FALL COURSES 2022

• ITAL 101 - Elementary Italian: That's Amore 

  Supervised by Lauretta De Renzo                                              

  Italians are known for savoring all pleasures and beauty that life can offer, from food to fashion, art to style, and language to conviviality. In this hands-on course, you will begin discovering Italy, its rich culture, and its people by becoming an active user of the Italian language, starting on the first day of class. You will learn how to learn a new language and understand the modalities that make communication effective and culturally appropriate. By the end of this course, you will be able to be an expert food traveler in Italy, from restaurant selection to menu evaluations to ordering and paying for a typical Italian four-course meal; also you will be a connoisseur of the famous regional cuisines and the Italian lifestyle of "A tavola non si invecchi mai" (At the table, one does not grow old). As you hone your skills, you will be invited to reflect upon your personal learning goals, processes, and outcomes.

  Workload: This course is offered in three formats: (1) in person four times per week + one hour online (asynchronous) per week; (2) in person three times per week + one hour online (asynchronous) per week; (3) online in asynchronous lessons. For the in-person courses, regular and continued attendance is mandatory.

• ITAL 201 - Intermediate Italian: Bel Paese 

  Supervised by Claudia Ventura 

  Bel Paese or “beautiful country,” is the classical epithet for Italy because of its cultural heritage and natural endowment. In this course, you will explore a cornerstone of Italy’s beauty, the cities of art, with their magnificent piazzas, churches and palaces, traditional eateries and markets, and modern nightlife venues. By interpreting authentic multimedia material, participating in discussions, and writing various texts, you will improve your ability to narrate, express opinions, and establish causal relationships in Italian. You will explore and practice implementing these skills as you develop an Italian Portfolio where you showcase your greatest strengths and accomplishments. See one student's sample that includes all second-year courses: Portfolio italiano di Madison McDonald

  Text: Bel Paese (2022), by Claudia Ventura, PDFs in Canvas.  This course meets in person three times per week + one hour (asynchronous) online. Due to the hybrid model of this course, students should plan to study for about one hour per day and be committed to a self-directed learning environment. Regular and continued attendance is mandatory.

• ITAL 152 - Italian Cinema: Desire and Resistance (online course)

  Taught by Sergio Rigoletto

  How can cinema visualize forms of resistance against oppression and tyranny? How can films enable us to imagine alternative futures? In this course, you will explore Italian cinema history in relation to national and global struggles for social justice and equality. You will also discover how Italian filmmakers fought to defend their cultural heritage against the imperialistic aspirations of Hollywood Studios. Through class discussions and presentations, the course will enable students to justify the claim made by many film scholars for whom Italian cinema was the most influential national cinema of the 20th century. This course fulfills the GP requirement and it is conducted online in English.  

• ITAL 301 - Advanced Italian: Contemporary Italy Through Media

  Taught by Gerardo Pisacane 

  The spread of global platforms such as Netflix, TikTok, and YouTube has brought unprecedented media visibility to Italy, generating great interest in the country's culture and language. How do we problematize the knowledge and understanding of the Italian culture and society presented to the audience by widespread media texts on the web? This course will attempt to answer this question by exploring topics including gender, age, ethnicity, and national and regional identity. Each week, students will engage with screenings, discussions, and hands-on projects about the most popular TV series, YouTube videos, and social media posts presenting Italian culture. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining media literacy and language studies, students will learn how to read and discuss media texts critically. 

• ITAL 317 - Made First in Italy: From Middle Ages to Renaissance

  Taught by Lauretta De Renzo

  Italian Medieval and Renaissance literature’s legacy is vibrant and ever-present in society. There are two main questions this course will explore and attempt to answer: what do Italian Medieval and Renaissance do (and do first) and how do we understand this period today? This course will examine roughly 1200-1500 in Italy to understand better the human condition at that time and how that understanding ripples through to today. Together we will read renowned writers like Niccolò Machiavelli and Dante Alighieri and we will also examine important cultural inventions of the time like the banking system and specific art techniques. You will establish an emotional investment in this time period by rendering mastery over the material through creative assignments.

