Italian

This course is part of the LM degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. The course examines Greek and Roman theatre as a whole (places of performance, festivals and dramatic competitions, poets and preserved works; directors, chorus, players; relationship with public and institutions; the different dramatic genres and their history) and develops a critical attitude towards the main issues concerning the Greek and Roman theatre. Course contents include dramatic performances in the ancient world, with a special regard to Athenian tragedy and its importance for the modern theatre, and Euripides and Alcestis.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who have a strong background in sociological theory. The terms of reference for the theoretical part are based on Italy and in particular on Palermo, Sicily, and the Zen neighborhood. The course focuses on the concept of community both in socio-cultural and socio-spatial terms as well as the relationship between the concepts of community and social capital, with particular attention to the question of environment from an empirical point of view. Special attention is placed on the concepts of community and social capital at the general theory level, standard and non-standard research tools, advantages and disadvantages of empirical environment research that focuses on community and social capital concepts. The course is divided into three thematic modules. The first module introduces the concept of community, both as a reference to classical authors such as Tonnies, Weber, and Park, and as a socio-cultural and socio-spatial meaning. In the second module, using the above theoretical framework, the relation between community and social capital is considered in order to develop the connection between these two concepts and the neighborhood, in terms of urban sociology and in the light of recent acquisitions of neighborhood studies. A special section is also dedicated to the question of urban sustainability with particular reference to the relation between the concept of resilience and the neighborhood approach. The third module is dedicated to studies that explore the relation between poverty, neighborhood and social capital through the development of a mixed methods approach. This section also stresses the importance of the distinction between structure and culture in the study of urban poverty. Required reading includes: COMUNITÀ, CAPITALE SOCIALE, QUARTIERE by M. Castrignanò, LO ZEN DI PALERMO by F. Fava, CERCANDO RISPETTO by P. Bourgois, and I REIETTI DELLA CITTÀ by L. Wacquant. Assessment is based on a final oral exam that covers the assigned readings and the social research methodology and techniques discussed in the course.

The course focuses on the principal facts and crucial questions regarding Italian art from the fifteenth century to the end of the eighteenth century. In particular, the technical methods that define style and form, iconography, and technique and the connections to the historical, social and cultural timeframe in which the works of art were produced. Students are expected to become familiar with the key themes and particularities of the period along with the ambitions of the artists themselves. Students are also expected to be able to identify and comment on the works of the most representative artists and movements of the periods. It begins with the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci and concludes with the careers of Antonio Canova and Jacques-Louis David. It focuses on artists, movements, and essential topics, and at the same time provides students with the tools for understanding and analyzing the works of art, in relation to their historical and cultural context, their style, iconography, and technique. Students are expected to complete the knowledge and skills acquired during lectures with the assigned background readings.

This course completes the elementary level of Italian, affording the opportunity to expand conversation, writing, and reading skills while consolidating knowledge of more complex grammar structures. Students understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure time, etc. They deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. They learn to produce simple connected texts on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. They describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions, and briefly illustrate opinions and plans. Students expand their Italian vocabulary and improve their mode of expression in the language. They are aware of the significant differences that exist between uses, customs, behaviors, and values of the community in which they live. They also master essential rules of courtesy and etiquette of the hosting country. All four abilities (writing, speaking, listening, reading) are developed in the class, also with the support of authentic audiovisual materials such as Italian movies, short videos, TV programs, and songs. The course uses a communication-based approach: students engage in daily role-plays, group activities, games, and class discussions. Out of class activities are designed to take advantage of the opportunities for interaction and language practice, as well as immersion in Italian culture, that the city provides.

The course focuses on the key grammatical points in intermediate Italian. Students refine their ability to talk about family, studies, and free time and to produce simple texts regarding familiar subjects and personal interests. Students refine their use of the past tense to express events that have already taken place and to use the future tense to describe dreams, hopes and ambitions. Students also refine their use of grammatical structures necessary for expressing opinions. Admission is by entrance exam only. Course is taught by University of Bologna instructors and includes laboratory exercises. Course is graded on P/NP basis.

The course focuses on the methods of gender studies and applies them to the context of medieval historiography. For this purpose, the course highlights narrative sources, legislation, treatises, literature, and iconography. Students are required to write a short paper demonstrating the use of the tools of historical research and communication, and the ability to customize one's own learning path. This course covers the multiple aspects of female monasticism in the Early Middle Ages through the analysis of narrative sources, charters, and iconography. The course illustrates the problem of the representation of female monasticism during the Early and Central Middle Age period. The use of conceptual tools in gender history allows students to identify the shapes assumed in the specific historical contexts through the construction of the social identity of individuals, both male and female.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who have a strong background in media studies and communication. The course focuses on mass media products using the specific tools of semiotic analysis. The course offers an introduction to the notion of the semiotic gaze applied to the media and the role of this gaze as a cultural phenomenon. The course includes a description of the main elements of contemporary media textuality and the increasing, yet ambivalent, process of media convergence, integration and transformation of media contents and forms. Attention is placed on the semiotic mechanisms able to generate links and connections between media objects and environments (games and videogames, TV series, fandom), and to activate a semiotic crossover that expresses itself in narrative, discursive and interactive dimensions. The course concentrates on concrete examples of audiovisual media texts and practices that are analyzed with different semiotic tools and concepts (from the specific dimensions of media textuality to the notions of media genre and format). The ultimate aim is the development of a semiotic gaze on both media-specific elements (the construction of the visible, the audible, rhythms and the syncretism of languages), as well as the relation between media textuality and experience. A special section of the course is devoted to the ways in which contemporary media texts and genres construct gender identities and the intersectionality with elements of race, color, class, age, and disabilities. Required readings include: SEMIOTICA DEI MEDIA. LE FORME DELL'ESPERIENZA MEDIALE and LA CONDIZIONE POSTMEDIALE. MEDIA, LINGUAGGI E NARRAZIONI by R. Eugeni, I MEDIA: STRUMENTI DI ANALISI SEMIOTICA by P. Peverini, MULTI TV. L'ESPERIENZA TELEVISIVA NELL'ETÀ CONTEMPORANEA by M. Scaglioni and A. Sfardini. After the first introductory week, students are invited to prepare class presentations based either on theoretical/methodological questions (related to the required readings), or on the application of different semiotic tools to specific case-studies. Assessment in the course is based on an oral exam and a paper on one of the topics discussed in class (i.e. forms of textuality and media practices, format and genres relating to gender and intersectional identities).

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is intended for students who already have a strong background in literature and critical theory. The course focuses on the institutions of literature, the relationship between text and context, and the dynamics of literary communication and its political, ideological, socio-economic and editorial influence. The course explores the use of critical tools and forms of investigation that belong to the field of sociology and applies them to literature. Emphasis is placed on the thematic and sociological components of literary texts. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: The Other Nation–The Italian Migration. The course is divided in 6 sections with assigned readings: history of migrations, migration and literature, novels, new migrations; the question of Brain Drain, narrations. The course includes visual materials and a guest speaker series with international experts in the field of migration and authors who have addressed the question of migration in their writings. Assessment in the course is based on a final oral exam.