FRENCH
1. Introductory French I
08F, 09W, 09S, 09F, 10W, 10S: 9
An introduction to French as a spoken and written language. The work includes regular practice in class, scheduled drill-sessions, and the laboratory, in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and elementary reading materials serve for vocabulary building and discussion. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. The staff.
2. Introductory French II
08F, 09W, 09S: 9, 10 09F, 10W, 10S: 9, 10
Rapid review and continued study of the fundamentals of French, with intensive work in vocabulary building. More advanced practice, in classroom, drill-sessions, and laboratory, in the use of the spoken language.
Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 1. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. The staff.
3. Intermediate French
08F: 11, 12 09W, 09S: 11, 12, D.L.S.A. 09X: 9 09F: 11, 12 10W, 10S: 11, 12, D.L.S.A.
Given on-campus as the final course in the required sequence and off-campus as part of the L.S.A. curriculum, this course is designed to develop reading, writing, and speaking skills, with emphasis on expansion of vocabulary and reinforcement of grammatical structures. Some discussion of texts and films of literary or cultural interest. Frequent oral and written assignments and tests, both on-campus and off, plus daily drills off-campus.
Open to students by qualifying test or to students who have passed French 2. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. The staff.
5. Language Study Abroad: Aspects of French Civilization
09W, 09S, 10W, 10S: D.L.S.A.
A course in French civilization taught in the context of the Language Study Abroad pro gram. Lectures by local faculty concentrate on French political, social, economic, and religious institutions, and their historical development. Independent or accompanied visits to sites are an integral part of the course. Assigned work may include short readings, oral presentations and papers, and a final examination.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. WCult: W. The staff.
6. Language Study Abroad: Readings in French Literature
09W, 09S, 10W, 10S: D.L.S.A.
An introductory course, offered in the context of the Language Study Abroad program, dealing with major figures, themes, or genres of French literature. Some areas of concern are critical reading and analysis, style, and historical and social perspectives. Assigned work may include independent reading and analysis, frequent short papers, and examinations. Taught by Dartmouth faculty.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. The staff.
7. First-Year Seminars in French Literature
Consult special listings
8. Exploring French Culture and Language
08F: 12 09W, 09S: 12, D.L.S.A.+
09F: 12 10W, 10S: 12, D.L.S.A.+
Practice in the active use of the language combined with an introduction to major aspects of French society. Each week students will write papers and participate in discussions based on books, articles, and films emphasizing social and historical concepts.
Prerequisite: French 3, or equivalent preparation. Dist: SOC; WCult: W. The staff.
10. Introduction to French Literature: Masterworks and Great Issues
08F: 12, 2 09W, 09S: 2, D.L.S.A.+ 09X: 12
09F: 12, 2 10W, 10S: 2, D.L.S.A.+
These courses, offered each term by various members of the Department, deal in major figures, themes, or issues of modern French literature, and of those earlier periods which have particular relevance to today’s world. Techniques of critical reading and interpretation are studied as an approach to these topics, which reflect the interests of the teaching staff.
Prerequisite: French 3, or equivalent preparation. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
In 08F at 12, Tourists, Exiles and other Outsiders. Inhabiting another space—real or imaginary, for pleasure or out of necessity—inspires reflection about the host culture, the self, and the concept of “home.” This course will explore these themes and perspectives in French and Francophone literature and film. Readings may include works by Graffigny, Hugo, Sand, Nerval, Stendhal, Rimbaud, Tristan, Colette, Camus and Butor. Kilbane.
In 08F at 2, Seduction. Seduction is a game and a ritual that takes many forms. With words, the body, music, images and objects, seducers, be they characters within novels, poets, playwrights or huge corporations, can exercise a hold on their targets of seduction. Beginning with the poetry of the Renaissance, we will then read plays and novels and view films that foreground the arty of seduction. Authors may include Marot, Ronsard, Molière, Flaubert and Beauvoir. Cone.
In 09W, Coming of Age. The novel of development has traditionally described a young man’s coming of age. Contemporary writers have turned to this familiar literary form in representing new situations, opening it to the experience of women, immigrants and others once considered marginal to French society. The course will explore the experience of coming of age in novels and films by Jean-Paul Sartre, Annie Ernaux, François Truffaut, Mehdi Charef, Maryse Condé, Camara Laye, and Marguerite Duras. Green.