• RL 407/507 - Women Talk to Women

  Taught by Leah Middlebrook

  This course examines scenes of women in conversation in literary, visual, and cinematic texts from the Hispanic, Anglophone, Francophone and Italophone worlds (the concepts of “world” and “worlding” will be discussed in our class). We will explore tensions between “woman” as a biological category and the construction of ideologies and tropes of womanhood and femininity over the course of social, political, and economic modernity by considering how narratives, circulated and elaborated in the sixteenth-, seventeenth-, eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries, shape conventions about women and womanhood we encounter today. Writers, artists, and theorists considered include Ovid, Fernando de Rojas, Christine. De Pizan, Francesco Petrarca, Louise Labé, Marguerite de Navarre, Miguel de Cervantes, María de Zayas, Moderata Fonte, Veronica Franco, Louise Bourgeois, Cheri Moraga, María Lugones. The language of instruction in this course is English. In order to receive MA or Major credit in FR, ITAL, or SPAN, it is necessary to complete all written assignments in the target language. Students seeking credit toward the Minor in those languages should confirm with their advisor and the Instructor. Contact Leah Middlebrook with questions (middlebr@uoregon.edu).

  WINTER COURSES 2023

  • ITAL 102 - Elementary Italian: Italian Holidays and Traditions

    Supervised by Lauretta De Renzo - Huter                                           

    Italians take their centuries-old traditions very seriously, celebrating them with gusto and pride. You will discover some of Italy’s most colorful and iconic festivities such as the Befana in Rome and Urbania, the Carnival of Venice, and Siena’s spirited Palio while increasing your proficiency in Italian. As you hone your skills, you will be invited to reflect upon your personal learning goals, processes, and outcomes. While advancing in your ability to effectively communicate in Italian, you will develop a collaborative presentation on a traditional festival of your choice.

    Workload: This course is offered in two formats: in person 4 times per week + 1 hour online per week. Due to the hybrid model of this course, students should plan to study for about one hour per day and be committed to a self-directed learning environment. Regular and continued attendance is mandatory.

  • ITAL 202 - Intermediate Italian: Italian Excellence

    Supervised by Claudia Ventura                                              

    Italian culture is steeped in the arts, fashion, music, and food. Home of major centers of Renaissance art and craftsmanship on the Italian peninsula has flourished for centuries. In this course, you will analyze contemporary Made in Italy production in fashion, furniture design, high tech, and music. We also will discover the Italians behind the ‘Made in Italy’ brand as well as genius minds such as Galileo and Leonardo. By interpreting multimedia material, participating in discussions, and writing various texts, you will improve your ability to narrate, compare and contrast, express opinions, and establish causal relationships in Italian. You will explore and practice implementing these skills as you develop an Italian Portfolio where you showcase your greatest strengths and accomplishments. See one student's sample.

    Workload: This course meets in person 3 times per week +1 hour (asynchronous) online. Due to the hybrid model of this course, students should plan to study for about one hour per day and be committed to a self-directed learning environment. Regular and continued attendance is mandatory.

    Texts: Italian Excellence (2023), by Claudia Ventura, PDFs in Canvas.

  • ITAL 318 - Italian Baroque and Enlightenment

    Taught by Lauretta De Renzo - Huter 

    Italian Baroque and Enlightenment were prolific periods of Italy’s history. If the Italian Baroque impacted the arts with its idea to create illusions, the Italian Enlightenment gave birth to influential political ideas such as the abolishment of the death penalty. In this course, you will learn to recognize the most important features of Baroque and Enlightenment culture in Italy, from art to literature, from music to poetry, and from politics to law. Also, you will visit the UO Special Collection Library to examine Italian-illustrated early prints of this period. By interpreting classic texts, you will also advance your communication skills in oral and written Italian as you develop a critical essay based on your disciplinary and cultural interests.

  •  

  • ITAL 319 - Advanced Italian - Eco-Italy: Introduction to the Green Humanities

    Taught by Diana Garvin

    This interdisciplinary course bridges the arts and the sciences, introducing you to human-land relationships across Southern Italy and North Africa. Together, we will explore the Green Humanities in the greater Mediterranean: we will analyze activist artwork inspired by earthquakes and volcanoes. We will read investigative reporting on the eco-mafia and discuss the meaning of their slogan, “Trash is Gold.” Materials emphasize long-form journalism and documentary film because these forms of writing and filmmaking craft compelling stories to support sustainability across government and industry. So too do assignments: you will create an online portfolio exploring environmental themes, including a weekly photojournal, a mini-podcast series, and a YouTube video. By the end of this course, you will be able to speak about ecological phenomena in vivid, human terms.

    Conducted in English with credits for the Italian minor and Italian/RL major.

