Introduction to the historical development of Italian culture from the Middle Ages to the present, with an emphasis on critical analysis of literary and visual texts in relation to the politics and socie-ties of the Italian peninsula, and an ultimate goal of advancing students’ Italian linguistic and criti-cal skills. A modular course co-taught by Italian Studies faculty members with different disciplinary backgrounds, Italian Studies 105 provides continuity within the diversity of approaches adopted and objects of study under examination. The city serves as the prism through which we will view cultural objects and historical moments in the history of the Italian peninsula, including the rise of city states and political theory in early modern Florence; the importance of the papacy and the flowering of the visual arts in Renaissance and Baroque Rome and Venice; the beginnings of revo-lution and the southern question as viewed from Naples; the Risorgimento and the transformation of Italy into a modern nation state as viewed from Milan.

Taught entirely in Italian.
Required of Italian Studies majors and minors.

Prerequisite: Italian 101 or proficiency placement.

Contact language coordinator Dr Giuliana Perco with questions: gperco@berkeley.edu