In 09S, Fatality, Danger and Phantasmagoria: Performing Destiny on the Modern French Stage, Theory and Performance. A study of the dramaturgy, the themes, problems and their resolutions in the performance of selected French plays and novels. The transition of dramatic literature from page to stage will be examined, as well as the concepts, insights and techniques from which actors create and sustain theatric illusion. Authors may include Diderot, Musset, Maeterlinck, Claudel, Beckett, Ionesco, Simenon, Leblanc. Rassias.
12. Advanced Writing and Speaking in French
09W, 09S, 10W, 10S: D.L.S.A.+
In this course, students will learn to recognize and reproduce a broad range of linguistic registers and structures in order to achieve competence in French grammar, phonetics, vocabulary, and oral and written expression. Aided by the analysis of newspaper articles, letters, political orations, screenplays, interviews, and short stories, students will analyze, imitate, and produce diverse types and levels of discourse. Course work will entail intensive writing, stylistic analysis, small group discussions, dramatic presentations, and experiential exercises such as conducting interviews, writing business letters, or composing political speeches. Texts by Montesquieu, Danton, Maupassant, Zola, Ionesco, De Gaulle, Yourcenar, Kassovitz, and others.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Advanced Language Study Abroad Program. WCult: W. The staff.
15. Business French and the French Economy
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
This course will enable students to function in a French business environment. We will use departments of a company (human resources, production, sales, finance and administration) to acquire a knowledge of business terminology and practices. Using company web sites and the business press, students will become familiar with important companies and the environment in which they operate.
Prerequisite: French 8, or permission of the instructor. WCult: W.
20. Interpreting French Cultures
09W: 2 09X, 10S: 11
This course is designed to enable students to acquire the analytical skills necessary to interpret the various representational modes that constitute French and Francophone cultures. In order to prepare students to become more culturally “competent” the course will draw on various critical concepts that focus on how and why we read the signs of culture from a variety of perspectives such as: history and politics; issues of class and power; the study of symbols and documents. We will explore a variety of cultural objects and examine the theoretical writings of some of the following authors: Balibar, Barthes, Baudrillard, Ben Jelloun, Bourdieu, Butler, de Certeau, Condé, Fanon, Finkielkraut, Foucault, Fumaroli, Glissant, Kristeva, Le Goff, Malraux, Nora, Ozouf, and Wievorka.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W. Walker.
21. Introduction to Francophone Literature and Culture
08F, 09F: 2
This course surveys the evolution of French language (Francophone) literature of the former French colonies and examines the social, political, and cultural issues it raises: race, colonialism, decolonization, revolution, independence, neo-colonialism, Négritude, Antillanité, Créolité, écriture féminine, mimetic desire, cultural hybridity, post-independence government and society. The survey will include novels, plays, poetry, film and essays by representative writers from the principal divisions of the Francophone world: the French West Indies, the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa; Quebec, and Francophone Canada.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: NW. Green.
22. Introduction to French Literature I: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
08F, 10W: 11
Medieval France—its art, architecture, technology, philosophy and literature—exerted an unparalleled influence throughout Europe. Studying the first texts written in French, as well as the manuscripts in which they circulated, will shed light on the nature of French culture. We will examine defining issues of the period: the transition from oral to written expression, the invention of printing, debates concerning the status of women, Renaissance humanism, scientific inquiry, religious reform and conflict. Texts may include La Chanson de Roland, selected poetry, and works by Chrétien de Troyes, Christine de Pizan, Marguerite de Navarre, François Rabelais, and Michel de Montaigne.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. LaGuardia.
23. Introduction to French Literature II: Neoclassicism and the Eighteenth Century
09W, 10W: 10
The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were a dynamic and volatile period characterized on the one hand by the rise to power of the most absolute of all monarchs, the Sun King Louis XIV, symbolized by Versailles, and on the other hand by the French Revolution. Fostered by royal patronage, literature and the arts flourished, yet many writers also used artistic expression to counter this royal power. The period saw the birth of the modern French novel and the development of a rich body of theatrical and philosophical literature. These centuries are recognized as major components of France’s collective identity and their influence is still felt in France today. Authors may include Descartes, Corneille, Racine, Molière, Lafayette, Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, Graffigny, Beaumarchais and Laclos.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Marcellesi.
