THE ITALIAN PROGRAM

Program Director
Carlo Chiarenza

Faculty
Professors:
Carlo Chiarenza
Clorinda Donato

Assistant Professor:
Teresa Fiore

The George L. Graziadio Center for Italian Studies
The Italian Program exists thanks to an agreement between the Italian American community in the area and CSULB. This collaboration led to the establishment of the program itself as well as the Center for Italian Studies, named in honor of Mr. George Graziadio. In acknowledging his Italian origins, his founding gift speaks to his desire to foster Italian Studies in Southern California. Since 2001 the Center has promoted the diffusion of Italian language, culture, and civilization through a variety of cultural events (lectures, conferences, film screenings, etc.) related to Italian and Italian American Studies. Additionally, the Center offers a number of scholarships to study in Italy and regularly organizes workshops on Italian teaching. Its program of events, which gives students the unique opportunity to be exposed to Italian language and culture in its various facets outside the classroom, is often shaped in collaboration with Italian and Italian American institutions and organizations in the area. 

Bachelor of Arts in Italian Studies
(code RGR_BA09) (120 units)
The BA in Italian Studies is a comprehensive program that provides students with a solid humanities-based grounding also applicable to professional fields outside of the humanities. Whereas an Italian Studies major continues to be a field of choice for students interested in Art, Art History, Music, History, and Comparative Literature, it is increasingly relevant for professions in Fashion, Design, and International Business. The Italian Studies BA Program connects Italy’s traditional intellectual and artistic legacy with its dynamic developments as a modern industrialized country renowned for combining taste and technological innovation. The job mobility and cultural exchange fostered by the European Community and fueled by the global economy at large have made Italian into a language with vast applicability: the currency of Italian language worldwide is also reflected in its growth as a subject taught in the American school system. In light of this expansion, the Bachelor of Arts in Italian Studies is a wise choice for students who plan to pursue a teaching career that combines two foreign languages or one foreign language and another subject in the humanities.   

In order to meet such diverse needs, the BA Program offers two concentrations: Italian Language and Culture, and Interdisciplinary Italian Studies. Regular consultation with advisors is highly recommended to ensure the proper choice of courses in view of future professional careers or continuation of studies at the graduate level.

Students in the BA program are strongly encouraged to study abroad through the CSU International Program: they can spend from an intensive summer to an entire academic year in Florence and study either at the CSU center and/or at local academic institutions. While expanding their linguistic and cultural knowledge through this full-immersion experience, they earn credits towards their degrees. In addition, the Italian BA Program at CSULB offers internship opportunities at Italian and Italian American institutions in the area.    

Once students have met the first- and second-year general language requirements, in the third year they take a common set of core courses in the target language (composition, grammar, conversation as well as literature). In the fourth year, they choose between the two concentrations: students intending to earn the teaching credential select the first, Italian Language and Culture, and take all coursework in the Italian language, while students interested in a more interdisciplinary approach may select courses from a variety of department offerings (Music, Political Science, Geography, Art and Comparative Literature) included in the second concentration, Interdisciplinary Italian Studies. Both tracks share a common core.

Requirements
The student must complete a minimum of 49 units as approved by Italian Studies Advisors.

One year of a second foreign language is required for the first concentration (Italian Language and Culture).

Lower Division
Competency in the Italian Language (16 units of lower division Italian):

ITAL 101A, B, and 201A, B are required.

Some of these courses may be waived for students who have completed sufficient high-school Italian or have proved intermediate-level proficiency. Native speakers of Italian may not enroll in ITAL 101A,B or 201 A,B.

Upper Division:
A minimum of 33 upper division units selected as follows:
Basic Core (24 units): ITAL 310, 312A, 312B, 314, 335, 336, 340, 482.

Concentration I (Italian Language and Culture):
Electives (9 units): ITAL 411, 414*, 454, 462, 473, 490, 494, 499.
* Candidates who intend to teach Italian language are required to take ITAL 414

Concentration II (Interdisciplinary Italian Studies)
Electives  (9 units): ITAL 411, 414, 440, 454, 462, 473, 490, 494, 499; AH 423, 424; C/LA 314I, 315I; C/LT 330 A**, B**, 422I, 430, 432, 449**; HIST 332; MUS 436**; RGR 346I.

**Accepted only when syllabi include a good amount of Italian texts.    

Minor in Italian (code RGR_UM02)
The Italian minor can be taken in conjunction with any other major, and it is an excellent choice for students majoring in other Romance languages as well as in Art, Art History, International Business, Comparative Literature, Dance, English, History, Linguistics, Music, or the Social Sciences. Besides grammar, composition and conversation classes, it offers courses in literature, civilization, cinema, and language history. The minor in Italian is open to any non-Italian major.  
The minor consists of a minimum of 21 upper division units.

Required (9 units)
ITAL 312A, 312B, 314

Electives (12 units) to be chosen from:
ITAL 310, 335, 336, 340, 411, 414, 440, 454, 462, 482, 490, 494, 499.

Italian Courses (ITAL)
Lower Division                                

101A. Fundamentals of Italian (4)
Corequisite: Any Foundation course. Practice in grammar, reading,pronunciation, writing, and conversation. Open to absolute beginners or students who have had one year of high school Italian. (lecture 4 hrs.). This course is taught in Italian.

101B. Fundamentals of Italian (4)
Prerequisite: ITAL 101A or equivalent. Corequisite: Any Foundation course. Continuation of ITAL 101A. Practice in grammar, reading, pronunciation, writing, and conversation. (lecture 4 hrs.). This course is taught in Italian.

