FRENCH
1. Introductory French I
11F: 9, 10 12W, 12S: 9 12F: 9, 10 13W, 13S: 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
11F, 12W, 12S, 12F, 13W, 13S: 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
11F: 11, 12 12W, 12S: 11, 12, D.L.S.A. 12F: 11, 12 13W, 13S: 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
12W, 12S, 13W, 13S: D.L.S.A.
A course in French civilization taught in the context of the Language Study Abroad program. 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
12W, 12S, 13W, 13S: 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
11F: 11, 12 12W, 12S: 12, D.L.S.A.+
12F: 11, 12 13W, 13S: 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
11F: 12, 2 12W, 12S: 2, D.L.S.A.+ 12X: 9
12F: 12, 2 13W, 13S: 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.
In 11F at 12, Adolescence in Literature and Film. A time of confusion, conflict, rebelliousness and experimentation, adolescence propels the reluctant child into the not so carefree world of adulthood. At what age does adolescence begin and when does it end? Why does it have to be so traumatic, often leading to self-destructive behavior? To help us grapple with these questions we will read of adolescent struggles in Molière, Rousseau, Radiguet, Sagan, and Bey. Films by Truffaut and Klapisch. Cone.
In 11F at 2, The Anatomy of Passion. A study of passion in French and francophone literature through the ages, as seen through texts and films. Readings may include works by Sceve, Corneille, Laclos, Flaubert, Condé. Walker.
In 12W, Oriental Postcards, 1850-1950. Seen from Paris but also from Algiers or Constantinople, the Orient appears to be a succession of postcards, literary or photographic snapshots that uncover a systematic French cultural discourse. Orientalism will be examined as a manifestation of ethnocentrism and also from the position of the Other. We will discuss literary texts by Flaubert, Loti, Eberhardt, Camus, paintings and photographs by Ingres, Moreau, Alloula and theoretical works by Barthes, Schor, Apter, and Kristeva. Verona.
In 12S, 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.
Prerequisite: French 3, or equivalent preparation. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
12. Advanced Writing and Speaking in French
12W, 12S, 13W, 13S: 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 Pro-gram. WCult: W. The staff.
15. Business French and the French Economy
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Prerequisite: French 8, or permission of the instructor. WCult: W.
20. Interpreting French Cultures
12S: 12 12X: 10 W13: 2A
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. Beasley.
21. Introduction to Francophone Literature and Culture
12W, 12F: 11
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. Walker.
22. Introduction to French Literature I: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
13W: 12
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.
23. Introduction to French Literature II: Neoclassicism and the Eighteenth Century
11F: 12 13S: 11
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
12W: 12 13S: 2
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 and Twenty-First Centuries
12S: 11 12F: 12
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.
29. French Civilization: Study Abroad
12W, 12S, 12F, 13W, 13S: 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
12W, 12S, 12F, 13W, 13S: 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
12W, 12S, 12F, 13W, 13S: 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 11F through 13S
Prerequisite: French 8 or 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: SOC; WCult: W.
40. French Literature: The Approach through Genre
11F: 11 12X: 11 13S: 10
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 11F, A Festival of the Intellect/A Collapse of the Intellect: French and Francophone Poetry from Baudelaire through Césaire. Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Eluard, André Breton, Paul Valéry, Aimé Césaire, Léon Damas, D.T. Niane and Andrée Chedid are poets of radically different backgrounds connected by abiding preoccupations of a modernist vision. These poets will be studied in order to explore the traditions and counter-traditions of French and Francophone poetry. Walker.
In 12X, to be announced.
In 13S, Conversations with the French Classics. We will resurrect the conversations among men and women in seventeenth and eighteenth-century France. What is the relationship between the individual and society? What role does literature play during the early modern period? What are women’s and men’s “natural” functions in society? What effect does contact with different cultures have on a society or the individual? Authors may include: Descartes, Corneille, Sevigne, Lafayette, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, de Gouges, Montesquieu, Graffigny. Beasley.
45. French Literature: The Approach through Periodization
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Prerequisite: French 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
50. French Literature: Major Figures
13S: 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 13S, Renaissance Women. The sixteenth century in France witnessed an extraordinary flourishing of women’s writing in courtly contexts. The great women writers of the period examined a number of problems, on which this class will focus: living as an educated woman in a world of brutal men; the crisis of faith provoked by physical desire; the difficult relations between mothers and daughters; the dilemma of arranged marriages with violent husbands. LaGuardia.