24. Introduction to French Literature and Culture III: Nineteenth Century
09S: 2 10S: 10
This course examines the nineteenth-century renewal of literary form and vision from the French Revolution to the First World War. We will study the social and historical developments of French culture as they are reflected in various literary genres (narrative, poetry, dramatic theory and practice), literary criticism, philosophy, historiography, and the other arts. Emphasis will be placed on France’s growing self-awareness as a nation and on the analysis of aesthetic and intellectual issues represented in the major literary movements of this period including romanticism, realism, symbolism, art for art’s sake, naturalism, fin de siècle decadence, and modernism. Readings may include works by such authors as Chateaubriand, de Staël, Stendhal, Hugo, Musset, Sand, Balzac, Baudelaire, Flaubert, Michelet, Zola, and Huysmans.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Kogan.
25. Introduction to French Literature and Culture IV: Twentieth Century
09S, 09F: 10
This course examines the radical transformations of literary form and vision that characterize twentieth-century France with its two World Wars, its colonial conflicts, and the challenges to French identity posed by immigration and globalization. We will use lyric poetry, fiction, drama, autobiography, and film to explore literary movements such as surrealism, existentialism, the new novel, the theater of the absurd and écriture féminine, as well as the recent impact of immigrant and minority writers. Readings and films may include works by Proust, Breton, Colette, Beauvoir, Sartre, Camus, Robbe-Grillet, Duras, Delbo, Cixous, Sebbar, Resnais, Malle, and Kassovitz.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Delogu.
29. French Civilization: Study Abroad
08F, 09W, 09S, 09F, 10W, 10S: D.F.S.P.
Studies in such aspects of the cultural heritage as French art, music, and history. Credit for this course is awarded students who have successfully completed the program of the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at one of its university centers in France.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Foreign Study Program. Dist: ART; WCult: W. The staff.
30. French Literature: Study Abroad
08F, 09W, 09S, 09F, 10W, 10S: D.F.S.P.
Credit for this course is awarded students who have successfully completed the program of the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at one of its university centers in France.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Foreign Study Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. The staff.
31. The French Language: Study Abroad
08F, 09W, 09S, 09F, 10W, 10S: D.F.S.P.
Credit for this course is awarded students who have successfully completed the program of the Dartmouth Foreign Study Program at one of its university centers in France.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Foreign Study Program. WCult: W. The staff.
35. The French Language: Introduction to Linguistics and Rhetoric
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
This course will explore the French language by means of the linguistic analysis of texts. Its purpose is a) to familiarize the student with the constraints and freedoms of the French language as these are revealed by linguistic analysis, and b) to develop the student’s spontaneity of expression. The course will include the study of structural linguistics and recent rhetorical systems such as those of Genette or Riffaterre.
Prerequisite: French 8 or 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
40. French Literature: The Approach through Genre
08F: 10 09S: 11 10S: 2
This course will be devoted to significant examples of a particular literary genre. Genres may be defined historically: thus epic is recognized in its medieval form; tragedy receives its normative definition during classicism. Genres may also be defined formally so that narrative may be studied as it evolves across several centuries. Issues to be considered may include the way genre shapes the production and reception of literary texts and the relationship between historical and generic determinants of a given work.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
In 08F, A Literature of Migration. In the aftermath of two world wars, France has attracted immigrants from Europe and the former French colonies, particularly Africa and the Caribbean. As they have changed the definition of what it means to be “French,” these recent immigrants and their children have enriched French culture. We will discuss fiction, essays, and films by Sembène, Ben Jelloun, Robin, Kassovitz, Beyala, Sebbar, Begag, Diome, Mabanckou, Benguigui, and Allouache. Green.
In 09S, Jules Verne, Novel Adventures. This course intends to prove the modernity of Verne’s extraordinary voyages. While it anticipates Borges’ literary utopia, Verne’s fictional world map closely resembles the bourgeois French society of the second half of the nineteenth century driven by domination, conquest and the transformation and control of nature. The course will discuss Verne’s novels and theoretical works on travel, gothic, and science fiction by Barthes, Macherey, Martin, and Serres among others. Verona.
In 10S, French Theater goes Greek: Major Greek Myths on the Contemporary French Stage. Theory and Performance: From Page to Stage. The transition of selected works from page to stage will be examined, as well as the concepts, insights and techniques from which actors create and sustain theatric illusion. Dramatic productions by students will be presented at the end of the course. Authors may include Sartre, Cocteau. Anouilh, Kihm, Gide, Giraudoux. Rassias.
