Courses

Elementary Italian I (4 credits) is for students who have not previously studied the Italian language. The course provides an introduction to the written and spoken language through a variety of exercises. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environmental issues and civil rights). The class will be conducted in Italian.

Elementary Italian 2 (4 credits) is for students who have successfully completed IT 001 (or equivalent). The course continues the introduction to the written and spoken language in IT 001 through a variety of exercises. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environmental issues and civil rights). The class will be conducted in Italian.

This course (4 credits) is designed for students who have successfully completed Italian 001 and 002 at Penn State, or the equivalent level at another university, or who have taken four or more years of high school Italian. The purpose of the course is to continue the development of communication skills in written and spoken Italian at the intermediate level. The course offers students the opportunity to expand their vocabulary and to use more complex sentence structures in a variety of contexts to express more sophisticated concepts and opinions. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environmental issues and civil rights). The course will be conducted in Italian.

Intensive Beginning Italian is equivalent to IT 001 and half of IT 002. This course is intended for students with no experience of Italian and provides an intensive language-learning environment in which to complete 6 credits of Italian language. Students receive an extensive introduction to Italian grammar, speech, and culture and develop skills in written and spoken Italian through a variety of exercises. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environment and civil rights). The course will be conducted in Italian and prepares students for IT20, Intensive Intermediate Italian.

Intensive Intermediate Italian is equivalent to the second half of IT 002 and IT 003. The course is for students who have successfully completed IT 010 Intensive Elementary Italian and who seek an intensive learning environment of all aspects of Italian language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The course emphasizes reinforcement of elementary language and offers students the opportunity to expand their vocabulary, to use Italian in a variety of contexts and acquire more complex skills. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, the environment, and civil rights). The course will be conducted in Italian. The course satisfies the BA 12th-credit level language requirement.

Roundtable conversation practicum for students concurrently enrolled in IT 001, 002, 003, 010, or 020. May be repeated up to 3 times for credit. IT 050 Italian Conversation Tutorial (1-3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Students supplement their elementary or intermediate language classes (001, 002, 003, 010, 020) with this practicum, which has as its objective to improve pronunciation and oral conversational skills. This course must be taken concurrently with an elementary or intermediate language course and may be repeated up to three times for credit. Evaluation based on student participation (80%) and performance in oral drills and exercises (20%).

Introduction to the study of Italian literature and culture. IT 083S First Year Seminar in Italian Literature, Film, and Culture (3) (GH;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The first-year seminar will introduce students to the study of Italian literature, film and culture in their first year at Penn State. Students will read significant texts (in English), view videos (with subtitles), listen to music and explore Italian thought and culture in general. These experiences will help prepare students for additional courses in literature and in Italian as well provide a point of comparison with U.S. culture. In addition to the academic topic explored in this course, students can expect to gain a general introduction to the University as an academic community and have the opportunity to explore their responsibilities as members of that community. Students will develop an understanding of the learning tools and resources available to them including the opportunity to develop relationships with faculty and other students who share their academic interests. This course satisfies both the first-year seminar and a General Education humanities or Bachelor of Arts humanities requirement. We will offer the course once every two years with enrollment limit of twenty students.

Introductory courses taken abroad through study abroad programs, focusing on Italian language and culture.

IT 130, Italian Culture and Civilization, examines Italian life from antiquity to the present. It is designated an International Cultures course, which aims to develop critical and analytical skills of undergraduate students through a global exploration of the historical, cultural, and political aspects of Italian society. Historical material will be studied to facilitate understanding of how Italian unity is imagined across time, and will emphasize the continuous process of fragmentation and negotiation of cultural, national, and political identity through the ages. The course traces, among other topics, the importance of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church, the Renaissance, Italian Unification, Fascism, and contemporary immigration to Italy. Students will analyze primary texts -- literature, visual art, essays and speeches, music, dramatic works, and film -- to become familiar with significant aspects of Italian thought and culture. Consideration will be given to the various representative Italians such as Dante Alighieri, Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Galileo Galilei, and Vittorio De Sica; inclusion of lesser-known figures, such as Igiaba Scego and Amara Lakhous, will provide students with a wider range of voices that will enrich critical engagement with course themes. By the end of the course students will be able to identify and critically analyze diversity within the peninsula, and demonstrate a familiarity with the key moments, people, and products of Italian culture from antiquity to the present. Throughout the semester, students will also be encouraged to develop a critical appreciation of the influence of Italian culture on Western civilization, and demonstrate a more nuanced understanding of the country by recognizing and articulating similarities and differences among the various international cultures that have influenced, and continue to shape Italy.

Between 1870 and 1920 over five million Italians immigrated to the United States. Of those who came, about one-third returned to Italy. Those who remained, often joined by their families, left an indelible mark on the American cultural, political, artistic, educational, and social landscape. This course provides an overview of Italian emigration to America in the 19th and 20th centuries and the conditions within the United States as a destination culture. Through a study of historical, sociological, literary, and cinematic texts, students will consider, among other topics: 19th-century Italy, the odyssey of immigration to and assimilation in the United States, and life in ethnic neighborhoods. The course will also look at the Mafia, forms of prejudice, and ways Italians uniquely manifested their social values in labor unions, religion, and education in America. Interrogating the immigrant experience for at least three generational periods through the lens of race and ethnicity, the course probes how Italian American identity has been represented in American culture both as profoundly "other" and as emblematically "American." Upon successfully completing this course, students will have a solid grasp of how Italians, in becoming Americans, contributed to the rich fabric of life in the United States. Conducted in English.