53. French Thought: Philosophical Issues
11F, 12F: 10A
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 11F, Confrontations with Death in the French Tradition. Through readings of essays, plays, poetry and fiction, we will examine the relationship of death to the history of French culture and the philosophical traditions it embodies, from the medieval danse macabre to the present. Issues to be discussed include separation and loss, mourning and melancholia, violence, eroticism and sexual difference. Texts will include Villon, Montaigne, Bossuet, Pascal, Flaubert, Baudelaire, Sartre, Beckett, Beauvoir, Derrida, Blanchot and Barthes. Kritzman.
In 12F, Pleasure in French Literature and Philosophy. Pleasure entails mental states such as desire, enjoyment, guilt, hedonism, masochism, orgasm, pain, satisfaction and tranquility. The course examines representations of pleasure in a variety of texts by examining issues like ethics, psychology, politics, sexuality, and aesthetics. Writers might include Marie de France, Rabelais, Montaigne, La Fontaine, Sade, Baudelaire, Proust, Barthes, Quignard. Short theoretical meditations by Epicurus, Cicero, Spinoza, Freud, Blanchot, Foucault, Kristeva, Corbin, Rancière, Badiou. Kritzman.
55. French Culture and Politics
12S: 10
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 12S, India in the French Imagination. What effect have France’s contacts with India had on French culture? We will examine intersections between India and France as seen in architecture such as Versailles and the Taj Mahal, and in literary and philosophical discussions. We will contrast France’s relationship to India with those established with other “orients” such as the Ottoman Empire using travel narratives, correspondence, novels, theatre, newspapers, fables, and the work of cultural historians. Beasley.
60. Gender and French Literature
12S: 2 13S: 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 12S, Fin-de-siècle Femininity and the Decadent Movement (1880-1914). Despite an apparently feminized sensibility, fin-de-siècle culture tends to assign women to roles like “actress,” “femme fatale,” or “prostitute”. We will study visual and literary representations of women that favor symbolization and artificial imitation of reality in a highly ornamental style. Readings may include authors and critics such as Baudelaire, Flaubert, Zola, Huysmans, Colette, Bernheimer, Pierrot, Apter, and artists such as Manet, Redon and Moreau. Verona.
In 13S, Women in Enlightenment 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
13W: 11
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 13W, Passages and Ambiguous Adventures: Colonial and Postcolonial Questions of Migration and Immigration. A comparative study of urban and globalized Francophone cultures (Port-au-Prince, Dakar, Algiers, Tangiers, Saigon, Brussels, Paris), the attendant challenges and effects of globalization, including immigration, national politics, gender, sexuality, as well as ecology and economics, and how the literary or filmic imagination captures these issues. Readings by Kane, Sembène, Beyala; Lê, Lefèvre; ben Jelloun, Allouache, Chraibi; Chauvet, Ollivier, Étienne, Césaire, Glissant. Walker.
75. French Film
12W: 2A
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 12W, From Page to Screen: Adaptation in French Cinema. Since its beginnings, cinema has drawn inspiration from literature. We will juxtapose pairs of literary texts and films, tracing the history of French cinema from the silent era through Modernism, Surrealism, New Wave, to contemporary. Our investigation will be framed by theories of writing, spectatorship, and genre. Literary texts may include Laclos, Dumas, Maupassant, Flaubert, Bost, Duras, Daeninckx. Films by Renoir, Chabrol, Truffaut, Resnais, Masson, Tavernier, etc. Higgins.
78. Senior Major Workshop: Methods in Reading, Writing and Cultural Analysis
12W, 13W: 10A
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. Wine.
80. French Literature and the Other Arts
12W, 12F: 2 13W: 10
Literary works (poetry, theater, the novel, the essay) will be examined in their relation-ship 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 12W, 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.
In 12F, On Literature and Photography. Since its creation, photography is closely connected with the French literary modernist discourse. The course will examine intersecting topics such as the cultural power of the image, the photographic literary style, the story-in-photograph and the photograph-in-story, the photograph’s relation with memory and autobiography. Authors may include Zola, Breton, Modiano, Duras, Ernaux, le Clézio and Atget, together with theoretical texts by Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Benjamin, Barthes, J.-L. Nancy and others. Verona.