45. French Literature: The Approach through Periodization
09S: 12 09X: 10A
French literature has traditionally been divided into chronological blocks that receive descriptive names: classicism for the seventeenth century; Enlightenment for the eighteenth century; etc. In this course, one or more periods will be selected for intensive study in the light of fundamental questions about the historical process.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
In 09S, Heads or Tails? Chance and Culture in Early Modern France. Why do things happen? Is the world ruled by providence, nature, free will, or random chance? In Old Régime France, such questions stimulated passionate debate, intensified by Pascal’s demonstration that chance itself obeys the laws of probability. This course examines how chance shaped discussions of social inequality, religion, sociability, esthetics and gambling. Readings from Montaigne, Pascal, Scudéry, Lafayette, Racine, Prévost, and Diderot. Wine.
In 09X, to be announced.
50. French Literature: Major Figures
08F, 09F: 10A
This course will be devoted to the study of a single author or to a group of authors who have exercised a decisive influence on French, European or world literature or who are deserving of concentrated attention because of the quality or originality of their literary production.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
In 08F, Simone de Beauvoir at 100. Philosopher, novelist, autobiographer and essayist, the life-long companion of Sartre and vice versa, Beauvoir is considered the founding mother of feminism. The course will examine Beauvoir’s role as a prominent intellectual figure for radical political and philosophical debate, particularly concerning women. Discussion of topics such as existentialism and ethics, gender and politics, and attitudes to aging. Kritzman.
In 09F, Montaigne and Proust. Montaigne and Proust represent distinct historical periods in which subjectivity is a major intellectual concern. Using first person narratives as emblematic of their times, we will examine how self-portraiture is manifested in time and space and reflects upon broader notions of character, sensation, sexuality, memory. Selections include representative Essais of Montaigne, Proust’s Du côte de chez Swann and Le temps retrouvé, short essays of Bergson, Blanchot, Derrida, Freud, Kristeva. Kritzman.
53. French Thought: Philosophical Issues
09F: 2A
This course will study texts which have shaped influential views of human nature, scientific knowledge, social and moral values. Its focus may be on the philosophers and moralists of the classical period (such as Pascal and La Rochefoucauld), the social and political thinkers of the Enlightenment (Diderot and Rousseau) or contemporary thinkers (Beauvoir, Foucault, Lévi-Strauss).
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: TMV; WCult: W.
In 09F, French Theory. French writers played a crucial role in the development of contemporary literary and critical theory. French theorists have analyzed subjects ranging from perception, to sexuality, gender, the unconscious, popular culture, fashion, cinema, mythology, kinship, and even the Paris Mètro. This course will examine some of the major trends and monuments in this explosion of theoretical activity in France. Works by Lèvi-Strauss, Lacan, Foucault, Kristeva, Irigaray, Cixous, Derrida, Deleuze, Baudrillard, and others. LaGuardia.
55. French Culture and Politics
10S: 2A
This course will study the broad field of French civilization with a variety of approaches. Literary texts may be studied for their political influence; literature may be seen as a way of changing history or a reflection of history. Writings on cultural or political issues, by such figures as Montaigne, Diderot or de Staël, may also be included as may more current works from the field of cultural criticism.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
In 10S, Les Identités de la France. What do we mean when we remark that something is “so typically French?” We will examine the concept of French collective identity focusing on characteristics such as conversation, cafés, gastronomy, cathedrals, and the Eiffel Tower. Readings will be drawn from the works of historians and cultural theorists such as Nora, Elias, and Barthes, as well as literary texts by authors such as Molière, Michelet, Hugo, Voltaire, Baudelaire, and Staël. Beasley.
60. Gender and French Literature
10S: 12
Intersections of gender and literary expression will be studied from a variety of perspectives: gender and authorship (women writers, écriture féminine, comparative analysis of masculine/feminine treatments of genres or themes); gender and reading (do men and women read differently? do certain texts address a specifically gendered readership?); gender and literary form (the lyric, the romance plot); representations of men and women in certain movements or periods (the female body, women/men as subjects or objects of representation).
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
In 10S, Women in Eighteenth-Century France. This course is a cultural and literary exploration of gender in eighteenth-century France. Through works by both male and female thinkers, writers, and artists, we will look at the lives of eighteenth-century French women in the domestic and public spheres. We will explore gender construction and distinctions in the social, political, and intellectual arenas of pre-Revolutionary France. Readings include Riccoboni, Genlis, Cotin, Gouges, Rousseau, Châtelet, Laclos, Montesquieu, Charrière, Marivaux. Marcellesi.
