Italian Language 201

Ital 201 course builds on the linguistic skills covered in the previous levels, introducing the most complex structures of Italian language. The students will be taught not only the linguistic system, but will also be given strategies and techniques that facilitate the learning process.

Italian Language 203

Building on skills learned at prior levels, the Ital 203 course is designed to develop language proficiency. The students will be taught not only the linguistic system, but will also be given strategies and techniques that facilitate the learning process.

Italian Language 301

The Ital 301 course is designed for students with proficient previous Italian language skills. It provides review, synthesis, consolidation, and elaboration of linguistic knowledge gained from lower-division courses. The student will also explore some aspects of Italian culture and learn the Italian way of thinking and living by reading Italian newspapers.


This class is divided into two parts: first, a general review of Italian language; second, reading newspapers and other “original” materials.

Italian Language 303: Italian Cinema

This course focuses on Italian films after the Second World War as a mirror through which the student can penetrate Italian culture and way of life. Starting with the years following the Second World War (“Roma città aperta”, 1946), to more recent productions such as La Vita è Bella (1997), motion pictures will allow the student to become familiar with several aspects of Italian experience in the second part of 20th century. Lectures, film viewings, discussion of films and readings, student research and presentations will be relevant parts of class sessions.

Italo Calvino: History, Art and Science in the Modern World

Author Italo Calvino (1923-1985) was born in Cuba to Italian parents, and grew up in Sanremo on the Via Francigena. He studied botany at Pavia University but secretly wrote fiction, and worked as a journalist, novelist, and resistance fighter in World War II. This course focuses on selections from Calvino’s writings in various genres including his stories that attempt to express scientific theories such as quantum physics in literary form. Other pieces recreate conversations between Marco Polo and Khubilai Khan.

Italian Language and Culture in Siena

“Like sailing, gardening, politics and poetry, journalism is a craft of place; it works by the light of local knowledge," said James Carey. The pre-structure of Italian journalism is different from that of American journalism and the journalistic tradition, as well as the state of the media of a country, has much to tell us about that culture. Media products do not necessarily mirror reality, but the media themselves, as a powerful symbolic agent that creates reality, are an important piece of the mirror image of society.

Kinetic Architecture Design Seminar (UO ARCH 407/507)

Four credits - Graded or Pass/No Pass.In this seminar, you will explore the world of architecture-in-motion. Apart from windows, doors and vertical conveyances, most buildings have few moving parts and are conceived of and built as static artifacts. Driven by issues of sustainability and the desire for adaptive control of building environments, kinetic architecture has emerged as an exciting sub-discipline in design and construction communities. Course work will include in-class presentations, site visits and field trips, and case studies.

Language and Society – B1

El aprendizaje de un idioma consiste, no solamente en la adquisición de reglas gramaticales y ortográficas, gran parte de la lengua se concentra en aspectos semánticos y pragmáticos que superan la barrera de lo estructural. En Lengua y Sociedad (B1), los estudiantes explorarán distintas áreas relacionadas con la sociedad mexicana: cómo viven y piensan los mexicanos, cuáles son sus hábitos y costumbres, etc.

Law & Order UK

This course explores a wide variety of British murder mystery novels and TV crime dramas from feminist and critical race perspectives. The selected novels and TV shows are set across an array of historical times and places in England, further affording us opportunity to explore British history and culture, the changing roles of gender, race, and class in the UK throughout the years, and British social institutions and issues such as the legal and penal system, violence, gender and racial equality, employment, and education.

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