In13W, Modernism and Anthropology. Emblematized by Western notions of the fetish, modernism and anthropology intersected in twentieth-century France with a focus on art that influenced literature, and sociology through the 1940s. This course includes Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon, ethnographic studies of Western and non-Western artifacts, appreciations of Caribbean culture, magic, and the College of Sociology’s studies of the sacred, with works by Artaud, Bataille, Brassaï, Breton, Cahun, Caillois, Carrington, Césaire, Dalí, Durkheim, Lam, Leiris and Mauss. Conley.
81. Seminar
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
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 review the Honors Program 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
11F, W13: 12
Dante’s Divine Comedy offers an encyclopedic presentation of medieval ethics, philosophy and theology, a powerful political vision, and some of the most imaginative and beautiful poetry ever written. The poem redefined literature and language in Italy and throughout Europe. But why should we read the Divine Comedy today? What does Dante’s poem have to teach modern readers? These are among the questions we will address as we accompany Dante’s pilgrim on his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Readings and discussions will focus on prominent themes and characters and will seek to understand the Comedy in the context of its historical, political, and literary background.
Open to all students. Text, lectures and discussion in English. Students taking the course for major or minor credit in Italian will attend a weekly x-hour and do all written work in Italian. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Kay.
34. Renaissance Studies in Translation
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
35. Modern Italian Culture and Society
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
93. Second Language Teaching and Learning: Theory and Practice
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Open to all students. Dist: SOC.
ITALIAN
For information on the Italian Major and the Italian Studies Major, see section entitled ‘Majors.’
1. Introductory Italian I
11F, 12W, 12S, 12F, 13W, 13S: 9, 10
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
11F: 10 12W: 10, 11 12S: 10 12F, 13W: 9, 10 13S: 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
11F, 12W, 12S, 12F, 13W, 13S: 9 11F, 12F: 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
11F, 12F: 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
11F, 12F: 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
12W, 13W, 13S: 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
12W, 12X: 12 12W, 13W, 13S: 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 12W, The Culture of Food in Italian Literature, 1300-2012. Food and flavors pervade Italian literature, expressing the historical hunger of a social class, the nourishment of the spirit, or simply the pleasure of the senses. Through various texts and genres from the Middle Ages to the present, we will examine the culture of food and its social and symbolic value through the centuries. Readings, class discussions and writing in Italian. Convertini.
Prerequisite: Italian 3, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. The staff.
12. Advanced Writing and Speaking in Italian
12W, 13W, 13S: 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 gram-mar, and oral and written expression.
Prerequisite: acceptance into the Dartmouth Advanced Language Study Abroad Pro-gram. WCult: CI. The staff.
15. Italian Cinema
13S: 2A
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.
21. Early Italian Literature and Culture
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Prerequisite: Italian 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
22. Humanism and Renaissance
11F: 2
Prerequisite: Italian 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
23. Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Italian Literature and Culture
12S: 2 13W:11
This course explores the rich innovations that marked Italian literature and the arts over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, from the Baroque culture of crisis and change to the Enlightenment’s own reassessment of earlier forms of knowledge and representation. Topics include the poetics of the marvelous, the fascination with popular culture, the nuova scienza, social class and identity, the “cult of reason,” and the relevance of both Baroque and Enlightenment categories to post-modernity. We will explore traditional genres such as lyric poetry, the essay, and the novella, but also new forms: the fairy tale, women’s writing, travel literature, the commedia dell’arte, the novel, and the opera. Authors and artists may include Giambattista Basile, Giambattista Marino, Galileo, Arcangela Tarabotti, Isabella Andreini, Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Bernini, Caravaggio, and Carlo Goldoni. There will also be units on books, visual arts and music, with guest lectures and visits to Rauner Special Collections and the Hood Museum.
Prerequisite: Italian 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W. Canepa.
24. Nineteenth-Century Italian Literature and Culture
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Prerequisite: Italian 8 or 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; WCult: W.
25. Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Italian Literature and Culture
Not offered in the period from 11F through 13S
Prerequisite: Italian 8 or 10, or permission of the instructor. Dist: LIT; 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)
81. Seminar
12W: 11 12F: 12
In 12W, Translation. Translation is essential to human communication. Much of what we know about worlds different from our own comes through translations and the dialogues between languages and cultures that they create. In this course we will focus on translation between Italian and American cultures. We will explore the theory and practice of translation in various contexts (literature, film, popular media), and gain direct experience in the craft of translation through workshops and a final project. Canepa.
Prerequisite: Italian 8 or 10, 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.
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.