From medieval classics to contemporary films, our undergraduate courses offer a broad range of topics to deepen your understanding of the cultures of Italy, France, and French-speaking regions of the world, both in English and in French or Italian. We look at literature and cultural production in a broad context, considering comparisons with and influences on contemporary culture in the U.S. Exploring film, literature, history, linguistic study, and cultural phenomena in French or Italian presents an immersive experience that leads you to greater fluency and language comprehension.
What makes something “Popular?” If something is classified as ‘popular’ does it mean that everybody likes it? Can the average person produce something popular or is it something that can only be known and created through mass media? How does the notion of the Popular change between temporal and cultural areas?
Europeans claim—somewhat abusively—to have “discovered” the American continent in 1492, which was soon to be identified as the New World. Beyond its geographical aspect, this historical event carried such a strong cultural impact that the New World came to be seen, notably by writers, as the Other World, also considered the World of the Others, with all its historical, sociological, philosophical, but also fictional and metaphorical implications.
In this course, we will examine the development of French lyric poetry, from the emergence of Romantic subjectivity at the beginning of the 19th century through the “decadent” period at the end of the century, focusing on the personality of the poets, as they figure their sentiments in verse.
We are quickly approaching the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death (2021) and his Comedy remains very much present in modern culture, whether in the form of new translations, film adaptations and visual art, or video games. But it is by no means universally accepted: in 2012, a UN-sanctioned charity organization (Gherush92) proclaimed that Dante’s Divine Comedy is a homophobic, racist text and should not be taught in any classroom.
From Mario Puzo to Francis Ford Coppola, Helen Barolini to Nancy Savoca, and Tony Soprano to Martin Scorsese, we will explore rituals and myths about Italian food and family as well as our own consumption of through Italian-American novels, poetry, theater, music, restaurants, television, and movies.
This course will explore contemporary expressions of Italian identity through the lens of a literature of migration. By looking at the work of writers who are Ethiopian-Italian, Indian-Italian, Algerian-Italian, and the like, we’ll work to consider how issues of cultural belonging play themselves out on the stage of 20th and 21st century Italy as well as consider how these voices serve to highlight vital social issues, make a new form of language and style, and serve to illustrate broader questions of global identity in the here and now.
We offer beginning and intermediate language courses online.
Permission is required before you can register for the accelerated French language classes, the X490 individual readings class, or in our online language classes.
Please complete the online French Course Authorization Form for permission to register for the following:
For permission to enroll in online Italian language courses, please email Dr. Karolina Serafin. You do not need permission to register for the Italian M100 online course. No permission is needed for M110, M115, or M215 Accelerated Italian courses.
Please download and complete the Permission for Individual Readings Form for permission to register for the following:
Online permission is required before you can register in the accelerated French language classes, in the X490 individual readings class, or in our online language classes.
The College of Arts