Italian

This intensive language and culture course is conducted in Italian and is designed for students who have generally completed 2 years of Italian or have an entrance test that places them between the B and C levels according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The course is offered by inlingua with supervision from the Bologna Study Center and is designed for students in the UCEAP year-long and semester programs. The course prepares students for coursework in Italian at the Università di Bologna and focuses on writing, reading, listening, and especially speaking in preparation of the traditional final oral exams. The principal subject of the course is the history and culture of the city of Bologna and the Emilia Romagna region as microcosms of Italy itself. The course includes a major review of Italian grammar naturally linked to the topics of the course. The course has two parts. The first part of the course focuses on Bologna from its origins (5th century BCE) through the Middle Ages. Special attention is placed on the Etruscans and the Romans in Bologna, the Celtic heritage of the Emilia Romagna area, and the birth of the Università di Bologna (1088), considered to be the oldest university in the Western world. A special section of the course is dedicated to the birth of the Comune and the construction of towers (originally about 100) and porticoes (slightly over 38 km within the city walls), both outstanding examples of Medieval architecture. Students visit museums and historical sites and are introduced to historical documents such as the Liber Paradisus, which decreed the liberation of the serfs with public funds from the Comune in 1256. This part of the course also introduces students to the Italian university system, with special attention devoted to the Università di Bologna today. Between the first and second part of the course, students participate in a major field trip. The second part of the course focuses on Italy from the Renaissance to the present. It includes guided tours to Renaissance Palazzi in Bologna, as well as the Pinacoteca di Bologna. Among the themes highlighted in this part of the course are the creation of the unified Italian state (1880), WWII and Bologna's role in the resistance movement, U.S. casualties on the Gothic Line, and the Nazi massacre of civilians in the Marzabotto-Monte Sole area in the Fall of 1944. Topics in recent history (post-1980) include analyses of terrorist acts: the bombing of the Bologna train station by neo-fascist forces (1980), and the murder of Professor Marco Biagi in 2002 by members of the Red Brigade. This part of the course also provides an analysis of contemporary Italy through various media: cinema, newspapers, magazines, and graphic novels, and focuses attention on census reports regarding birth rate, marriage, abortion, divorce, life expectancy, immigration, schooling, work force composition, unemployment (North vs. South), retirement, tax evasion, corruption, and political participation. A review of the principal grammatical structures of Italian is incorporated and naturally linked to specific topics. For example, in the section devoted to the Italian university system, the grammar points reviewed include the “Lei” form with the use of imperatives and double object pronouns while in the section devoted to Italy today and the media, the grammar points reviewed include the subjunctive, the passive voice, and “reported speech.” The course includes formal lectures, visits to museums and local historical sites, a night at the movies, and an all-day field trip. Students are required to keep a daily journal and to complete daily workbook assignments. Other requirements include a quiz, a longer test, compositions, a 10-minute ppt presentation on a topic related to the student's principal field of study at the Università di Bologna, and a final oral exam modeled on a typical final exam at the Università di Bologna. All course materials are provided by inlingua. Students select the number of quarter units from a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 6.

This Italian-taught course focuses on Italian literature. At the end of the course the student is expected to have a deep knowledge on diachronical aspects of the Italian literary tradition, knows the critical discussion on the keys issues about texts and authors, and is able to use the main tools of the methodological analysis of texts and contexts. The focus of the course changes each term, review the specific term’s course details page in the University of Bologna online course catalog for information on your specific term’s topic. The spring 2023 course focuses on feminine power, from the demonic to the divine.

Semester 1 classes explore the specific relationship between language and culture. Students analyze linguistic texts, poems, still images, film, and longer literary texts in order to understand how these objects are shaped by their own particular "language." In semester 2, the focus shifts to the analysis of forms of reading under the themes of space and the city, cultural translation, and misrepresentation and misinformation in the Italian context. Seminars focus on Italian language-specific and area-specific material that relate to the themes covered in lectures.

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 considers the unique aspects of Italian media and how it impacts and influences everything from cultural heritage to politics. Students explore Italy's eccentric media characters, from right-wing Matteo Salvini and chauvinistic Silvio Berlusconi to the tweeting, headline-making Pope, and consider how seriously Italians take what they get from the press. This course explores the historical development of Italian media from the "Acta Diurna" bulletins sent from the Roman Forum through phases of Fascism and national terrorism, all the way to the digital age. Students play documentarian by following the media treatment of an Italian news topic of their choice, ranging from culture, fashion, or food to gay rights, climate change, politics, or the economy, in order to fully understand how the media shapes public perception and vice versa. Topics include the media treatment of the Vatican, the Mafia, gender issues and sexism, fashion, food, cultural heritage, and the economy. Students also consider how Italy stacks up against media in the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of press freedom, transparency, and infotainment (the melding of news and entertainment).

This is an introductory Italian language course offered to visiting students who are at the University of Galway for one semester only.

The course offers an introduction to Italian culture and history and focuses on both the city of Bologna and Italy as a nation. The course emphasizes basic knowledge of crucial aspects of the Italian cultural heritage across different disciplines and an awareness of the complexities of Italian history and society. The course is interdisciplinary in nature with weekly guest lectures on a variety of topics. The course is graded pass/no pass only.

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.