70. Francophone Literature
09W: 11 10W: 2
This course will involve the study of Francophone literature outside Europe. This may include the literature of Africa, the Caribbean, Québec and Southeast Asia.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: Varies.
In 09W, Questions of Independence. The year 2002 was the two hundredth anniversary of the Haitian Revolution. This course will focus on Haiti, the Haitian Revolution and its literature. Walker.
In 10W, Writing French in the Arab World: Voices from the Maghreb. First encountered as a colonizing language, French has become a language of self-expression and affirmation for writers in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as in Maghrebian immigrant communities in France. The course will focus on the role of French in constructing contemporary Maghrebian identity in novels and films by Tahar ben Jelloun, Assia Djebar, Maïssa Bey, Mahi Binebine, Leila Sebbar, Merzak Allouache, and Yamina Benguigui. WCult: NW. Green.
75. French Film
09W: 10A
This course will focus on one of the following: an individual filmmaker, a significant movement or period, or a major theme in French cinema. Students will become familiar with aspects of French cinematic history as well as with important concepts in film analysis.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
In 09W, Women Filmmakers in the French Tradition. We will study films by French women filmmakers, situating them within cinema history generally and the French tradition in particular. We will trace the artists’ contribution to the development of realism, Modernism, Surrealism, the New Wave, and post-Modernism. Examining the articulation of social consciousness with artistic experimentation, we will ask whether the films point to a specifically feminine aesthetic. Counts toward French, Film and Television Studies, or Women’s and Gender Studies major. Higgins.
78. Senior Major Workshop: Methods in Reading, Writing and Cultural Analysis
09W: 2 10W: 2A
As part of this culminating experience, each major will work on an independent project, either a senior thesis or expanding upon work begun in a previous course. The independent project will be developed within the framework of this course using a selection of critical texts that can be viewed as models of literary, cultural, and historical analysis. Lectures by a variety of faculty members will supplement the readings. Students will gain mastery in literary and cultural analysis, close analytical reading skills and composition in French.
The course is open only to French and Italian Department senior majors or by petition, which is due by the fifth day of classes of Fall term. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Beasley.
80. French Literature and the Other Arts
10W: 12
Literary works (poetry, theater, the novel, the essay) will be examined in their relationship to the other arts. This will include music, painting, the plastic arts, architecture, etc. Sample topics: opera and melodrama; symbolism and Impressionist painting; surrealism in poetry and collage; art criticism by such writers as Baudelaire, Apollinaire, Ponge.
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
In 10W, Orientalism. In this course French “Orientalism” will be examined as a cultural phenomenon beginning in 1789 with Napoleon’s incursion into Egypt. Some questions to be addressed: What is the “Orient”? How is it depicted in texts, photographs, and paintings? How is it a mental construction and what does it reveal? Readings will include authors such as Lamartine, Hugo, Flaubert, Yourcenar, Malraux, and Duras; paintings by Delacroix and Matisse will be studied. Kogan.
81. Seminar
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
87. Independent Reading and Research
All terms: Arrange
A program of individual study directed by a member of the staff. Open only to French, French Studies and Romance Language Majors. By special permission this course may be taken more than once. A proposal, signed by the faculty advisor, must be submitted to the Departmental Committee on Independent Studies and Honors Theses for approval by the fifth day of classes of the term.
89. Honors Seminar
All terms: Arrange
Honors students will arrange a program of study and research during any term of the senior year on a tutorial basis with individual faculty members. A thesis, written in French, and a public presentation are the normal culmination of this course. A proposal, signed by the faculty advisor, must be submitted to the Departmental Committee on Independent Studies and Honors Theses for approval by the fifth day of classes of the term. For information about application procedures, please see the Regulations section.
FRENCH CLUB
Students interested in French are invited to join the French Club, Le Cercle français. It is a cultural as well as social organization which meets weekly. Membership is open to all students whether or not enrolled in French courses. The program includes talks in French, informal conversation groups, films, and dramatic productions.
FRENCH AND ITALIAN IN TRANSLATION
The following courses are taught in English.
