Reading Italy: Medieval to Modern

ITAL10500 Reading Italy: Medieval to Modern 20 Full year Undergraduate Level 1 Stephen Milner Unit coordinator 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' First part HE study/Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 This course unit seeks to furnish students studying Italian language and culture with the intellectual and analytical tools needed to understand the processes of cultural production, circulation and reception as a necessary prequel to ‘making sense’ of the history of Italian cultural production. In Semester 1 we will explore what we understand by ‘the Arts’ and the ‘humanities’ and their roots in the classical tradition of the Academy before moving on to consider how symbols work within urban and spatial contexts to generate identities and subjectivities through cultural translation and multiple forms of media, including film.  In semester 2, the focus shifts to the analysis of specific forms of cultural production including the analysis of prose, poetic, and still and moving visual forms.Seminars focus on Italian language-specific and area-specific material that relate to the themes covered in lectures, allowing students to develop further linguistic and cultural competence in their language of study.    This course unit seeks to furnish students studying Italian language and culture with the intellectual and analytical tools needed to understand the processes of cultural production, circulation and reception as a necessary prequel to ‘making sense’ of the history of Italian cultural production. In Semester 1 we will explore what we understand by ‘the Arts’ and the ‘humanities’ and their roots in the classical tradition of the Academy before moving on to consider how symbols work within urban and spatial contexts to generate identities and subjectivities through cultural translation and multiple forms of media, including film.  In semester 2, the focus shifts to the analysis of specific forms of cultural production including the analysis of prose, poetic, and still and moving visual forms.Seminars focus on Italian language-specific and area-specific material that relate to the themes covered in lectures, allowing students to develop further linguistic and cultural competence in their language of study.  The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:<ul><li>To develop knowledge and understanding of specific aspects of Italian culture and society from the medieval period to the present day</li><li>To develop critical thinking and higher-order conceptual reasoning and analytical skills</li><li>To equip students with working definitions for key concepts in the Italian context such as periodization, identity, ‘nation’, ‘ideology’, ‘multiculturalism’, etc.</li><li>To enable students to analyse and interrogate a variety of forms of written and visual cultural production in their contexts.</li></ul>Students on this course will hone their skills of analysis, academic writing and independent research.  . By the end of this course students will be able to: • Demonstrate their ability to analyse the formal qualities of a range of different kinds of Italian cultural production, which may include visual artworks, political propaganda, poetry, films, novels and/or children’s literature.  • Apply their analytical skills to render Italian texts, films, and other forms of cultural representation meaningful in their historic contexts • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some of the major aspects of national and cultural identity in Italy in the modern period.  By the end of this course students will be able to:<ul> <li> Engage in independent reflection and enquiry.</li> <li> Engage in the discussion and critical evaluation of Italian cultural production</li> <li> Use empirical evidence to support synthetic conclusions and interpretations</li> <li> Analyse a body of data and provide a synthesis of the most relevant findings.</li></ul> On successful completion of this course unit, students will be able to:<ul> <li> Use library, electronic, and on-line research resources</li> <li> Follow correct citation procedure for the professional presentation of academic writing</li> <li> Build argumentative frameworks for the analysis of cultural artefacts</li> <li> Carry out individual research and select material judiciously</li></ul> On successful completion of the course unit, students will be able to:<ul> <li> present information, ideas and arguments, orally and in writing, with due regard to the target audience;</li> <li> participate constructively in group activities (e.g. class discussions);</li> <li> assess the relevance and importance of the ideas of others;</li> <li> demonstrate powers of analysis.</li></ul>  Other The course will have particular benefits for any student interested in pursuing a career in teaching and learning, diversity and identity management. The course enhances skills of analysis, synthesis, oral presentation, and written reporting. The course content also encourages students to reflect upon the world outside the University, thereby providing confidence in the use of academic research in a variety of non-academic environments.  Semester 1 <figure class="table"><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td>Week</td><td>Lecture</td><td>Seminar</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Unit introduction: lectures, seminars and assessment </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Italian Cultures: the process of making </td><td>Seminar 1: Thinking about making  </td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Italian Cultures: the process of reading </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Reading Space and Culture 1 </td><td>Seminar 2: Moving through the City</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Reading Space and Culture 2 </td><td>Formative Assessment Deadline 12pm, Thursday Week 5  </td></tr><tr><td colspan="3">Reading week</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Italian Cultural Translation and Reception 1  </td><td>Seminar 3: Translating Italy to Manchester </td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Italian