ITL 110Y Elementary Italian (5 Credits)

One-year course that covers the basics of Italian language and culture and allows students to enroll in ITL 220 in the following year. Students entering in the spring need department permission and must take a placement exam. In the second semester, students may change sections only with instructor permission. Yearlong courses cannot be divided at midyear with credit for the first semester. Cannot be taken S/U. Concurrent registration in ITL 135 strongly recommended. Enrollment limited to 20.

Fall, Spring

ITL 111 Accelerated Elementary Italian (5 Credits)

One-semester course designed for students with a background in other foreign languages. It covers the material of the yearlong ITL 110Y in one semester. Students should enroll in ITL 220 the following semester. Does not fulfill the foreign language requirement for Latin honors. Cannot be taken S/U. Seniors may be granted an exception. Concurrent registration in ITL 135 strongly recommended. Enrollment limited to 20.

Fall, Spring

ITL 135 Elementary Italian Conversation (2 Credits)

Designed to support beginning Italian students and to help them improve their conversational skills. This course offers intensive practice in pronunciation, vocabulary, oral comprehension and conversation. It includes class discussions, role-playing and short oral presentations. Prerequisite: ITL 110Y or ITL 111 must be taken concurrently. Enrollment limited to 12. {F}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 189/ GER 189 Thinking Transnationally: European Culture Across Borders (2 Credits)

Offered as ITL 189 and GER 189. This series of interdepartmental lectures by a selection of Smith faculty examines the myth of cultural homogeneity perpetuated by the ideal of “native” linguistic competency. These lectures explore hybridity and interaction between cultures and languages as the rule, not the exception. The goal is to help students comprehend the transnational, multilingual web into which they are woven, and to appreciate how they contribute to that web, to appreciate their own position as transnational subjects. By adopting a transnational perspective, students learn to question the primacy of the “native,” whether as non-native speakers in the US or as language-learners looking abroad. S/U only. {H}{L}

Fall, Spring, Annually

ITL 200 Made in Italy (2 Credits)

“The name of Italy,” Mary Shelley wrote, “has magic in its very syllables.” With 65 million tourists per year, Italy has become one of the world’s most desirable destinations. What is it about the bel paese that is so enchanting? This course explores the allure of all things Italian, from iconic brands like Gucci and Ferrari to the Slow Food Movement. In addition to learning about Italy’s achievements in fashion, interior design, automobiles and architecture, the class examines how Italy came to occupy such a powerful place in the modern imagination. Taught in English. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 120. {A}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 205 Savoring Italy: Recipes and Thoughts on Italian Cuisine and Culture (2 Credits)

This course examines Italy’s varied geography, history, and artistic tradition to further appreciate Italy’s rich, delicious, yet simple cuisine. This course travels from the caffè to the pizzeria, to the trattoria, to the pasticceria, to the enoteca to probe the cultural impact Italian cuisine has on promoting a holistic philosophy for eating, drinking, and speaking best reflected by the now renowned Italian Slow Food Movement. Taught in English. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 100. {L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 211/ POR 211 Transnational Visions on Theater of the Oppressed: Augusto Boal and Dario Fo (4 Credits)

Offered as ITL 211 and POR 211. This course combines theories and techniques created by Augusto Boal for his "Theater of the Oppressed" with those of Paulo Freire in “Pedagogy of the Oppressed." It also involves transnational and educational perspectives that prompted Boal’s view of theater as a political act, including contributions from philosophers such as Aristoteles and Machiavelli and from playwrights such as Bertolt Brecht and Dario Fo. Students are exposed to critical pedagogy and performance theories in the first part of the course, and, in the second part, experiment with theatrical games based on Boal's approach. Course conducted in English. All course content is in English, but the students who can read Portuguese, Italian and German have the option of reading some texts in the original versions. Cannot be taken S/U. Enrollment limited to 25. {S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 220 Intermediate Italian (4 Credits)

Comprehensive grammar review through practice in writing and reading. Literary texts and cultural material constitute the base for in-class discussions and compositions. Students taking ITL 220 are strongly encouraged to take a conversation course. Taking both courses strengthens students’ confidence and ability to become proficient in Italian. Prerequisite: ITL 110Y or ITL 111 or equivalent. {F}

Fall, Spring

ITL 235 Intermediate Italian Conversation (2 Credits)

Designed to support Intermediate Italian students to help them improve their conversational skills, this course offers intensive practice in pronunciation, vocabulary, oral comprehension and conversation. It includes class discussions, role-playing and short oral presentations. Prerequisite: two semesters of ITL 110Y or by placement. {F}

Fall, Spring

ITL 237/ WLT 237 Colloquium: The Black Mediterranean (4 Credits)

