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2026-2027 Academic Year

Fall 2026

ITAL 201 Intermediate Italian
Intensive introduction to conversation and composition, with special attention to grammar review and refinement. Essays, fiction and theater, as well as Italian television and films, provide opportunities to improve familiarity with contemporary Italian language and civilization. Prerequisite: 102 or the equivalent. This course fulfills the language graduation requirement.

ITAL 341 The Discourse of Love
What is Love? Through a diverse selection of works from authors such as St. Francis, Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, Lorenzo de' Medici, Pietro Aretino, Gaspara Stampa, and Veronica Franco, students will examine the nature of love from a variety of perspectives. From the spirituality of religion to the physicality of desire and attraction, this course will confront topics such as the medieval and Renaissance ideas of love (courtly love, the Dolce Stil Novo, and love sickness), theological notions of love (charity), different expressions of love (heterosexuality, same-sex attraction and polyamory), and transgressive types of love (lust, adultery, and prostitution). This course is taught in Italian. Prerequisites: 231 and 232, or permission of the instructor. Offered every year.

Spring 2027

ITAL 322 Dante's Divine Comedy
This topics course is on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Although a special focus will be placed on the Inferno, which will be read in its entirety, various cantos from Purgatorio and Paradiso will also be studied. Aiding the students along their journey through Hell and beyond will be critical readings that consider the historical, social, cultural and literary context of the period. The poem will be read in English translation. Italian Studies majors, Italian minors and INBM majors using this course to satisfy major/minor requirements will attend a discussion group in Italian and will write their papers in Italian. Upon successful completion of the work in Italian, students will receive a “FLIC: Italian” notation on their transcript. Prerequisites: 231 if taken as Italian FLIC; none, if taking the English only portion. Offered every two years.

ITAL 400 Senior Seminar
Conceived as an integrative experience, this tutorial provides an opportunity for students to examine a specific theme or author from various perspectives. Independent research, under close supervision of a professor, will be shared with other seniors in regular discussion group meetings and will be articulated in a substantial critical paper at the end of the semester. Prerequisite: Italian studies major or permission of the director of the Italian studies program.