201A. Intermediate Italian (4)
Prerequisite: ITAL 101B and completion of the Foundation requirement (or entering competency equivalent to ITAL 101B and completion or concurrent enrollment in at least one Foundation course) Grammar review with further development of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills (first part of a two-part sequence). (lecture 4 hrs.). This course is taught in Italian.

201B. Intermediate Italian (4)
Prerequisite: ITAL 201A and completion of the Foundation requirement (or entering competency equivalent to ITAL 201A and completion or concurrent enrollment in at least one Foundation course). Grammar review with further development of reading, writing, speaking and listening skills (second part of a two-part sequence). (lecture 4 hrs.). This course is taught in Italian.

214. Intermediate Conversation (3)
Prerequisite: ITAL 101B. Can be taken concurrently with ITAL 201A or 201B. Designed to develop basic conversational skills and to prepare for more advanced oral competence in ITAL 314. This course is taught in Italian.

Upper Division
General Education Category A must be completed prior to taking any upper division course except upper division language courses where students meet formal prerequisites and/or competency equivalent for advanced study.

310. Introduction to Analysis of Italian Literature (3)
Prerequisite: ITAL 201B. This course imparts literary terminology and the study of the primary genres in Italian literature through an analysis of exemplary texts. A brief overview of methodologies will also be introduced,i.e., deconstruction, sociological, gender studies, and formalism. This course is taught in Italian.

312A. Advanced Italian I (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or equivalent. Review of grammatical principles with regular exercises and composition work for the development of increased mastery of the written language. This course is taught in Italian.

312B. Advanced Italian II (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or equivalent. Review of grammatical principles with regular exercises and composition work for the development of increased mastery of the written language. This course is taught in Italian.

314. Advanced Conversation (3)
Prerequisite: ITAL 214 or consent of the instructor. Continuation of ITAL 214. More advanced use of spoken Italian to establish strong basis for fluent oral proficiency. This course is taught in Italian.

335. Survey of Italian Literature I: Middle Ages– Eighteenth Century (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or consent of instructor. Introductory study of the most important Italian literary works, authors, and movements of Italian literature from the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century. This course is taught in Italian.

336. Survey of Italian Literature I: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or consent of instructor. Introductory study of the most important Italian literary works, authors, and movements of Italian literature from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. This course is taught in Italian.

340. Italian Civilization (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or consent of instructor. A multidisciplinary study of Italian culture from the unification (1861) to the present, with a special emphasis placed on the last thirty years. Crucial historical moments will be analyzed for their social and cultural impact on Italian institutions, customs, and ways of thinking. This course is taught in Italian.

411. Advanced Syntax, Grammar, and Stylistics (3)
Prerequisite: ITAL 312B. This course provides an in depth study of Italian syntax in order to improve skills for written Italian. Vocabulary development and analysis as well as use of different writing styles and forms will be emphasized. This course is taught in Italian.

414. History of the Italian Language (3)
Prerequisite: ITAL 312B. This course will examine the main developments in the transformation from Latin to Italian, the debates on what constitutes the Italian language (questione della lingua), 1200 – present, including the contributions of Dante Alighieri, Machiavelli,and Alessandro Manzoni. The influence of the media and the immigrant populations on the linguistic situation in Italy today will also be addressed. This course is taught in Italian.

440. Italian American Culture (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing or consent of instructor. Interdisciplinary in nature, this course addresses issues of migration and related themes of cultural conflict and ethnic identity formation, in the specific context of the Italian American experience. The syllabus embraces fictional, non-fictional, musical, and visual texts that recount the experience of migration as seen through the eyes of Italian American authors themselves.

454. Italian Cinema (3)
Prerequisite: Senior standing or consent of instructor. An overview of the main movements and directors in the history of Italian cinema. Socio-political and aesthetic analysis will be adopted in reading films from the post-war period to the present. Same course as FEA 454.  

462. Italian Women Writers (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or consent of instructor. Study of the role of women writers within the history of Italian literature from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to contemporary literature. This course is taught in Italian. This course is taught in Italian.

473. Masterpieces of Italian Renaissance Literature (3)
Prerequisites: ITAL 310, 335, 336 or consent of instructor. Readings in Italian Cuattrocento and Cinquecento thought to explore the revolution toward the “new learning” and the valorization of human ability, worldly matters, and secular culture. This course is taught in Italian.

482 . The Building of the Italian Nation (3)
Prerequisites: ITAL 310, 335 and 336 or consent of instructor. This course will explore the literature that promoted the creation and building of the Italian nation from the Middle Ages to the present. This course is taught in Italian.

490. Special Topics in Italian (3)
Prerequisite: Upper division standing in Italian or consent of instructor. Study of a particular topic or aspect of Italian literature, language or culture. Specific topics to be announced in the Schedule of Classes.
May be repeated to a maximum of 12 units with different topics.

494. Internship in Italian (1-3)
Prerequisites: Consent of Instructor and department chair. Field work in Italian, supplemented by readings and tutorials under the direction of a faculty member. Internships, small group discussion/teaching, and other assignments directed by a supervising faculty member.
May be repeated to a maximum of 6 units. No more than 3 units may be applied to the major in Italian.

499. Directed Studies (1-3)
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and department chair. Independent study under the supervision of a faculty member.
May be repeated to a maximum of 6 units.