Offered as ITL 237 and WLT 237. This interdisciplinary course examines the current migration across the Mediterranean to Europe within a larger context, using historical analysis, literature, film studies, postcolonial theory, political science, and anthropology. Together, these different approaches paint an image of the Mediterranean as a dynamic border area in which people of different cultures, languages, religions, and ethnicities have interacted with one another throughout time and space. Enrollment limited to 20. {A}{L}

Fall, Spring, Annually

ITL 245 Culture in Context: An Italian Immersion. When in Florence... (4 Credits)

This course offers an in-depth study of Italian culture to broaden the students' understanding of Italian history, literature and customs. Through readings, discussions, interactions with native speakers and films, students gain a good understanding of Italian society. This course also intends to further develop students’ intermediate knowledge of the Italian language and prepare them for their study-abroad experience. Prerequisites: ITL 110Y or ITL 111, and ITL 220; or by placement. {F}{L}

Fall

ITL 250 Italian Commedia: Italy on Stage Through the Centuries (4 Credits)

This course focuses on the Italian commedia and aims to reflect on the literary, cultural, social, and political meanings that this genre assumed through the centuries. Texts are mainly from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the 1700s by authors such as Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli, Ludovico Ariosto, and Carlo Goldoni. Special attention is given to modern stage performances in light of their cultural and social backgrounds. This course further develops students’ knowledge of the Italian language and prepares them for their study-abroad experience. Prerequisite: ITL 220 or equivalent or by placement. Taught in Italian. Enrollment limited to 20. {F}{L}

Spring

ITL 275 Advanced Italian Conversation (2 Credits)

This course is designed to help advanced Italian students maintain their level of spoken language while at the same time further their knowledge of contemporary Italian society and culture. It enables students to express themselves with an advanced degree of fluency and proficiency as well as appropriate use of formal and/or informal register. Prerequisite: ITL 235 or by placement exam. Instructor permission required. {F}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 299/ POR 299/ SPN 299/ FRN 299 Teaching Romance Languages: Theories and Techniques on Second Language Acquisition (4 Credits)

Offered as FRN 299, ITL 299, POR 299 and SPN 299. The course explores the issues in world language instruction and research that are essential to the teaching of Romance languages. Special focus is on understanding local, national and international multilingual communities as well as theories, methods, bilingualism and heritage language studies. Discussions include the history of Romance languages, how to teach grammar and vocabulary, the role of instructors and feedback techniques. The critical framing provided helps students look at schools as cultural sites, centers of immigration and globalization. Class observations and scholarly readings help students understand the importance of research in the shaping of the pedagogical practice of world languages. Prerequisite: At least 4 semesters (or placement to equivalent level) of a Romance language taught at Smith (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish or French). Enrollment limited to 25. {F}{S}

Fall, Spring, Annually

ITL 332 Finding Dante: The Inferno (4 Credits)

This course focuses on Inferno, the first canticle of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1265- 1321), the culture that originated it, and connections with today’s world. In particular, the course pays attention to Dante’s ties to classical and medieval Christian culture, his political views, his ideas on language, his involvement in contemporary intellectual debates, his efforts to use poetry for ethical and religious ends, and his literary experimentation. During the harrowing descent into the deepest spires of Hell, students understand Dante in light of medieval culture and medieval culture in light of Dante. As such, students experience Dante’s Inferno in its original beauty and make his fears, concerns, and desires theirs. Taught in Italian. {F}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 334 Boccaccio: Decameron (4 Credits)

This course goes deep into the world of Boccaccio’s Decameron, a collection of colorful tales that paint a vivid and often scandalous picture of medieval life. The class examines a rousing cast of characters:  sly wives, shrewd merchants, sensual nuns, roguish painters, rebellious daughters and so on, all negotiating the rapidly evolving social and sexual mores of their time. Boccaccio’s storytellers, in weaving their tales, also construct the foundation of a new and more just community. In this course, students explore this masterpiece of Italian literature with an eye to what they can learn from this text in the present moment. Taught in Italian. {F}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

ITL 369wb/ GER 369wb Seminar: Topics in Transnational Encounters-Nations Without Borders (4 Credits)

Offered as GER 369wb and ITL 369wb. Both Italy and Germany arise from a combination of mobile factors, including people, languages, ideas and ideologies that move across, beyond and before national borders. This course interrogates what it means to study a modern language, specifically German and Italian, by reflecting on this fluidity and mobility of languages and cultures. Areas of inquiry include: the reception of works and authors in translation, the geographic and social mobility of people across multiple borders, the role of memory in connecting the national past with other regions and languages, and the impact of transnational cultures in shaping gender, racial and cultural identities. Cannot be taken S/U. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

Spring, Variable

ITL 400 Special Studies (1-4 Credits)

Restrictions: Qualified juniors and senior majors only. Instructor permission required.

Fall, Spring

ITL 430D Honors Project (4 Credits)

This is a full-year course, 8 credits total over two semesters. Department permission required.

Fall, Spring