Department of French and Italian

Friendship marks a close association with others through feelings of respect, love, compassion, concern, and compatibility. Belonging indicates feeling like part of whole, of something bigger than oneself, a community. Belonging entails identifying with, finding validity in or comfort among others who reflect our desires and values. Through the lens of contemporary Italian literature and film, we will undertake a vibrant cross-cultural journey in this course to explore the different attributes we associate with friendship and the many ways each person may belong or not belong in their environments. And by means of thematic and theoretical reflections on social class, education, mental health, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, virtue, and violence, we will evaluate the characteristics of friendship and belonging as portrayed in Italian texts and we will compare the Italian socio-historic context to our own.

FRIT-M 453      #35491   3:00P-4:15P        TR       WH 109            Ryan C