UC Center, Florence

This course has three main components. First, it discusses a coherent analytical framework for understanding some of the key ideas and issues informing the debate about the environment and about sustainability today. It examines the principles and practices of sustainable development in the context of urban development. More than half of the world's population are already living in cities and by the middle of this century that figure will rise to more than 65 percent. With rapid urbanization, cities face environmental, economic, and social challenges that pose threats to sustainability of urban development. Second, the course investigates the historical conditions for the contemporary debate about sustainability, reviewing the evolution of different approaches towards the environment from the earliest farming societies to present (post-) industrial societies. The course adopts a ‘Big History' approach to see the overall picture, seeking out common themes and patterns that can help to better address the multiplicity of socioeconomic and environmental issues faced today. The third and major part of the course looks at Tuscany and at Florence in particular, on the basis of the fruitful concept of ‘Urban Metabolisms' to focus attention on the interdependence between cities and their environments. Tuscan cities such as Florence and Siena are often considered ideal models of sustainable urban and rural development as well as of landscape preservation. This ‘Under the Tuscan Sun' image of Tuscany is contrasted by an analysis of the more complex historical realities. Students deconstruct these idealized images of the Tuscan space and to rethink the complex relationship between ‘città and contado' (city and countryside) in the Tuscan past and presence. A variety of key thematic issues and sustainability challenges are explored in the context of Tuscan urban environments, including transport, tourism, water, waste, and food issues. A variety of outdoor activities including a daytrip to the Tuscan countryside offers unique opportunities for students to engage with local community.

This course examines the evolution and cultural significance of three staple foods of Italian cuisine, bread, wine, and olive oil, from their ancient roots in the Mediterranean to their role in the enogastronomic traditions of Tuscany. The course traces the origins of these products in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, and their changing symbolic and cultural meaning across time, from ancient Roman and early Christian civilizations to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Students discuss their contribution to the definition of an Italian national identity and their place in today's food culture. For the study of bread and pasta in modern Italy, students look at the industrialization of wheat growing and of bread and pasta-making techniques, countered by the recent revival of heritage grains, especially in Tuscany. The analysis of Italian wine culture addresses the industrialization of wine production in Italy and the natural wine movement, with a specific focus on wine production in Tuscany. Finally, olive oil is studied from a symbolic, agricultural, and dietary perspective. Comparative tastings of ancient and modern grain breads, of conventional and natural wine, as well as of traditional Tuscan organic olive oil and commercial oil, are part of the class. Field trips to mills, farms, and food sites complement the class contents.

This course introduces students to the grammatical structures and vocabulary necessary to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases in Italian. Students learn to express themselves using verbs in the present tense. They introduce themselves and others and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know, and things they own. They engage in simple interactions as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly. They ask for or pass on personal details in written form and produce short and simple texts like postcards, greetings messages, isolated phrases, and sentences. Attention is given to the correct pronunciation of the language. 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.

In the last twenty years, historians have turned with ever more urgency to food as a key for understanding culture. Italy is particularly interesting in this respect. Food is one of the pillars of modern Italian identities: the result, in part, of a conservative and resilient society and, in part, of the vagaries of Italian community life since the 1850s. Many Italian ‘staples’ from pasta to olive oil, from ice-cream to wine, from pizza to risotto also have instructive back-stories that offer insights into Italian culture and Italian history. The course has two aims: first, to achieve a proper understanding of the last two centuries of Italian (food) history – the period of ‘unity in diversity’ with a particular focus on the pre-Second-World-war period; and second, to get a handle on contemporary food culture. The course will employ both a historical and an ethnographic approach. Most weeks will have one lecture and one seminar and most readings will come from two books: one sociological and one historical. There will be between 500 and 600 pages of reading over the semester. There will be a number of tastings. 

This course builds on and rapidly expands control of basic grammatical structures and vocabulary. Students consolidate their ability to negotiate basic survival situations in the target language and learn more advanced grammar concepts, especially with attention to the past tenses. They understand sentences and common expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local topography, employment). They complete routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar matters. They describe in simple terms aspects of their background, environment, and matters in areas of immediate need. They talk about their family, living conditions, present or recent, and past work and school activities, and personal experiences. They are able to expand learned phrases through simple re-combinations of their elements. 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.

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.

This course provides students with a sound basis for communicating effectively and accurately in Italian.  Emphasis is on the fundamentals of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  “Real-life” activities expose students to day-to-day contexts likely to be encountered outside the classroom environment reinforcing grammatical structures learned in class and increasing functional skills. Students review and complete the study of Italian grammar and are exposed to a broad spectrum of language to reinforce their written and spoken skills. In addition, students are able to read texts of a certain complexity, to give clear descriptions on various topics, and to develop their ideas. They produce clear and articulated texts on a wide array of topics and express opinions on current events, explaining pros and cons of the various options. They are engaged in individual reading, class discussion, and analysis (both written and oral) of contemporary literary texts. Out of class activities are designed to take full advantage of the city of Florence and provide opportunities for interaction and enhancement of language skills, as well as immersion in Italian culture.
 

The aim of this course is to help students review and learn advanced structures of Italian grammar and vocabulary and to explore contemporary aspects of Italian culture. The course is strongly focused on communication: students learn the language they need to interact with Italian speakers in real-life situations. Students can understand a wide range of complex, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning. They can express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for words expressions. They use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic, and professional purposes, and they produce clear, well-structured, detailed texts on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors, and cohesive devices. Readings, homework, and in- and out-of-class activities are designed to help students expand their knowledge of Italian language and grammar. At this level, students are considered proficient users who can handle a wide range of elaborate ideas, and communicate fluently and spontaneously on personal, work-related and academic topics. They can demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of Italian culture within the broader framework of global perspectives in a multicultural world. All four abilities (writing, speaking, listening, reading) are developed, 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.

This course introduces students to the grammatical structures and vocabulary necessary to understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases in Italian. Students learn to express themselves using verbs in the present tense. They introduce themselves and others and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know, and things they own. They engage in simple interactions as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly. They ask for or pass on personal details in written form and produce short and simple texts like postcards, greetings messages, isolated phrases, and sentences. Attention is given to the correct pronunciation of the language. 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.

What is the relationship between a city’s structure and the way it is represented? This course investigates this question by analyzing Florence’s urban history and its visual representation in paintings, frescoes, maps, photographs, and films from the 1200s to today. As the city has been in turn the site of a proud communal society, the main center of the Medici and then Lorraine rule, the capital of newly unified Italy and the repository of national and international cultural and ethical (and touristic) values, we examine how Florence has been both shaped by and represented according to different political and cultural agendas, and how the city’s structure and its representation have constantly affected each other. Special emphasis is devoted to the emergence of photography and cinema and the radical visual and conceptual shift that these media have produced in the city’s image. Some of the issues this course explores are: the role of linear perspective as a scientific and political tool for representing, conceptualizing, and controlling urban space; the ways in which the city has been reconfigured and portrayed by foreigners from the 1600s on; and photography’s and cinema’s potential for addressing compelling urban issues such as the contrast between memory and urban modernization, the elusive relationship of past preservation and mass tourism, and the enmeshment of notions of tourism and surveillance.