Cultural Translation and Reception 2 </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Making and Reading Italian Culture Film form </td><td>Seminar 4: Film form terminology </td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>A Case Study: Federico Fellini’s Cinema</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Federico Fellini’s I vitelloni </td><td>Seminar 5: I vitelloni Sequence analysis </td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Revision class </td><td>Q and A session. Summative assessment deadline, Thursday Week 12 </td></tr></tbody></table></figure> Semester 2<figure class="table"><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td>Week </td><td>Lecture</td><td>Seminar</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Reading Italy: Introduction to the S2 Course. Renaissance Aesthetics 1 </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Renaissance Aesthetics 2 </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Futurist Aesthetics  </td><td>Renaissance Visual Culture seminar</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Fascism: Visual Propaganda  </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Caro Michele: an Epistolary Novel (Natalia Ginzburg, 1975)  </td><td>Futurism/Fascism   </td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Caro Michele/prose Lecture 2 (Natalia Ginzburg, 1975)  </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Poetry Lecture 1: How to read a poem  </td><td>The romanzo epistolare </td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Poetry Lecture 2,  Ungaretti and Quasimodo </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Women’s writing in the Renaissance: Vittoria Colonna and women poets </td><td>Poetry Seminar</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Italian Feminism and the Women’s Movement in Italy </td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Italian proto-feminism in the Renaissance: Moderata Fonte’s Il merito delle donne</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td> </td><td> </td><td>Italian Feminisms: Reading Manifestos (12 May 2022)</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> 33 contact hours. Language of Teaching: English, with use of Italian as appropriate.<ul><li>One weekly 50-minute lecture every week for 22 weeks, across Semester 1 and 2.</li><li>One fortnightly seminar for 11 weeks, across Semester 1 and 2</li><li>Two scheduled weekly consultation hours, with additional drop-in consultation scheduled for course students for assessment advice and feedback.</li><li>Further consultation by request.</li><li>Blackboard discussion/noticeboard forum to facilitate debate.</li></ul>Useful web links, bibliographical/referencing guides, and MyLearning Essentials material made available on Blackboard.Extensive eLearning resources will be available via Blackboard. These will include: copies of slides used in classes; links to digitized material and relevant online resources in the course Reading List; and supplementary materials to aid students in preparing for classes and assessment. 0 Other 100% <figure class="table"><table aria-rowcount="4" border="1" data-tablelook="480" data-tablestyle="MsoNormalTable"><tbody><tr aria-rowindex="1" role="row"><td data-celllook="4369" role="rowheader">Assessment task  </td><td data-celllook="4369" role="columnheader">Formative or Summative </td><td data-celllook="4369" role="columnheader">Weighting within unit (if summative) </td></tr><tr aria-rowindex="2" role="row"><td data-celllook="4369" role="rowheader">Semester 1 summative spatial practice presentation OR film sequence analysis.  To be submitted Week 12 (semester 1) </td><td data-celllook="4369">Summative </td><td data-celllook="4369">40% </td></tr><tr aria-rowindex="3" role="row"><td data-celllook="4369" role="rowheader">Portfolio of three 150-word summaries in Italian of selected secondary critical literature from readings in Semester 1. In English for foreign Exchange students not taking language. To be submitted Week 5 (semester 1) </td><td data-celllook="4369">Formative </td><td data-celllook="4369">0% </td></tr><tr aria-rowindex="4" role="row"><td data-celllook="4369" role="rowheader">Semester 2 summative essay on the themes covered in Semesters 1 and 2. To be submitted  Week 12 (semester 2) </td><td data-celllook="4369">Summative </td><td data-celllook="4369">60% </td></tr></tbody></table></figure>Resit Assessment:Summative essay on the themes covered in Semester 1 and Semester 2.    <table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:662px;" width="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="width:321px;"> Feedback method</td> <td style="width:340px;"> Formative or Summative</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;"> Comments made during class discussion regarding the relevance and coherence of student responses/participation in discussion.</td> <td style="width:340px;"> Formative</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;"> Individual written comments on all submitted work within 15 working days of submission, plus additional face-to-face discussion available during consultation hours or by appointment.</td> <td style="width:340px;"> Formative and Summative</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width:321px;height:7px;"> Global feedback on all submitted work (delivered orally in classes and via Blackboard).</td> <td style="width:340px;height:7px;"> Formative and Summative</td> </tr> </tbody></table>  ITAL10300 Italian Cultural Studies Co-Requisite Compulsory Please note that if you  take ITAL10500 at Level 1, you cannot take ITAL20500 at Level 2.<table aria-rowcount="1" border="1" data-tablelook="0" data-tablestyle="MsoNormalTable"> <tbody> <tr aria-rowindex="1" role="row"> <td data-celllook="4369">Available on which programme(s)? </td> <td data-celllook="4369">Single Honours Italian Studies and all joint honours programmes with Italian Studies </td> </tr> </tbody></table> N Weekly readings and visual texts will be supplied in seminars and on Blackboard. Secondary readings will be provided via Blackboard. Lectures 22 Seminars 11 0 167