Academic Curriculum

Courses are offered through the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and are marked by academic rigor and integrity, while drawing parallels between the Italian and Italian American experiences. Some of the courses offered by the Bishop Pilla Program are:

IC 160:  Italy Today (3 credits)  Historical and cultural background of modern Italy; emphasis on themes such as immigration, the role of women in politics, and the reasons underlying Italy’s current zero birth rate.

IC 161. The Mosaic of Sicily: Art, History, and Literature
(3 credits) (Formerly ML 280). History, literature, and art from ancient to modern Sicily.  A study trip to Sicily is an integral part of the course.

IC 162: Italian American Culture and Civilization Through Literature (3 credits)  (Formerly  ML 260) The Italian American experience from the late nineteenth century to the present.  Sociopolitical issues seen through literary and other readings, and through cinema. Prerequisite: EN 111 112 or equivalent.

IC 163: Women in Italian Society Through Literature and Film.  (3 credits) The shift in social, political, and economic roles of women in 20th-century Italy.  Focuses on major Italian women writers and films that depict these changes.

IC 164: Italian Literary Parks. (3 credits) The relationship between writing and the writer’s homeland. Focus on major Italian writers and their literary, physical, and emotional portrayal of their place of origin.

IC  260:  Italian Literature and Film (3 credits) Study of Italian novels that have cinematic counterparts, concentrating on how the spectacle of film gives a different reading from that of the novel to show the changing conditions of 20th- and 21st-century Italy.

IC  261: Italian and Italian American Spirituality Through Literature and Film (3 credits)  Franciscan ideology and theology and its cultural, literary and artistic influences on Italian and Italian American literature and film.

IC 262:  Faith, Reason and Art in Italian and Italian American Literature (3 credits) (Formerly ML 270) How faith, reason and art interact in Italian and Italian American literature.

IC  263:  Modern   Italy   and   Mass   Migration   Through Literature (3 credits) (Formerly ML 275) Historical and cultural background of modern Italy, especially as found in the works of Ignazio Silone. Study of the conditions of Southern Italy which led to mass migration to the U.S. in the nineteenth century.

IC 360:  Dante's Divine Comedy (3 credits) (Formerly ML 320)  Study in modern English translation of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise with special attention to theological issues as well as literary content.  Dante is examined as both a supreme poetic craftsman and a church reformer.

IC 361:  Italian Humanism and Renaissance (3 credits)  (Formerly ML 325) Study of Italian Humanism and the Renaissance through the writings of Petrarch, Alberti, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Collonna and Leonardo da Vinci.  Includes an intensive, on-site learning tour.  Travel fee required.

IC 362: Dante's Cities:  Rome, Florence, L’Aquila, Siena  (3 credits) (Formerly ML 350) Study of the Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova, showing how they reflect the social, cultural, and artistic representation of late medieval Italy.  Includes an intensive, on-site learning tour of the cities that have influenced Dante’s art.  Travel fee required.

Italian Language

Italian language classes at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels are offered through the Department of Classical and Modern Languages. Since 1999 nearly 2300 students have taken Italian language and literature classes.

IT 101: Beginning Italian I (3 credits) Intensive functional approach to the four language skills in a cultural context. Classroom, multimedia, computer-assisted instruction.

IT 102: Beginning Italian II (3 credits) Prerequisite: IT 101 or equivalent. Amplification of language skills in a cultural context.

IT 191-192: Beginning Supervised Study (3 credits each) Supervised independent study of Italian at the beginning level.

IT 199: Special Topics (3 credits) Occasional course on a selected topic announced in advance.

IT 201-202: Intermediate Italian I, II (3 credits each) Prerequisite: IT 102 or equivalent. Further development of the four language skills for communication in a cultural context; expanding of vocabulary, idiomatic usage, and grammar. IT 201 or equivalent prerequisite for IT 202.

IT 291-292: Intermediate Supervised Study (3 credits each) Supervised independent study in Italian at the intermediate level.

IT 299: Special Topics (3 credits) Occasional course on a selected topic announced in advance.

IT 301-302: Advanced Italian I, II (3 credits each) Prerequisite: IT 202 or equivalent. Advanced study of the four language skills for communication in a cultural context; expanding of vocabulary, idiomatic usage, and grammar. IT 301 or equivalent prerequisite for IT 302.

IT 398: Supervised Study (3 credits) (Formerly 391-392). Supervised independent study. Permission of instructor.

IT 399: Special Topics (3 credits) Occasional course on a selected topic announced in advance.