For students beginning Italian in college or students who have been placed at this level after taking the placement test. Students who have studied this language for three or more years in high school, or who use it at home, are not eligible to register for this course. The fundamentals of speaking, reading and writing through task-oriented activities, video/audio cassettes, CDs, and laboratory work. Meets World Languages Requirement.
For students who took Italian I at Montclair State University, students with two years of high school experience in Italian, or students who have been placed at this level through the placement test. The fundamentals of speaking, reading and writing through task-oriented activities, video/audio, cassettes, CDS, and laboratory work. Meets World Languages Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of Spanish at the Intermediate/High level, to be evaluated by the department or by MSU placement exam. Introductory course on the fundamental skills of speaking, reading, writing and comprehending Italian with an emphasis on the linguistic similarities between Italian and Spanish, as well as the commonalities between Italian and Spanish/Latin American cultures. Designed for students starting Italian in college with knowledge of Spanish as native, heritage, or second-language speakers (minimum level: intermediate/high). Places students on a fast track by covering two semesters in one, yet does not reduce the World Language requirement to one semester only. Meets World Languages Requirement.
For students who took Italian II at Montclair State University, students with 3-4 years of high school Italian, or who placed at this level with the Placement test. The course is designed to strengthen proficiency through task-oriented activities, on-line lab work and a review of structures and vocabulary while new material (e.g. future tense, conditional, subjunctive mode) is introduced. Its notional-functional approach is based on a virtual trip to Italy and favors a hands-on approach. Students study Italian culture using Internet resources and create the template for a trip by learning how to: select a destination based on their interests; book hotels (on web-sites, by phone and email); pack for the trip (going clothes shopping); use public transportation to travel in the country; use rental cars (negotiating road rules); go to the bank, the post office; go grocery-shopping or eat out at restaurants; stay healthy during the trip, negotiating pharmacies, doctors and hospitals, etc. Meets World Languages Requirement.
An introduction to Italian American Studies offering an overview of the Italian experience in the United States from the first great waves of immigration to today. Focus will be on the politics of representation of Italian American identity in works from a wide textual base: literature and journalism, cinema, the figurative arts, music, television, advertising, etc. Themes to be investigated include the trauma of separation, relationships with the dominant culture and other ethnic communities, and the formulation of ethnic identity in a U.S. context. A major component of this course will be oral history research in the local community. Taught in English. Equivalent course ITAL 275 effective through Summer 2019. Mutually Exclusive with HUMN 176 and EDFD 176.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 102 or ITAL 111 and knowledge of Spanish at the Intermediate level. Intermediate course about speaking , reading , writing and comprehending Italian with an emphasis on the linguistic similarities between Italian and Spanish, as well as the commonalities between Italian and Spanish/Latin American cultures and business worlds. Designed for students continuing Italian in college with knowledge of Spanish as native, heritage, or second-language speakers (minimum level: intermediate). Places students on a fast track by covering two semesters in one. ITAL 211 is the second of a two part sequence starting with ITAL 111, and prepares students to take the sequence ITAL 242-243 Grammar and Composition. Meets World Languages Requirement.
Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105, WRIT 106, HONP 100 or HONP 101. The extent to which we have the freedom to express ourselves in the language(s) of our choice and on our own terms, says a great deal about the position(s) we occupy in society. World literatures and cultures, their translation and reception reveal power structures on the global level. This course investigates how we all "live in translation," how our languages shape our identities and how translation contributes to the expansion of worldviews and heightened communication within, between and across fields of inquiry, markets, communities, and nations. We focus on transnational experiences, world citizens living in a permanent “state of translation” and how translation and interpreting are vital services that unite, recognize and respect differences. Languages are crucial for the cultural and creative industries crossing chronological and geographical boundaries, enriching personal, aesthetic and intellectual lives of consumers. We offer a look at Italian for Specialized Purposes. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits.
