Italian

This course is broadly equivalent to A1 Basic User, Breakthrough Level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. 

The course provides:

• Sources, methods and tools for the study of Greek history 
• Themes and prominent figures of Greek history through the analysis of selected and translated sources pertaining to the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods (approximately 20 hours).
• Specific topic: Demetrius the Besieger and the creation of the Hellenistic state (approximately 20 hours).

The program includes the knowledge, acquired through the students' independent study, of the key events in Greek history, from its origins to the first century BC, focusing on the evidence for the reconstruction of these events. By the end of the course, students are broadly familiar with the development of Greek history, using the basic interpretive categories towards critical analysis of issues pertaining to the Greek world and working from historical and documentary sources read in the original and in translation. Students have a good knowledge of the main themes, events, and phenomena of Greek history in a broader context, possess precise spatio-temporal coordinates and know the main tools of information, research, and updating. They also read works by historians in at least one language other than Italian and are able to speak in the appropriate technical terminology.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course is mainly aimed at those who have not already done historical-linguistic studies and aims to provide an overview of the events of Italian linguistic history and the main problems of diachronic reconstruction: internal and external linguistic history, literary language and common language, relationship between the center and periphery, question of the linguistic norm, factors of Italianization. The course is divided into a general part, dedicated to some moments of linguistic history of Italian from its origins to the contemporary age through the analysis of exemplary texts, and in some lessons focused on the history of the teaching of Italian through the centuries.

The student enrolled in this course is expected to have just reached a moderate skill in Linguistics and Italian grammar. On successful completion of the course, the student will be able to learn and apply in practice the knowledge acquired, to use analyzing tools and to apply the methods of learning discussed in the course, in order to examine in depth and revise in complete autonomy his\her own knowledge. The student will be able to use the main instruments for the evaluation of a text, literary or not. He/she will be able to analyze any text and to relate it to the cultural and literary context in which it was produced, to its way of dissemination and reception, in a multidisciplinary perspective.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The aim of the course is to illustrate the diversity of the world's languages and the implications of this diversity for a general theory of language and its use, discussing the main methods and results of the typological-functionalist approach and of the approaches developed in the pragmatic field. Through the comparison of different languages, belonging to the various families attested in the world, the theoretical and methodological bases for the analysis of structural, semantic and pragmatic diversity of human languages are discussed in detail, also in relation to cultural diversity. At the end of the course, students are able to trace different languages back to different 'linguistic types' and have an up-to-date knowledge of threatened and endangered languages; have a thorough knowledge of the notions of linguistic and pragmatic universals; be able to set up and carry out autonomously an interlinguistic comparison with respect to single linguistic and pragmatic phenomena; be familiar with the main techniques of data collection and linguistic documentation; and be able to orient themselves within the descriptive grammars of different languages.

The course is organized in five parts. For each topic, different perspectives and theoretical proposals are compared, in the light of the most recent scientific debate:

1. Introduction to linguistic diversity
2. The world's languages and their health status.
3. Analyzing linguistic diversity: data collection and methods of analysis
4. Linguistic typology: seeking order in chaos
5. Explorations of linguistic diversity

The topics addressed in the second part of the course are listed below. The list may be subject to change depending on the specific interests of the attending students.

• Different languages construct words differently: morphological types
• Subject and object in world’s languages: syntactic types
• The categorization of time and reality: languages without time markers, time and reality of nouns and adjectives
• Noun categories: genders (how many?) and number (beyond singular and plural...)
• Parts of speech: how are people, things, and events categorized? Are there languages without adjectives?
• The expression of gratitude in the world's languages: is saying 'thank you' a universal phenomenon or does it depend on education and culture?
• How to communicate misunderstanding? The expression of error and its repair in world languages
• Languages without AND and languages without OR: connectives beyond logical distinctions

A basic knowledge of general linguistics is required. Those who have never taken a basic linguistics exam will have to recover independently, by studying a basic manual (Berruto & Cerruti 2011 is suggested).

A four-skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) language course with a generally communicative approach, using classroom-based and additional digital components, to Level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

This course consolidates and expands both receptive and productive skills through a variety of learning tasks, to be carried out individually and/or in group. It aims at fluency and accuracy and it fosters independent learning.

This is an independent research course with research arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific research topics vary each term and are described on a special project form for each student. A substantial paper is required. The number of units varies with the student’s project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student’s special study project form.

This course covers the essential lines of food history in an economic, social, and cultural perspective, based on reading documentary, narrative, literary, and scientific sources, by way of examples of document interpretation and an introduction to proper historical work. The course introduces the use of original documents, narratives, and literary and scientific sources as starting points for historical research. The course provides the general outlines of food history and food cultures, with special emphasis on Italian and European history between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. Its 15 lectures are structured in such a way that each includes a theoretical part and an analytical part discussing sources relevant to the topic covered in part 1. Topics include: the birth of Food History as a discipline, methodology, birth, and evolution of dietetic science in the West, food in Antiquity and Middle Ages, food in Europe, food production and land management, city supply and markets, eating behaviors, food and social identities, birth of written cookbooks, dissemination of European gastronomic cultures, the Colombian Exchange, Italian identity in the kitchen, and history and myth.

The Elementary Italian course provides students with the essential language skills to communicate effectively in common Italian contexts, covering the first level of Italian proficiency. Through a communicative approach and a strong emphasis on active participation, it helps students to quickly improve their ability to interact with Italians. Engaging in role-playing, group work, in and out of class task-based activities and oral and written tests, learners are immersed in the Italian language, reinforcing their listening, speaking, reading and writing abilities. Assignments and projects deepen their understanding of Florentine life and Italian culture. By the end of the course, students acquire foundational language skills as well as insights into Italy's rich cultural tapestry.