Modern Languages and Cultures – Italian Minor

This is the first course in a two-course sequence. The sequence provides students without prior exposure to the language with a sound basis for learning Italian as it is used today in its spoken and written forms. The goal of the sequence is proficiency in communication skills with an emphasis on oral proficiency. The sequence also acquaints students with contemporary culture and life in the Italian-speaking countries. Students must take placement exam if this is their first RIT class in Italian and they have some prior study of Italian. Seminar (Fall, Spring).

This is the second course in a two-course sequence. The sequence provides students without prior exposure to the language with a sound basis for learning Italian as it is used today in its spoken and written forms. The goal of the sequence is proficiency in communication skills with an emphasis on oral proficiency. The sequence also acquaints students with contemporary culture and life in the Italian-speaking countries. (Prerequisites: Minimum score of 1 on RIT Language Placement Exam or MLIT-201 or equivalent course.) Seminar (Fall, Spring).

This is the first course of a two-course sequence at the intermediate level. The sequence provides students with the tools to increase their ability to function in Italian. Communicative activities, contemporary texts, and the study of vocabulary and grammar are used to expand all communication skills, especially oral proficiency. This sequence continues to address issues of contemporary Italian life and culture. (Prerequisites: Minimum score of 2 on RIT Language Placement Exam or MLIT-202 or MLIT-202T or equivalent course.) Seminar (Fall, Spring).

This is the first course of a two-course sequence at the intermediate level. The sequence provides students with the tools to increase their ability to function in Italian. Communicative activities, contemporary texts, and the study of vocabulary and grammar are used to expand all communication skills, especially oral proficiency. This sequence continues to address issues of contemporary Italian life and culture. (Prerequisites: Minimum score of 3 on RIT Language Placement Exam or MLIT-301 or equivalent course.) Seminar (Fall, Spring).

This is the first course of a two-course sequence at the advanced level. The sequence provides students with the tools to increase their ability to function in Italian. Communicative activities, contemporary texts, and the study of vocabulary and grammar are used to expand all communication skills, especially oral proficiency. This sequence continues to address issues of contemporary Italian life and culture. (Prerequisites: Minimum score of 4 on RIT Language Placement Exam or MLIT-302 or equivalent course.) Seminar (Fall).

This is the first course of a two-course sequence at the advanced level. The sequence provides students with the tools to increase their ability to function in Italian. Communicative activities, contemporary texts, and the study of vocabulary and grammar are used to expand all communication skills, especially oral proficiency. This sequence continues to address issues of contemporary Italian life and culture. (Prerequisites: Minimum score of 4 on RIT Language Placement Exam or MLIT-302 or equivalent course.) Seminar (Spring).

The subject of this course is painting, sculpture and architecture of the second half of the Dugento and the Trecento in Italy and its aim is to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art; 1250 marks the death of the last Hohenstaufen Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and 1401 is considered by many to mark the beginning of the Early Renaissance, with the competition for the second set of bronze doors for the Baptistery of Florence. Artists students will study will include Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, Arnolfo di Cambio, Cimabue, Pietro Cavallini, Giotto, Duccio, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Tino da Camaino, Andrea Pisano, Orcagna, Andrea Bonaiuti, Giusto de’ Menabuoi, Altichiero, and Paolo Veneziano. The works students will study will include altarpieces, private devotional images, mural cycles, tombs, churches, chapels, town halls, palazzi and piazze. Questions for consideration will include: the nature and meaning of this proto-Renaissance, the importance of antique and medieval precedents, the increasing attention to the effects of nature, the role of the patron, and the relevance of documents, literary sources and visual precedents for our interpretation of images. Lecture 3 (Fall).

This course will focus on Italian artists working in Italy from circa 1600 to circa 1750 and to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art. Students will explore painting, sculpture, and architecture, and more or less chronologically in each major artistic center of Italy. Students will also have the opportunity to explore how these different media coalesce to create an overwhelming visual experience. Students will pay particular attention to major commissions given to Annibale Carracci, Michelangelo da Caravaggio, Gianlorenzo Bernini, Alessandro Algardi, Francesco Borromini, Pietro da Cortona, Guarino Guarini, Filippo Juvarra and Giambattista Tiepolo, as we seek to define the nature and meaning of the Italian Baroque and Rococo. Lecture 3 (Spring).

The subject of this course is 15th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Florence and Rome and its aim is to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art between 1401, the year when the Calimala Guild announced a competition for a second set of bronze doors for the Baptistery of Florence, and 1500 the year when Michelangelo completed work on the Roman Pietà. Artists students will study include Filippo Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Nanni di Banco, Luca della Robbia, Michelozzo, Leon Battista Alberti, Lorenzo Monaco, Gentile da Fabriano, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Paolo Uccello, Bernardo and Antonio Rossellino, Andrea del Verrocchio, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico del Ghirlandaio, Leonardo da Vinci, Filippino Lippi and Michelangelo. The works students will study will include altarpieces, private devotional images, portraits, mural cycles, paintings and sculpture of mythological subjects, allegories, ceilings, doors, tombs, churches, chapels, palazzi, villas and piazze. Questions for consideration will include: the nature and meaning of the Early Renaissance, developments in artistic theory and practice, the importance of Antique and Medieval precedents, the increasing attention to the effects of nature, the role of the patron, and the relevance of documents, literary sources and visual precedents for our interpretation of images. Lecture 3 (Spring).

The subject of this course is 16th century painting, sculpture and architecture in Florence and Rome and its aim is to provide insight into the ways in which society and culture expressed its values through art between 1501, the year when Michelangelo returned from Rome to Florence to begin carving the colossal marble David, and 1600 which marks the emergence of the Baroque style in Rome. Artists students will study include Leonardo da Vinci, Bramante, Michelangelo, Raphael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Jacopo Sansovino, Baccio Bandinelli, Jacopo Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, Benvenuto Cellini, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Giorgio Vasari, and Giovanni Bologna. The works students will study will include altarpieces, private devotional images, portraits, mural cycles, paintings and sculpture of mythological subjects, allegories, ceilings, tombs, churches, chapels, palazzi, villas, piazze, fountains and equestrian monuments. Questions for consideration will include: the nature and meaning of the High Renaissance, Mannerism, and the late Renaissance, developments in artistic theory and practice, the importance of antique and medieval precedents, the increasing attention to the effects of nature, the role of the patron, and the relevance of documents, literary sources and visual precedents for our interpretation of images. Lecture 3 (Fall).

Comparative study of Italian New Cinema and its predecessors from 1945 to the 21st century. Devotes particular attention to the perspectives that shaped race, space, gender, and national histories revealed though the cultural and cinematic contexts. Students will view and compare cinema from the Neorealist canon and the New Italian Cinema to explore the possible common thread in film language and the issues discussed. A special attention is given to gender construction in Italian cinema and cinema from United States. The students will write a comparative research paper on more than two films from the different periods, or create a project such as a short film. The course also contrasts the Italian culture and the cultures of the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa. It explores how Italian cinema was seminal in the development of cinematographic industries and production of other countries. Specific attention will be given to the comparison of Italian culture and colonial experience and the Global South. Conducted in English. Lecture 3 (Fall).