33. Dante: The Divine Comedy
08F, 10W: 12
This seminar provides an intensive discussion and analysis of Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. Special attention will be given to Dante’s conception of the human being and to critical notions of allegory, autobiography, and the Christian and classical influences which resonate in Dante’s epic poem. Essential background reading from the Bible, Virgil, Augustine and Ovid will complement the central text. Text, lectures and discussion in English. Students taking the course for major credit will attend a weekly x-hour conducted in Italian.
Open to all students. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Quaintance.
34. Renaissance Studies in Translation
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
An examination of Italian Renaissance masterpieces in translation, which will explore the centrality of Italian ideas and ideals to the development of literary and cultural norms in Italy and Europe. Topics will vary according to the focus established by each instructor.
Open to all students. Lectures and discussion in English. Major credit will be granted to students who read required selections in Italian and attend a weekly x-hour conducted in Italian. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
35. Modern Italian Culture and Society
09S: 2A 09X: 12
According to the interests of the instructor, a major topic, art form, literary genre, or historical theme that concerns modern Italy will be approached in relation to Italian culture and society as a whole. The focus of the course will thus be interdisciplinary, emphasizing the interplay of the fine arts, literature, film, music, history, and philosophy. Possible themes include Literature and Politics in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century, The History of Italian Opera, The Culture of Italian Fascism, Italian Film (specific directors such as Fellini, De Sica, Bertolucci and Antonioni).
Open to all students. Lectures and discussion in English. Major credit will be granted to students who read required selections in Italian and attend a weekly x-hour conducted in Italian.
In 09S, From Dagoes to Sopranos: Italian American Culture (Identical to Comparative Literature 63). Yo! (from the Sicilian “Guagliò.”) What does it mean to be an Italian American? This course looks at the history of Italian migration to the United States, and at novels written by Italian Americans (di Donato, Fante, Barolini, De Salvo). A number of films by Coppola, Scorsese, Savoca, and Spike Lee will be shown. The last week of the course is devoted to music by Italian Americans such as Sinatra and Madonna. Dist: LIT; WCult: CI. Parati.
In 09X, Italian Novels of the Twentieth Century: “Resistance.” The course examines interconnections and disconnections between fiction and history: the resistance to fascist misogyny in Alba De Cespedes, the power of memory in Primo Levi’s Holocaust writings, conflicting allegiances to private love and public duty in Beppe Fenoglio, “escapist” fiction by Tommaso Landolfi, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s outlook on the devastations of modernity in Rome, and Vittorio Tondelli’s stand against homophobia in the nineteen eighties. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Jewell.
93. Second Language Teaching and Learning: Theory and Practice
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
This course examines the notion that language teaching theory and classroom practice are two sides of the same coin. After a historical overview of language pedagogy, the course will survey current theoretical models and methods of second language teaching and learning based on a solid foundation of recent empirical evidence. Topics will include Krashen’s “Input Hypothesis,” the “Rassias Method” and the recently developed theory of “Conceptual Fluency.” In the second part of the course, we will shift our focus to the practical questions of curriculum design, classroom activities and the development of teaching materials. This course offers major credit for all French and Italian Department majors. It may offer minor credit with permission of the Chair.
Open to all students. Dist: SOC.
ITALIAN
For information on the Italian Major and the Italian Studies Major, see section entitled ‘Majors,’ in the Regulations section.
1. Introductory Italian I
08F, 09W, 09S, 09F, 10W, 10S: 9
An introduction to Italian as a spoken and written language, with emphasis on practical conversation. The course includes regular practice in class, scheduled drill-sessions and the laboratory in understanding and using the spoken language. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. The staff.
2. Introductory Italian II
08F, 09W, 09S, 09F, 10W, 10S: 10
Rapid review and continued study of the fundamentals of Italian, with intensive work in vocabulary building. The course will also include an introduction to the culture and civilization of Italy.
Open to students by qualifying placement or to students who have passed Italian 1. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. The staff.
3. Introductory Italian III
09W, 09S: 10 09X: 9 10S: 10 08F, 09W, 10W, 10S: D.L.S.A.
This course is designed to reinforce and refine spoken and written language skills through a review of grammar, exposure to a broad spectrum of language ranging from colloquial to literary styles, and the use of samples of Italian language from multiple sources such as advertising, comics, television and literature. Frequent compositions, quizzes, plus linguistic and thematic analysis of texts.
Open to students by qualifying placement or to students who have passed Italian 2 or Art History 12. Never serves in partial satisfaction of the Distributive or World Culture Requirements. The staff.