  • ITAL 407/507 - Fascism and Neofascism 

    Taught by Diana Garvin

    How do you study something ugly? This course teaches argumentation and empathy in tandem to counteract the divisiveness of Fascist rhetoric. Debate labs show how to appeal to your audience’s logos (head), ethos (gut), and pathos (heart). Two in-class debates give you the opportunity to practice these techniques. Annotation exercises deconstruct Fascist propaganda and speeches, revealing how dictators manipulate emotion to maintain control. Critical reading exercises then extend these lessons to Neo-Fascism, teaching you to distinguish between news entertainment and trustworthy sources. Ultimately, this course teaches how to interpret primary sources and to craft compassionate arguments. Together, these two skills will prepare you to deliver a convincing case for ethical actions in real-world scenarios. 

    This course is taught in English. Romance Languages students will read the primary texts and complete written work in their target language to receive credit in French or Italian. M.A. Periods: French 1, 2; Italian 1, 2.

  • SPRING COURSES 2023

    • ITAL 103 - Elementary Italian: Portrays of Italy

      Supervised by Lauretta De Renzo                                              

      Through snapshots of Italian society, you will explore how the past and the present are closely intertwined in Italian culture and how this affects the Italian lifestyle. By examining a variety of media (videos, photos, articles, websites, a short story, etc.), you will learn about the stile italiano.  You will also advance your Italian proficiency by extending your oral and written interpersonal and presentational skills as well as your interpretive skills.

      Workload: This course is offered in two formats: in person 4 times per week + 1 hour online per week. Due to the hybrid model of this course, students should plan to study for about one hour per day and be committed to a self-directed learning environment. Regular and continued attendance is mandatory.

    • RL 152 - Mediterranean Foodways

      Taught by Diana Garvin

      This course uses food as a lens to introduce you to modern Italian history, from Unification in 1871 to the present day. Lectures explore topics like the birth of Neapolitan pizza, Futurist food, and the G-8 pesto debate. To encourage lively conversations between students, each lecture also includes four, 10-minute discussion labs. Labs provide time and space to digest the lesson materials, and also offer a small-group setting where you can get to know your classmates. Using the digital collections of the Barilla Gastronomic Library, you and your classmates will analyze cookbooks, recipes, and menus alongside Italian novels and films. You will even engage in the culinary arts yourself, bringing historical photographs and recipes to life with a Futurist food “happening” at the Holy Palate tavern of Milan.

      This course fulfills the GP requirement and is conducted in English.  

    • ITAL 203 - Intermediate Italian: One Italy, Many Italies

      Supervised by Claudia Ventura 

      Globalization and immigration seem to carry new challenges for Italy’s socioeconomic stability.  By examining infographics and data as well as personal stories and participating in discussions, you will explore current social phenomena such as young adults' unemployment, LGBTQ rights, and immigrant routes in Italy to gain a critical panorama of Italian society. You will also advance further your ability to narrate, compare and contrast, and express opinions in Italian. By the end of this course, your spoken and written presentations will include culturally appropriate vocabulary, expressions, and gestures. You will explore and practice implementing these skills as you develop an Italian Portfolio where you showcase your greatest strengths and accomplishments. 

      Workload: This course meets in person 3 times per week + 1 hour online. Due to the hybrid model of this course, students should plan to study about one hour per day and be committed to a self-directed learning environment. Regular and continued attendance is mandatory.

      Text: One Italy, Many Italies (2023), PDF in Canvas authored by Claudia Ventura 

    • ITAL 410 - Global Histories of Italian Food 

      Taught by Diana Garvin

      The story of Italian food is a tale of global trade, revealing the historic connections between Italy and the world.  Our interdisciplinary course focuses on connecting places and people, both in content and in assignments. Each weekly seminar uses a historical lens to explore the relationship between an Italian city and a different world capital to illustrate how far-flung nations and empires have shaped Italy’s regional cuisines. Modular assignments teach applied skills to build your undergraduate research profile. You start by collaborating with local site visits, with in-person interviews at the UO Urban Farm, Craft Centers, and Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum.  Then, you practice these skills by corresponding with global institutions with Italian food history holdings.  Building better museums, our midterm project, gives you the opportunity to critically review and assess past collecting practices, then build a digital Wunderkammer: a display box where you can model more accurate and inclusive ways to present the past to the public. Your final puts these skills together, as you develop these interview materials into a UROP Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellowship proposal.  By the end of this course, you will have a research network and a fellowship application ready for submission, helping you to launch your professional trajectory into the wider world.