Chair: Nelson Moe (Associate Professor)

Other officers of the University offering courses in Italian:

Professors: Teodolinda Barolini, Jo Ann Cavallo (Chair), Elizabeth Leake
Assistant Professors: Pier Mattia Tommasino, Konstantia Zanou
Senior Lecturers: Maria Luisa Gozzi, Barbara Spinelli, Carol Rounds (Hungarian)
Lecturers: Felice Italo Beneduce, Federica Franze, Patrizia Palumbo, Alessandra Saggin

Requirements for the Major

The courses in Italian are designed to develop proficiency in all the language skills and to present the literary and cultural traditions of Italy. The program of study is to be planned as early as possible.

The following courses are required unless advanced standing is attained in the Department placement examination:

Select one of the following:6-8
ELEMENTARY ITALIAN I
and ELEMENTARY ITALIAN II
INTENSIVE ELEMENTARY ITALIAN
Select one of the following:6-8
Intermediate Italian I
and Intermediate Italian II
ITAL UN12036

Ten courses above ITAL V1202 Intermediate Italian II or ITAL UN1203 are required for the major, including:

Select one of the following:6
INTRO TO ITALIAN LITERATURE I
and INTRO TO ITALIAN LITERATURE II
ITALIAN CULTURAL STUDIES I
and ITL CULTRL ST II:WWI-PRESENT
ITAL UN3335ADVANCED ITALIAN I3
ITAL UN3336ADVANCED ITALIAN II3
or ITAL UN3337 ITALIAN THROUGH CINEMA
ITAL V39933
Plus at least five more courses in Italian including and numbered above ITAL V3333-ITAL V3334

Requirements for the Minor

A minimum of five courses is required for the minor, to be selected from courses including and numbered above ITAL UN3333 INTRO TO ITALIAN LITERATURE I.

Language Requirement

The language requirement can be fulfilled with ITAL UN1101 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN I-ITAL UN1102 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN II and ITAL V1201 Intermediate Italian I-ITAL V1202 Intermediate Italian II or ITAL UN1121 INTENSIVE ELEMENTARY ITALIAN-ITAL UN1203 (or their equivalents). Students who have taken courses in Italian elsewhere (whether in high school, in college, or both) but not at Barnard or Columbia, must take the Italian placement test before registering for any Italian course. The test is given during the preregistration period in 502 Hamilton. Please call 854-8312 or 854-2308 for hours and date.

Elementary and Intermediate Language Courses

ITAL UN1101 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN I. 4.00 points.

Limited enrollment.

Elementary level of Italian

Fall 2023: ITAL UN1101
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 1101 001/12543 M W F 8:40am - 9:55am
511 Hamilton Hall
Lara Santoro 4.00 9/16
ITAL 1101 002/12557 M W F 10:10am - 11:25am
511 Hamilton Hall
Lara Santoro 4.00 11/16
ITAL 1101 003/12559 M W F 11:40am - 12:55pm
511 Hamilton Hall
Lara Santoro 4.00 11/16
ITAL 1101 004/12561 T Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm
306 Uris Hall
Federica Franze 4.00 15/16
ITAL 1101 005/12594 T Th 2:10pm - 4:00pm
509 Hamilton Hall
Maria Luisa Gozzi 4.00 13/16
ITAL 1101 006/12681 T Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
509 Hamilton Hall
Maria Luisa Gozzi 4.00 16/16
Spring 2024: ITAL UN1101
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 1101 001/13231 M W Th 8:40am - 9:55am
511 Hamilton Hall
Felice Beneduce 4.00 11/16
ITAL 1101 002/13416 M W Th 10:10am - 11:25am
511 Hamilton Hall
Felice Beneduce 4.00 15/16
ITAL 1101 003/13235 M T W Th 9:10am - 10:00am
509 Hamilton Hall
Maria Teresa De Luca 4.00 11/16

ITAL UN1102 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN II. 4.00 points.

Limited enrollment.