Prerequisite(s): HS Italian 3 Honors or equivalent, with recommendation from HS Italian teacher. This bridge course is a specially designed intensive Italian course intended for rising high school juniors and seniors. The course includes in-class instruction, interactive lunch lectures and tours. It grants college credits to HS students.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 140 or equivalent. A two-part course designed to improve the student's written Italian in a variety of contexts: short narratives, descriptions, formal and informal letters, argumentative essays, observation, and analysis. Attention is given to style, register, and vocabulary enrichment. This course begins with a thorough review and refinement of the student's knowledge of Italian grammar with systematic exercises and descriptive analyses of reading passages. The course is centered on discussion and written practice through the writing of multiple drafts and presentations and prepares students for the ACTFL Writing Test. Required for majors. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242. This course is designed to strengthen the student's written Italian in a variety of contexts: short narratives, descriptions, argumentative essays, observation and literary analysis. Attention is given to style, register, and vocabulary enrichment. This course continues a review and refinement of the student's knowledge of Italian grammar with systematic exercises and detailed analyses of reading passages. The course emphasizes group discussion and written practice through the writing of multiple drafts, presentations, and creative writing assignments. It prepares students for the ACTFL Writing Test. Required for Majors. Taught in Italian. Meets the Graduation Writing Requirement for majors in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105 or HONP 100 or WRIT 106 or HONP 101. A historical overview of images of Italian Americans on the screen from the earliest years of cinema to the late 20th century, the course provides a background for the Italian experience in the U.S. and in particular in the NY-NJ area through a wide spectrum of films including silent, noir, drama, comedy, and documentaries, as well as a range of established and lesser known directors. While showing how Italian American film has established itself in the national canon, the course offers a number of critical tools for unpacking how ethnicity is represented and mediated in the film genre. It is designed for students who are interested in a critical analysis of popular films such as Goodfellas and The Godfather, curious about the historical evolution of on-screen images of Italian Americans from The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino to Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta, and looking for a reading of ethnic representation in classics such as Do The Right Thing and Kiss of Death. Taught in English. Meets Gen Ed - Great Works and their Influences.
Prerequisite(s): WRIT 105 or HONP 100 or WRIT 106 or HONP 101 or HUMN 115 or HUMN 151 or departmental approval. A course focusing on the major exponents of and themes in Italian cinema from Neo-Realism to the present. The selected films, illustrating a variety of styles and ideological underpinnings, explore crucial moments in the development of modern Italian society. Topics for a given semester will be selected from the following: film aesthetics and film theory, the development of the Italian cinema industry, history in cinema, national identity, immigration and ethnicity, representations of masculinity and femininity, the class struggle, and cinematic adaptations of literary works. A component of this course will be an introduction to the art of subtitling, through a series of workshops on related translation issues, technical considerations and the use of subtitling software. Taught in English. Mutually Exclusive with HUMN 277.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 140 or departmental approval. Selected writers illustrating the main currents of 20th century Italian literature. Pirandello, Ungaretti, Montale, Pavese, Betti, Vittorini, Silone, Moravia and others. Taught in English.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242. Practice in spoken Italian with an emphasis on listening and speaking skills, pronunciation, and oral competence through assigned topics and a discussion of modern and contemporary Italian culture. Special attention is given to vocabulary enrichment. This course prepares students for the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview in Italian. Use of Language Lab, web-based and computer assisted resources required. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242 or ITAL 243 or departmental approval. A combined conversation and writing course emphasizing business and professional contexts such as the job application process, interviewing, the corporate environment, and techniques of commercial correspondence and translation. This course is designed to develop students' communicative skills and prepare them to work in the Italian business world and the European Community. It provides an in-depth study of Italian geography, economics, marketing, banking, and international trade relations. Particular emphasis will be on global markets and the use of the Internet to conduct business. A component of this course will be an emphasis on the bilingual aspects of commercial translation. Readings in Italian and English. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242 or ITAL 243. In the digital age, how is the study of literature evolving? How are the canonical texts of a culture translated and transcreated through time? What can we learn about a language and culture, and about our own, through literary analysis, translation and adaptation? In this course, the stylistic, philological and historical reading of canonical texts such as Dante’s Comedy, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Petrarch’s Canzoniere, Machiavelli’s The Prince or Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, among others, will be accompanied by the linguistic and comparative analysis of selected English translations, tracing how literary translation can influence a text’s dissemination across other literatures and genres such as graphic novels and videogames. Students are encouraged to develop creative projects to interpret content. A feature of the course is the use of established digital projects by Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia and the University of Virginia. Required for majors. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242 or ITAL 243. This course discusses the construction of Italy as a nation and its complex relationship with modernity through an analysis of trends in literature, figurative arts, opera and fashion that reveal the tension between the national project and the international influences intrinsic to Italian culture historically and geographically. Like ITAL 340, this course focuses on the principles of textual analysis, but the approach to translation is more hands-on. Students analyze the language of and translate short stories, fairytales and plays by major 20thcentury writers (for example, Calvino, Buzzati, Pavese, Levi, Ginzburg, Ferrante), or translate the operatic language of 19th century librettos set to music by Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni in contemporary Italian and English. The course integrates workshops by translators of Italian literature and opera and theater titlers. Required for majors. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 243. This course will explore one aspect of Italian language, literature or cultural studies that is either not covered in the curriculum or deserves more in-depth treatment than is possible in an existing course. The specific topic and language of instruction (either Italian or English) will be announced at the appropriate time before registration begins. This course may be repeated twice for a total of 9 credits. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242. The focus of this course is both practical and theoretical. Students practice translating the types of texts - technical, commercial, advertising, journalistic, medical, legal, etc. - that translators encounter on a regular basis and are introduced to the fundamental textual and linguistic principles underlying translation theory. This course examines the role of cultural context and emphasizes the use of computer-mediated resources in the act of translation. Students discuss and rewrite their translations in a workshop environment. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 350 or departmental approval. This course begins with a brief history of tourism in Italy and an analysis of travel literature and films about Italy, to plot the coordinates of “Destination Italy” and its relationship to the modern Italian political state. An analysis of texts on cultural marketing and hospitality management will help students identify the strategies by which Italian cultural sites, representations and simulacra are marketed to the world as part of the Made in Italy brand. Students will review translation theories and strategies for the Italian-English language pairing, and will hone their skills in Italian and English to translate the most common texts for the tourist, hospitality and cultural sectors, such as historical texts, brochures, travel guides, texts for museum exhibits, theatrical and musical events, advertisements, commercials, videos, websites and social media. They will also gain an understanding of fundamental aspects of interpreting and accessibility to media.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. Study at an Italian university to gain firsthand knowledge of the historical, social, economic and cultural life of Italy. Credit by evaluation.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. A presentation of representative works of Italian-American authors dealing with the problems of the Italian immigrant as he/she inserts him/herself into the American mainstream Didonato's Naked as an Author, Puzo's Godfather and the Fortunate Pilgrim, and Fante's Dago Red are some of the works to be considered. Taught in English.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. A critical study of Dante, considering especially the Divine Comedy and other selected works in their medieval context. Taught in English.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. The works of Petrarch, Boccaccio and Machiavelli, and a secondary consideration of works of other authors of the Renaissance. Taught in English.
Restriction(s): Italian majors or minors or departmental approval. Introduction to and critical assessment of social, political, historical, economic, and religious aspects of Italian life through a wide range of subtopics such as immigration, racism, identity, ethnicity, popular culture, stardom, icon worship, and others in search of a broader understanding of Italian culture. Interdisciplinary methodologies based on cultural anthropology and sociology and critical and theoretical approaches such as Gramscian Marxism, Feminism, and Postmodernism are employed to question the humanistic distinction between high and low culture. Comparisons drawn between Italian and American cultures. Required for majors. Taught in English.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. This course provides an opportunity to extend academic resources beyond the campus by placing the student in meaningful learning situations with thoroughly screened and approved employers. Each chosen situation is to prepare the student to play a dynamic role in society.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 243. This course, specifically designed for teachers of Italian but open to all Italian majors as a Major Elective, offers an introduction to the discipline of Italian linguistics. Making use of a historical approach, the course explores standard Italian and Italian dialects against the background of the development of Romance languages. The course will also provide a descriptive approach to phonetics, morphology, meaning, discourse, and variation in the Italian language. Open to all Italian majors. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 242 and ITAL 243. Students will learn the theory and practice of the communicative approach to teaching Italian as a second language in accordance with the guidelines developed by the MSU Center of Pedagogy. The notion of content standards for teaching communication and culture in a foreign language will be studied through a thorough examination of the "New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for World Languages." Students will learn how to build a didactic unit and to prepare portfolios designed for various levels of instruction. Another important topic addressed in this course is the use of new technology in the classroom. Taught in English.