skills through a variety of class activities and homework assignments in line with the previous Italian intermediate classes (i.e., oral presentations, online lab and workbook, compositions, tutoring sessions, authentic visual materials and music).   Italian 9 covers chapters 9-12 of the textbook and the related chapters in the Workbook/Lab Manual. Grammar review covers chapters 1-8 of the textbook, while new language structures include: hypothetical clauses; passive voice; direct and indirect speech; and the indefinite moods (gerund, infinitive, participle).

Prerequisite: Italian 5 or consent of instructor. (Students who did not take Italian 5 at UC Davis are encouraged to take the Italian Placement Exam)

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): World Cultures.

Texts:

• Elissa Tognozzi, et al, Ponti: Italiano Terzo Millennio - 3rd Edition (Textbook) (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2013)  
• Elissa Tognozzi, et al, Ponti: Italiano Terzo Millennio - 3rd Edition (Workbook / Lab Manual) (Heinle Cengage Learning, 2013)

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 UPPER DIVISION COURSES
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ITALIAN 104: Italian Translation and Style (4 Units)
Joann Cannon, jccannon@ucdavis.edu

Course Description:  This course will provide the opportunity for practice in translation from English to Italian and from Italian to English.  Texts to be translated will include literary texts from various periods, newspaper articles, and a variety of essays. Students will be involved in the selection of some of the materials to be translated in the second half of the course.  

Goals:  This course is designed to improve understanding of Italian and English grammar, to broaden vocabulary and to improve understanding of various stylistic differences between Italian and English.

Assignments: Students will have translation assignments for each class. Two typed copies of the day’s assignment should be brought to each class.  Translations will be reviewed in class. Students will keep a portfolio of all translation exercises.  Students will independently review grammatical structures and take weekly quizzes on the assigned grammar.  There will be no make-up quizzes.

Prerequisite: Italian 101 or consent of instructor.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

GE Credits (Old): None.
GE Credits (New): ArtHum and World Cultures.

Texts:

• Course Reader at Davis Copy Shop (formerly known as Navin's Copy Shop)
   

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ITALIAN 113: Dante Alighieri, Divina Commedia (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) (4 Units)
Leonardo Giorgetti

Course Description: This course will examine one of the major masterpieces of Italian literature, the Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). We will follow the medieval poet on his mystical journey of redemption through the three kingdoms of the afterlife (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso), reading the poetic recount of his adventures in the original Italian language, and trying to frame the events in their historical context. We will investigate Dante’s literary, philosophical and theological sources in order to understand the ideological structure of the poem, and - when necessary - we will refer to the other literary works written by the Florentine poet. We will read and comment together on a wide selection of cantos, briefly discussing some of the main works in Dante’s ancient and modern criticism. Special attention will be devoted to the theme of pilgrimage and travelling in the medieval world and its literary, religious and theological expressions. A rich iconographical apparatus will accompany the reading of the selected cantos, in the attempt of briefly illustrating the history of the influence of Dante’s legacy on several aspects of European culture, from literature to art and movies.

In order to guarantee a full understanding of the Divina Commedia, students are required to be able to comfortably read literary Italian at an advanced level; however, while detailed paraphrases in Italian will be provided for each canto studied, it is highly recommended to use at the same time an English translation of the poem.

Prerequisite: Italian 9 or consent of instructor.

Format: Lecture/discussion - 3 hours; term paper.

GE Credits (Old): ArtHum.
GE Credits (New): ArtHum, Oral Literacy, World Cultures and WrtExp.

Texts:

• Riccardo Merlante and Stefano Prandi, L'altro viaggo. Antologia della Divina Commedia (Editrice La Scuola, 2012)

 

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ITALIAN 145: Topic: "The Italian Novel of the 20th Century" (4 Units)
Margherita Heyer-Caput, mheyercaput@ucdavis.edu

Course Description: This course is conducted in Italian and focuses on the development of the twentieth century Italian novel with particular attention to its philosophical and historical context.  We will devote in-depth readings and discussions to representative works such as Luigi Pirandello's Il fu Mattia Pascal (1904, The Late Mattia Pascal), Grazia Deledda’s Cosima (1936), and Italo Calvino's Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (1947, The Path to the Spiders' Nests).  Throughout the course we will enhance the interplay between literature and film, which has characterized Italian culture since the silent cinema era.  Various films inspired by twentieth century novels will be shown in order to complement literary analyses.

This course meets the Modern Area requirement for the Italian Major/Minor and is accepted as an elective toward the International Relations Major (Area Studies: Western Europe).  The format combines lectures and group discussions.  Students contribute to class activities with oral presentations on an author or an aspect of Italian cultural history.

Prerequisite: Italian 9 or consent of instructor.

Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.

GE Credits (Old): WrtExp.
GE Credits (New): ArtHum, Oral Literacy, Visual Literacy, World Cultures and WrtExp.

Texts:

• Italo Calvino, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (Mondadori, 2012)
• Luigi Pirandello, Il fu Mattia Pascal (Garzanti Libri, 2008)
• Grazia Deledda, Cosima (Mondadori)

[OPTIONAL]

• English versions of the above titles (The Path to the Spiders' Nests, The Late Mattia Pascal, and Cosima)