English

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 American Literature. The topic for the Spring 2018 semester is: American Graphic Novels The course focuses on American (literary) storytelling. The course offers an overview of the cultural history of American comics, while focusing on the avant-gardes of the late 1970s and 1980s that led to the development of the American graphic novel. Special attention is placed on documents like LE MUSÉE PRIVÉ D'ART SPIEGELMAN (2012) and COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (Ron Mann, 1988). The course focuses on storytelling and graphic devices and techniques. Special attention is placed on the relationship between the arts, and their historical, cultural, and linguistic contexts. Texts include: FUN HOME: A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC (2006) by Alison Bechdel, GHOST WORLD (1993-1997) by Daniel Clowes, A CONTRACT WITH GOD (1978) by Will Eisner, LOVE AND ROCKETS (1981-c2001) by Hernandez Bros., JULIUS KNIPL and REAL ESTATE PHOTOGRAPHER (1988-to date) by Ben Katchor, CITY OF GLASS (1994, with Paul Karasik) and ASTERIOS POLYP (2009) by David Mazzucchelli, THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS (1986) by Frank Miller, AMERICAN SPLENDOR (1976-c2010) by Harvey Pekar, PALESTINE (1993-1995) by Joe Sacco, MAUS (1980-1991) and IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS (2004) by Art Spiegelman, THIS MODERN WORLD (1988-to date) by Tom Tomorrow, THE ADVENTURES OF JIMMY CORRIGAN, THE SMARTEST KID ON EARTH (2000) by Chris Ware. Special attention is devoted to the permeability of graphic narrative into other art forms (theatre, modern dance, multimedia performances, radio, film, music). Specific autobiographical and metanarrative aspects are considered along with a number of films including: Ron Mann's COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL (1988), Terry Zwigoff's CRUMB (1994), GHOST WORLD (2001) and ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (2006), Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003), and Mark Daniels' LA BD S'EN VA T-EN GUERRE (2009). The course is structured on the seminar model with part lecture and part discussion. The final exam is divided in two parts, one written and one oral.

The course selects controversial topics in education, economy, environment, science and technology, society, international politics, etc. and covers logical fallacies, effective English expression and communication skills, distinction of facts and opinions, analyzing and evaluating arguments, in order to improve English oral expression skills, speculative skills, academic research skills, and cross-cultural communication skills.

This course explores classic Nordic texts, such as A Doll's House, Ms. Julie, and Hans Christian Andersen tales.

The study offers a study of poetry in English from various cultures and periods designed to promote an understanding of how poetry works and competence in practical criticism.

This course offers a study of the work of American Indian, African American, Asian American, Arab American, and Latino authors, as well as the work of migrant authors and authors from the various diasporas in the US. It examines race and ethnicity from different disciplines and from the perspective of these groups. This course analyzes how racial issues are closely linked to linguistic, historical, economic, gender, and hegemonic issues in the US.

Nowadays, writing is generally seen as one of the great human inventions. But the notion that writing was invented by humans has not at all times been self-evident and accepted. For long periods of history, writing was seen as a domain of the gods and of their representatives. In diverse traditions, letters were thought to have preceded the creation of the world. By some, the whole act of creation was conceived as a form of writing, and therefore signatures were thought to be embedded in all creatures. Some aspects of this tradition have been perpetuated even after the secularizations of modernity: there are still discourses that refer to writing without a human writer and without a human reader. The world is still thought to be full of nonhuman entities (animals, plants and anorganic matter) that leave traces and inscriptions for other nonhuman entities to read. A prominent example is the “deciphered” genetic code. Machines obviously also have learned to read and write to one another. Furthermore, psychoanalysis has asserted that the human psyche engages in writing and reading procedures of which the human subject is unaware. In this seminar, students read and discuss literary and theoretical texts that engage with these nonhuman forms of writing (and that sometimes even claim some kind of “nonhuman” status for themselves).