Prerequisites: ITAL UN1101 or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: ITAL V1101 or the equivalent. Introduction to Italian grammar, with emphasis on reading, writing, listening and speaking skills

Fall 2023: ITAL UN1102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 1102 001/12546 M W Th 8:40am - 9:55am
509 Hamilton Hall
Felice Beneduce 4.00 10/16
ITAL 1102 002/12547 M W Th 10:10am - 11:25am
509 Hamilton Hall
Felice Beneduce 4.00 11/16
ITAL 1102 003/12548 M T W Th 9:10am - 10:00am
507 Hamilton Hall
Maria Teresa De Luca 4.00 4/16
Spring 2024: ITAL UN1102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 1102 001/13239 M W F 8:40am - 9:55am
507 Hamilton Hall
Lara Santoro 4.00 11/16
ITAL 1102 002/13240 M W F 10:10am - 11:25am
507 Hamilton Hall
Lara Santoro 4.00 10/16
ITAL 1102 003/13241 M W F 11:40am - 12:55pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Lara Santoro 4.00 14/16
ITAL 1102 004/13226 T Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Federica Franze 4.00 12/16
ITAL 1102 005/13413 T Th 2:10pm - 4:00pm
509 Hamilton Hall
Federica Franze 4.00 12/16
ITAL 1102 006/12294 T Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
509 Hamilton Hall
Maria Luisa Gozzi 4.00 16/16

ITAL UN1121 INTENSIVE ELEMENTARY ITALIAN. 6.00 points.

Limited enrollment.

An intensive course that covers two semesters of elementary Italian in one, and prepares students to move into Intermediate Italian. Students will develop their Italian communicative competence through listening, (interactive) speaking, reading and (interactive) writing. The Italian language will be used for real-world purposes and in meaningful contexts to promote intercultural understanding. This course is especially recommended for students who already know another Romance language. May be used toward fulfillment of the language requirement

Fall 2023: ITAL UN1121
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 1121 001/10910 T Th F 12:10pm - 2:00pm
304 Hamilton Hall
Barbara Spinelli 6.00 9/16
Spring 2024: ITAL UN1121
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 1121 001/12293 T Th F 12:10pm - 2:00pm
413 Hamilton Hall
Barbara Spinelli 6.00 9/16

ITAL UN2101 INTERMEDIATE ITALIAN I. 4.00 points.

Limited enrollment.

Prerequisites: ITAL UN1102 or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester.
Prerequisites: ITAL V1102 or W1102, or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester

Fall 2023: ITAL UN2101
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 2101 002/12584 T Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm
511 Hamilton Hall
Patrizia Palumbo 4.00 14/16
ITAL 2101 003/12565 M W 4:10pm - 6:00pm
509 Hamilton Hall
Giulia Ricca 4.00 16/16
ITAL 2101 004/12568 T Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Patrizia Palumbo 4.00 9/16
Spring 2024: ITAL UN2101
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 2101 001/13300 M W Th 10:10am - 11:25am
509 Hamilton Hall
Alessandra Saggin 4.00 9/16
ITAL 2101 002/13301 M W Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
509 Hamilton Hall
Alessandra Saggin 4.00 7/16

ITAL UN2102 INTERMEDIATE ITALIAN II. 4.00 points.

Limited enrollment.

Prerequisites: ITAL UN1201 or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester.
Prerequisites: ITAL V1201 or W1201, or the equivalent. If you did not take Elementary Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester. A review of grammar, intensive reading, composition, and practice in conversation. Exploration of literary and cultural material. Lab: hours to be arranged. ITAL V1202 fulfils the basic foreign language requirement and prepares students for advanced study in Italian language and literature

Fall 2023: ITAL UN2102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 2102 001/12549 M W Th 10:10am - 11:25am
507 Hamilton Hall
Alessandra Saggin 4.00 7/16
ITAL 2102 002/12550 M W Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Alessandra Saggin 4.00 4/16
Spring 2024: ITAL UN2102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 2102 002/12289 M W 4:10pm - 6:00pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Claudia Beneduce 4.00 8/16
ITAL 2102 003/16141 T Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm
307 Pupin Laboratories
Patrizia Palumbo 4.00 14/16
ITAL 2102 004/13423 T Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Patrizia Palumbo 4.00 11/16

ITAL UN2121 INTENSIVE INTERMEDIATE ITALIAN. 6.00 points.

