First-year Elementary Italian aims to develop your skills in listening-comprehension and oral expression, as well as on grammar, reading, and writing. This course makes extensive use of visual and audio material to ensure the most productive results. Students are required to participate and engage in conversation.
"I liked how diverse the classroom was and how actively the students participated to learn Italian."
"The course pushes you out of your comfort zone and encourages you to speak in front of the class every day -- something I’m sure I will be thankful for when I am traveling in Italy this summer."
"Professor Seaman has a great way of teaching that helps you realize your potential. She made our class challenging, but I always wanted to be there despite how early in the morning it was."
In this course we will see how the greatest authors of the Italian tradition have written about Love. We will start with Dante's Vita Nuova, and investigate some of the Cantos from the much-celebrated Divine Comedy. We will continue with Boccaccio's revolutionary short stories, and consider his writing as the emergence of a new consciousness. Petrarch's collection of poems, The Canzoniere, will take us to study introspection as a way to understand conflicts within oneself. We will question the metaphors that these authors have chosen to speak about human emotion, we will investigate the limits of expression, the role of silence in literature, as well as the influence of their writing in today's western consciousness. The course will continue with readings from the Italian romantic tradition, from Foscolo, to Leopardi, Tarchetti and Boito among others. The Twentieth century will bring us to the first feminist Italian writer, Sibilla Aleramo, the poet Dino Campana, and then to Bassani, Lampedusa and back to Calvino. All texts will be read in English translation, though advanced students of Italian will be able to read these texts in the original.
"I am science major and this class broadened my perspective on academics so much that I am planning on minoring in Italian."
"We always had amazing conversations facilitated by Professor Seaman's questions, presentations, and direct challenges."
"I truly appreciate the variety of literature that was covered. Very diverse styles and perspectives that offered intriguing insights into our human preoccupation with the meaning of life and that of love."