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 340. An introduction to the development of humanism in Italy through a study of significant works of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Topics include Petrarch's lyrical language and its influence in the 15th century, the origins of Italian chivalric poetry and its evolution in the Quattrocento, the historical and cultural context of Italian courts and the signoria, the debate on the principle of imitation, the sacra rappresentazione, theatrical works, the anticlassicisti, pastoral drama, the debate on the dignity of man, and the political treatise. This course also teaches methods of interpreting literary form and meaning in the works studied. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 340 or ITAL 341. This course will explore the thought of the three foremost authors and founders of modern Italian culture Ugo Foscolo, Alessandro Manzoni and Giacomo Leopardi through analytical readings of their literary works. Narrative, philosophical and poetic texts such as Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis, I promessi sposi, Canti and Operette morali, will be examined against the background of European Romanticism and the dramatic changes in aesthetic and literary tastes occasioned by the revolutionary movements and conflicts of this period. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 350 or departmental approval. This course responds to the ever-growing audiovisual translation industry by providing students with the basic training they need to create subtitles for cinema, and surtitles for theater and opera productions. The course includes hands-on workshops with subtitling software and uses authentic materials. A specific focus of the course is on documentary film, and a special feature is collaboration with experts in the field, through the support of the Inserra Chair for Italian and Italian American Studies and the Center for Translation and Interpreting.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 340 or ITAL 341. An examination of the major narrative, poetic, and philosophical works of authors of the first half of the 20th Century, such as Ungaretti, Quasimodo, Montale, Aleramo, Svevo, and Pirandello, positioned within the context of European Modernism and the historical avant-gardes. This course introduces students to Fascism and the Resistance with attention given to class struggle and the role of women. Other topics include a discussion of Italian society at the turn of the century, immigration and imperialism. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 450 or departmental approval. This course responds to the growing demand for translators of audiovisual materials media accessibility for differently abled consumers. Students will complete professional projects developed with partners from the private and public sectors. They will apply their understanding of the characteristics of an audiovisual text, the techniques necessary to reduce and condense text and the mechanics of time-cueing titles. In preparing subtitles and surtitles, they will learn to account for linguistic variation, register, dialect, and emotionally-charged language, hone their skills as linguistic and cultural mediators, translating culture-specific terms and humor. They will use subtitling software and will produce – both individually and as participants in a group – titles in both Italian and English, as needed. Subtitles for consumers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (SDH) and audio descriptions for consumers who are blind or partially sighted will also be introduced.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 340 and 341. Restriction(s): Italian majors only. This course offers an introduction to the techniques of literary research based on selected topics from Italian literature and/or cinema. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 340 or ITAL 341. This course is designed to introduce students to notable Italian female authors and their works. The texts will be presented within a historical and theoretical context: students will consider the evolution of the women's movement in Italy and feminist theory in their literary analyses. Students will explore relevant themes such as relationships among women, motherhood, the marginalization of women, and female creativity. Reference will be made, where pertinent, to historical and literary precedents. This course will be offered in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): ITAL 340 or ITAL 341. The cosmopolitan character of the Enlightenment is essential to an examination of all national literatures. For this reason the course will present a variety of theatrical, operatic, theoretical and poetic texts which exemplify the connections of Italian culture to its European environment. Topics such as Alfieri's critique of ancient regimes, Goldoni's praise of the bourgeoisie, Parini's and Casti's social satires, Vico's foundation of modern anthropology, and Da Ponte's and Metastasio's contributions to the operatic theater will be the object of close analytical readings. Taught in Italian.
Prerequisite(s): Departmental approval. Restriction(s): Open to students with a minimum of 3.0 cumulative average in at least 9 hours of Italian electives. Directed independent study and research in Italian. May be repeated once for a maximum of 6 credits.
Restriction(s): Admission to an MSU Teacher Education program. This course is required for graduate students enrolled in either the Initial Certification or MAT program. It provides students with the theoretical and practical underpinnings of a communicative, standards-based approach to teaching Italian as a world language in elementary and secondary schools. The notion of content standards for teaching communication and culture in a foreign language will be studied through a thorough examination of the "New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for World Languages." They will learn a variety of teaching methods and develop lesson plans that incorporate state and national standards.