International opportunities for students

Italian culture

A course in 20 asynchronous webinars (20 minutes each) held by Claudia Crocco on different aspects of Italian culture, history and society to get familiar with Italy and Italians!
In the Useful links section you can find the first 18 lessons available. Questions and special requests will be handled during Office hours (see Useful links section).
The 1st video contains very important practical information (teacher receiving hours, the structure and contents of the course, bibliography, paper, exam, marks, etc.).
Authorization from the teacher for access in gdrive needed. 
For this activity 6 credits are awarded if:
- you include this course in your Learning Agreement;
- watch all the videos and pass the intermediate test planned on 24 November 2020 (30% of the result);
- complete the tasks assigned by the academic supervisor (10% of the result);
- prepare a final paper (20% of the result);
- pass a final interview (40% of the result).
 
Or, if you are not interested in the award of credits, you are welcome to watch only some (or all videos), according to your interest and curiosity.
You might be interested also in the 5 funny short videos on How to become an Italian, by Dominic Stewart, from page Welcome to Italy (Useful links section).
 

  Syllabus

1. Introduction
Lecturer’s introduction and brief presentation of the course.
 
2. Italia, Italie. The notion(s) of Italy (part 1)
Overview of Italian geography observing Italy from GoogleMaps: main cities, administrative organization (regions, provinces), mountains, level grounds, coasts, lakes and rivers.
This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
3. Italia, Italie. The notion(s) of Italy (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about Geography.
 
4. Historical Overview about Italy (part 1)
Introduction to the main historical events from the Roman time to the Renaissance.
This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
5. Historical Overview about Italy (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about History: from the Renaissance to the XIX century.
 
6. The Unification of Italy and the Building of the Modern State (part 1)
This lecture will be focused on the history of Italy from the so called “Risorgimento” to the Second World War. The second part of the lecture will be focused on the difficult process which led to the creation of the Modern Italian State.
This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
7. The Unification of Italy and the Building of the Modern State (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about history.
 
8. Italy after 1945 (part 1)
Overview of the contemporary time with a special focus on the Italian political structure (First and Second Republic, bicameralism, etc.) and post-war society.
This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
9. Italy after 1945 (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about contemporary Italy.
 
10. Geographic and linguistic elements: North, Centre, South (part 1)
Introduction to the various dialects and to the different forms of Italian language according to the region. Introduction of the linguistic issue: the delay with which Italian language became a spoken language. This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
11. Geographic and linguistic elements: North, Centre, South (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about language and dialects.
 
12. Italian art and tradition, yesterday and today (part 1)
The course will explain through historical references why Italy is one of the countries with more works of art in the world. The most important will be mentioned. Thanks to online resources we will then illustrate data and statistics showing the imbalance between cultural resources and their exploitation. This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
13. Italian art and tradition, yesterday and today (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about Art and traditions in Italy.
 
14. Italians seen from the outside: between truth and stereotype (part 1)
Starting with the reference to the so called “commedia all’italiana”, we will try to deconstruct the most common stereotypes about Italy. We will also explore the role of the Catholic religion and the structure of the "typical" family (with reference to its dissolution, the de facto couples and the onward establishment of the homosexual family). During this lecture selected pages from Italian novels and articles will be read and discussed. This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
15. Italians seen from the outside: between truth and stereotype (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about the “Italian type”.
 
16. Made in Italy. Italian cinema and national identity  (part 1)
The so called “commedia all’italiana” and the post-war Italian cinema will be the starting point in order to talk about stereotypes and identities on the “Italian type”.
Brief history of the success abroad of the "made in Italy" concept and of the ambiguity of the Italians’ self-perception. Showing of scenes from selected movies. This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
17. Made in Italy. Italian cinema and national identity  (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about cinema.
 
18. Television and media in Italy (part 1)
This lecture will focus on Italian songwriting and Italian television from the ‘50s to the present, that is a mass culture no longer local. This lecture will be divided in two parts.
 
19. Television and media in Italy (part 2)
Second part of the lecture about cinema.
 
20. Trento and the Trentino Region
The course will explain through historical refe rences why the province of Trento has a particular status in Italy.