5. Language Study Abroad: The Art and Culture of Rome
08F, 09W, 10W, 10S: D.L.S.A.
A course, taught in the context of the Language Study Abroad Program, which concentrates on the artistic life and culture of Rome. Masterpieces of painting, sculpture and architecture are studied in their social and historical contexts. Visits to sites in the city proper and its environs as well as nearby cities are an integral part of the program of study.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: ART; WCult: W. The staff.
6. Language Study Abroad: Literature
08F, 09W, 10W, 10S: D.L.S.A.
An introductory course offered in the context of the Language Study Abroad program, dealing with major figures, themes, or genres of Italian literature. Some areas of concern are critical reading and analysis, style, historical and social perspective.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Language Study Abroad Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. The staff.
7. First-Year Seminars in Italian Literature
Consult special listings
8. Exploring Italian Culture and Language
09S, 09F: D.L.S.A.+
This course will serve as an introduction to modern and contemporary Italian literature, culture and society. It will focus on topics such as evolving political and regional identities, gender relations, the role of the media, and the culture of daily life, as they appear in forms as diverse as narrative and poetry, cinema, music, and journalism. Students will also focus on specific grammatical and stylistic issues in order to improve their fluency in Italian. Course work will consist of frequent essays and student-led discussions.
Prerequisite: Italian 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W. The staff.
10. Introduction to Italian Literature: Masterworks and Great Issues
09W: 12 09X: 11 10S: 2 09S, 09F: D.L.S.A.+
This course will offer a general introduction to Italian literature from the thirteenth century to the present. Topics will vary according to the interests of the instructor, but readings will center on such authors as Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Ariosto, Leopardi, Manzoni, Pirandello, and Svevo.
In 09W, Matrimonio all’italiana: Love, Marriage, and Adultery in Italian Literature and Film. This course examines themes of love, marriage, and adultery in Italian literature and film. We will focus on the changing social and cultural context of love relationships, as well as issues of identity and gender. Texts include Petrarch’s Canzoniere, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Ariosto’s Orlando furioso, Manzoni’s I promessi sposi, Aleramo’s Una donna, and films such as Vittorio De Sica’s Matrimonio all’italiana. Quaintance.
Prerequisite: Italian 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. The staff.
11. Italy: The Power of Language
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
This course focuses on a wide variety of historically significant and emblematic cultural texts. These will be drawn especially from the tradition of the oration—be they speeches per se, poems or excerpts from sermons, plays, opera or films. Artists, writers, musicians and directors may include Dante, Machiavelli, Giuseppe Verdi, Roberto Rossellini and Bernardo Bertolucci. Course work entails intensive writing, stylistic analysis, translation, small group discussions, and dramatic presentations.
Prerequisite: Italian 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
12. Advanced Writing and Speaking in Italian
09S, 09F: D.L.S.A.+
An advanced language and composition course in which students will work with a wide range of linguistic and cultural materials in order to achieve competence in Italian grammar, and oral and written expression.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Advanced Language Study Abroad Program. WCult: W. The staff.
15. Italian Cinema
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
Conducted in Italian, this course introduces students to classic Italian cinema, including its history and its predominant genres—from the silent film to comedy and melodrama and thriller. Students will become familiar with Italian cinematic movements such as Neorealism, directors such as Federico Fellini and Roberto Benigni, as well as with important concepts in film analysis.
Prerequisite: Italian 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
29. Rome in the Italian Cultural Imagination: Study Abroad
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to representations of Rome in a discrete historical period or cultural movement and will draw faculty from literature and art history. Italy’s capital city will be the focal point for broad analyses of the relation of past and present, the classical cultural heritage in Italy, the anti-classical movements of Italian art, architecture, literature, and film. Site visits are an integral part of this course.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Italian Studies Foreign Program. Dist: ART; WCult: W.
30. Seminar in Italian Studies: Study Abroad
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
Topics vary according to the specialty of the program director. The course aims to study selected literary texts in their broad cultural and historical contexts and to take advantage of the site itself through its libraries, museums, theaters, and monuments. The course comprises tutorials, fieldwork, class presentations and a research paper.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Italian Studies Foreign Program. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
31. Italian Language: Study Abroad
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
An advanced language and composition course.
Credit for this course is awarded to students who have successfully completed the Dartmouth Italian Studies Foreign Program at its center in Rome, Italy.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Italian Studies Foreign Program. WCult: W.