Limited enrollment.

Prerequisites: ITAL UN1102 or the equivalent, with a grade of B+ or higher.
Prerequisites: ITAL UN1102 or the equivalent, with a grade of B or higher. An intensive course that covers two semesters of intermediate Italian in one, and prepares students for advanced language and literature study. Grammar, reading, writing, and conversation. Exploration of literary and cultural materials. This course may be used to fulfill the language requirement

Spring 2024: ITAL UN2121
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 2121 001/12288 M T Th 12:10pm - 2:00pm
408 Hamilton Hall
Maria Luisa Gozzi 6.00 3/16

ITAL UN2221 Intermediate Conversation. 2 points.

Prerequisites: ITAL W1112 or sufficient fluency to satisfy the instructor.
Corequisites: Recommended: ITAL V1201-V/W1202 or ITAL W1201-W1202.

Conversation courses may not be used to satisfy the language requirement or fulfill major or concentration requirements. Intensive practice in the spoken language, assigned topics for class discussions, and oral reports.

Advanced Language and Literature/Culture Courses

ITAL UN3333 INTRO TO ITALIAN LITERATURE I. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: Intermediate Italian II ITAL UN2102 or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: Intermediate Italian II ITAL UN2102 or the equivalent. UN3334x-UN3333y is the basic course in Italian literature. UN3333: This course, entirely taught in Italian, introduces you to Medieval and early modern Italian literature. It will give you the opportunity to test your ability as a close-reader and discover unusual and fascinating texts that tell us about the polycentric richness of the Italian peninsula. We will read poems, tales, letters, fiction and non-fiction, travel writings and political pamphlets. The great “Three Crowns” - Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio - as well as renowned Renaissance authors such as Ludovico Ariosto and Niccolò Machiavelli, will show us the main path to discover Italian masterpieces and understand the European Renaissance. But we will also explore China with Marco Polo and the secrets of the Medieval soul diving into the mystical poems by Jacopone da Todi. We will study parody and laughter through the “poesia giocosa” (parodic poetry) by Cecco Angiolieri and the legacy of Humanism through the letters of Poggio Bracciolini. This first overview will allow you to explore Italian literature from its complex and multicultural beginnings to its diffusion across Europe during the Renaissance

Fall 2023: ITAL UN3333
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 3333 001/10909 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
616 Hamilton Hall
Steven Baker 3.00 8/25

ITAL UN3334 INTRO TO ITALIAN LITERATURE II. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ITAL UN2102 or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: ITAL UN2102 or the equivalent. UN3334-UN3333 is the basic course in Italian literature. UN3334: Authors and works from the Cinquecento to the present. Taught in Italian

Spring 2024: ITAL UN3334
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 3334 001/12287 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
327 Uris Hall
Steven Baker 3.00 15/25

ITAL UN3335 ADVANCED ITALIAN I. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ITALUN2102 or the equivalent. If you did not take Intermediate Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester.
Prerequisites: ITALUN2102 or the equivalent. If you did not take Intermediate Italian at Columbia in the semester preceding the current one, you must take the placement test, offered by the Italian Department at the beginning of each semester. Written and oral self-expression in compositions and oral reports on a variety of topics; grammar review. Required for majors and concentrators

Fall 2023: ITAL UN3335
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 3335 001/12552 M W 1:10pm - 2:25pm
507 Hamilton Hall
Alessandra Saggin 3.00 10/16
Spring 2024: ITAL UN3335
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 3335 001/18564 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
511 Hamilton Hall
Felice Beneduce 3.00 3/16

ITAL UN3336 ADVANCED ITALIAN II. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ITAL V3335
Prerequisites: ITAL V3335 Advanced reading, writing, speaking with emphasis on authentic cultural materials. Topic and semester theme varies

ITAL UN3337 ITALIAN THROUGH CINEMA. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: ITAL UN3335
Prerequisites: ITAL V3335. Students will develop advanced language competence while analyzing and discussing Italian film comedies and their reflection of changing Italian culture and society. Films by Monicelli, Germi, Moretti, Wertmuller, Soldini and others

ITAL UN3338 Italiana. Introduction to Italian Culture, the High, the Low, and the In-between. 3 points.

"Italiana. Introduction to Italian Culture, the High, the Low, and the In-between" aims at expanding the students' knowledge of Italian culture and improving and refining their language skills, through writing, reading, speaking, and listening. This is a content based course in which the students familiarize with the most crucial moments of Italian history and are exposed to the issues that are currently debated in Italy, such as national identity, immigration, emigration, homoparental family, and the truthfulness or deceptiveness of the brand Made in Italy. Naturally, considerable attention is given to the distinctive geographical, economical, and cultural traits of Italian regions and their cities. The students apply their communicative skills in Italian by conversing with the Italian students currently registered at Columbia University and by conducting interviews within New York's Italian communities on the subjects studied and discussed in class.

ITAL UN3590 Anatomy of Fantastic Fiction: The Uncanny, the Monstrous and the Other in Modern and Contemporary Italy. 3 points.

What is a fantastic text and what renders it "scandalous" (R. Caillois)? How do nineteenth-century fantastic tropes and motifs survive in present-day narratives? What assumptions about "real" and "reality" do they reveal? How can fantastic representations of the inexplicable, supernatural and inhuman shape and enrich our understanding of the human mind and the world around us? And finally, why are we so fascinated by that which frightens us? In this course, we will address these and many other questions by looking at short stories, films, TV shows and comic books from the Italian and other traditions, from the 19th century to the present day. The course will be loosely chronological, but will be based mainly around thematic units. Through a comparative approach, we will explore the relationship between the fantastic mode and notions such as the uncanny, the repressed and the unconscious. We will look at our primary texts through an interdisciplinary lens spanning literary theory and genre studies to psychoanalysis and reader-response theory. Some primary texts are only available in Italian; however, accommodations can be made for non- Italian speakers.

ITAL UN3642 ROAD TRIPS:TRAVEL IN ITAL CIN. 3.00 points.

Explores the representation of national identity in Italian cinema from the Facist era to the present. Examines how both geography and history are used to construct an image of Italy and the Italians. Special focus on the cinematic representation of travel and journeys between North and South. Films by major neo-realist directors (Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti) as well as by leading contemporaries (Moretti, Amelio).

ITAL UN3993 SENIOR THESIS/TUTORIAL. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: the faculty adviser's permission.
Prerequisites: the faculty advisers permission. Senior thesis or tutorial project consisting of independent scholarly work in an area of study of the student’s choosing, under the supervision of a member of the faculty

Fall 2023: ITAL UN3993
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 3993 001/15719  
Jo Ann Cavallo 3.00 0/2
ITAL 3993 002/15725  
Elizabeth Leake 3.00 0/2
ITAL 3993 003/15722  
Nelson Moe 3.00 0/2
ITAL 3993 004/15723  
Pier Mattia Tommasino 3.00 1/2
ITAL 3993 005/15724  
Konstantia Zanou 3.00 0/2
Spring 2024: ITAL UN3993
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 3993 001/12285  
Teodolinda Barolini 3.00 0/3
ITAL 3993 002/12284  
Jo Ann Cavallo 3.00 1/5
ITAL 3993 003/00625  
3.00 0/5
ITAL 3993 004/12283  
Nelson Moe 3.00 1/5
ITAL 3993 005/12282  
Konstantia Zanou 3.00 0/5

ITAL GU4089 Petrarch's Canzoniere. 3 points.

This course presents a reading of Petrach's Canzoniere and a theory of the lyric sequence as a genre. In this course we examine Petrarch as he fashions himself authorially, especially in the context of Ovid, Dante, and previous lyric poets. We bring to bear ideas on time and narrative from authors such as Augustine and Ricoeur in order to reconstruct the metaphysical significance of collecting fragments in what was effectively a new genre. We will consider Petrarch's lyric sequence in detail as well as read Petrarch's Secretum and Trionfi. Lectures in English; text in Italian, although students from other departments who can follow with the help of translations are welcome.