33. Dante
(See French and Italian in Translation)
34. Renaissance Studies in Translation
(See French and Italian in Translation)
35. Modern Italian Culture and Society
(See French and Italian in Translation)
50. Early Italian Literature and Culture
10W: 2
An intensive introduction to medieval Italian literature, concentrating on Dante’s Vita nuova, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Petrarch’s Canzoniere and Catherine of Siena’s Dialogo della Divina Provvidenza. Selections from other writers will be read alongside these works so as to provide a rich understanding of the major cultural and literary currents of the time. Topics to be explored include mysticism, autobiography and sacred writing, the love lyric, pestilence and historical narrative. This course complements French and Italian 33.
Prerequisite: Italian 10 or 11, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
55. Humanism and Renaissance
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
Umanesimo, the return to Classical models of literature and culture, produced a revolution in Italy and Europe. This course will concentrate on the emergence of coherent ideologies of tradition and innovation in literature, the arts and politics in the works of Petrarch’s spiritual heirs. Close readings of a few major works will provide the background for a comparative analysis of selections drawn from other authors. Writers to be studied intensively include Alberti, Poliziano, Castiglione, Machiavelli, Ariosto, and Tasso.
Prerequisite: Italian 10 or 11, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
57. Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Italian Literature and Culture
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
This course will concentrate on literary works of the Baroque and the Enlightenment periods, and the cultural environment in which they were produced. In the first half of the course we will focus on the Baroque ‘poetics of the marvelous’ (Basile, Marino), Galileo’s nuova scienza and its influence on the literary imagination, and the birth of several new literary genres: the commedia dell’arte and the novel (Andreini, Brusoni). We will then examine the particularity of Italian illuminismo and how the ‘cult of reason’ was expressed in the literary realm, examining such phenomena as the reaction against the Baroque (Metastasio), neoclassicism, the emergence and literary representation of new socio-economic realities (Goldoni), and the theme of conflict between power and individual freedom (Alfieri).
Prerequisite: Italian 10 or 11, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
60. Nineteenth-Century Italian Literature and Culture
09S, 10S: 12
An introduction to nineteenth-century Italian culture through literature, history, opera, and other arts. Topics may include: Italian Unification, the construction of national identity, and the evolution of genres. Authors and works may include: Foscolo, Leopardi, Manzoni, Deledda, Serao, Collodi’s Pinocchio, and Verdi’s Aida.
Prerequisite: Italian 8, 10 or 11, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Parati.
65. Twentieth-Century Italian Literature and Culture
09F: 2
This course offers an introduction to the spectrum of literary forms and social and historical concerns which characterize twentieth-century Italian culture, such as the changes brought by the modernization of a nation with a long history, the two world wars and the rise of Fascism, and the impact of changing gender identities. Authors and filmmakers may include Monicelli, Fellini, Benigni, Calvino, Morante, Pasolini, and Maraini.
Prerequisite: Italian 8, 10 or 11, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
80. Seminar
Not offered in the period from 08F through 10S
Prerequisite: Italian 10 or 11, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
85. Independent Reading and Research
All terms: Arrange
Students may arrange a program of study and research with individual faculty members. Open only to Italian, Italian Studies, and Romance Language Majors. A proposal, signed by the faculty advisor, must be submitted to the Departmental Committee on Independent Studies and Honors Theses for approval by the fifth day of classes of the term.
88. Senior Independent Reading and Research
All terms: Arrange
A program of individual study directed by a member of the staff. Open only to senior Italian, Italian Studies, and Romance Language (whose primary language is Italian) Majors. A proposal, signed by the faculty advisor, must be submitted to the Departmental Committee on Independent Studies and Honors Theses for approval by the fifth day of classes of the term.
89. Honors Seminar
All terms: Arrange
Honors students will arrange a program of study and research during any term of the senior year on a tutorial basis with individual faculty members. A thesis, written in Italian, and a public presentation are the normal culmination of this course. A proposal, signed by the faculty advisor, must be submitted to the Departmental Committee on Independent Studies and Honors Theses for approval by the fifth day of classes of the term.
For information about application procedures, please see the Regulations section.
ITALIAN CLUB
Il Circolo Italiano is open to all students interested in Italian language and culture. Weekly gatherings with conversation, music, and refreshments. Special events include films, suppers, and out-of-town excursions.