Spring 2024: ITAL GU4089
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 4089 001/12279 Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
503 Hamilton Hall
Teodolinda Barolini 3 7/25
ITAL 4089 002/13284 Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
503 Hamilton Hall
Teodolinda Barolini 3 2/10

ITAL GU4100 Narratives of Modernity. 3 points.

In revisiting two major authors of the Italian modern novel, the course investigates the relation between fiction and the "conditions of modernity" (personal risk, anxiety and lack of control on reality, secularization, to name a few). Special attention will be paid to the response of the novelistic discourse to modernity, and to Italy's peculiarly peripheral position in the modern world. Primary texts will be read in Italian, while theoretical references will be in English.

ITAL GU4395 Fifty Years of Impatience: The Italian Novel between 1950-2000. 3 points.

The course examines some of the most important novels that belong to Italy's period of major social and economic transformations. Only after WWII Italy finally becomes a modern nation, i.e. a republic based on truly universal suffrage, and an industrialized country. Such accelerated progress, though,causes deep social instability and mobility which obviously results in heavy psychological pressures on the people: adaptation becomes crucial and inevitable. Fiction therefore resumes the task to represent such awkwardness of integration into a modern bourgeois society that, contrarily to its European and American counterpart, is extremely tentative and insecure per se, since it's political identity has extremely precarious grounds. Among other authors, primary readings include Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard and Italo Calvinos's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. Primary Readings in Italian.

Fall 2023: ITAL GU4395
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 4395 001/10907 Th 2:10pm - 4:00pm
501 Hamilton Hall
Elizabeth Leake 3 3/20

ITAL GU4502 ITALIAN CULTURAL STUDIES I. 3.00 points.

An interdisciplinary investigation into Italian culture and society in the years between Unification in 1860 and the outbreak of World War I. Drawing on novels, historical analyses, and other sources including film and political cartoons, the course examines some of the key problems and trends in the cultural and political history of the period. Lectures, discussion and required readings will be in English. Students with a knowledge of Italian are encouraged to read the primary literature in Italian

Fall 2023: ITAL GU4502
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 4502 001/00506 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
214 Milbank Hall
Nelson Moe 3.00 6/20

ITAL GU4503 ITL CULTRL ST II:WWI-PRESENT. 3.00 points.

An interdisciplinary investigation into Italian culture and society in the years between World War I and the present. Drawing on historical analyses, literary texts, letters, film, cartoons, popular music, etc., the course examines some of the key problems and trends in the cultural and political history of the period. Lectures, discussion and required readings will be in English. Students with a knowledge of Italian are encouraged to read the primary literature in Italian.

Spring 2024: ITAL GU4503
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ITAL 4503 001/00251 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
214 Milbank Hall
Nelson Moe 3.00 5/10

ITAL GU4725 Pirandello and Modern Drama. 3 points.

The course will examine the foundations of modern drama and stage representation by analysing Luigi Pirandello's plays and theoretical works in close comparison with the major authors and drama theorists of the XIX century, including Bertolt Brecht, August Strinberg, and Jean Genet.

CLIA GU3660 MAFIA MOVIES. 3.00 points.

Examines representations of the mafia in American and Italian film and literature. Special attention to questions of ethnic identity and immigration. Comparison of the different histories and myths of the mafia in the U.S. and Italy. Readings includes novels, historical studies, and film criticism. Limit 35

Spring 2024: CLIA GU3660
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
CLIA 3660 001/00252 W 6:10pm - 10:00pm
302 Barnard Hall
Nelson Moe 3.00 10/15

CLIA GR6999 MAFIA MOVIES. 3.00 points.

Examines representations of the mafia in American and Italian film and literature. Special attention to questions of ethnic identity and immigration. Comparison of the different histories and myths of the mafia in the U.S. and Italy. Readings includes novels, historical studies, and film criticism. (NOTE: This is the graduate section of CLIA GU3660 which meets W 6:10p-10:00p)

Spring 2024: CLIA GR6999
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
CLIA 6999 001/13373 W 6:10pm - 10:00pm
302 Barnard Hall
Nelson Moe 3.00 1/5