Spring 2022
ITALIAN 205 001 - SEM 001
Proseminar I: Italian Literary Studies
Literary Theory/Literary History
Barbara Gwen Spackman
Class #:30108
Units:2to4
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
Italian Studies
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
10
Enrolled: 5
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 15
Waitlist Max: 3
No Reserved Seats
Hours & Workload
3 to 9 hours of outside work hours, and 3 hours of student-instructor coverage of course materials.
Other classes by Barbara Gwen Spackman
+ 1 Independent Study
Course Catalog Description
This course introduces the study of Italian literature in its historical scope, while presenting the range of research interests represented on the Italian Studies faculty. Required of all Master of Arts candidates.
Class Description
The Proseminar serves as the core course for the Italian Studies graduate program, and aims to provide students with a foundation for humanistic study as it is practiced in the U.S. To that end, we will read a series of foundational theoretical essays, focused on a set of key words that are themselves metonymies for major theoretical approaches. This spring, those key words will be “ideology,” “gender,” “rhetoric,” “affect,” and “animal.” Theorists read will include Ahmed, Althusser, Barthes, Berlant, Butler, Culler, De Lauretis, Derrida, Freud, Halberstam, Holsinger, Jakobson, Marx, Ngai, Sedgwick, Singer, Williams, and Wolfe. The aim of the course is to learn how to generate questions from theoretical texts that will, in turn, lead us to refine and complicate our reading strategies. To that end, our readings in theory will be complemented by readings in literary texts drawn from several different periods in the Italian tradition. The literary texts will offer us the occasion to test the practices of reading and methodological approaches that emerge from our discussions of theory. Authors read will include Boccaccio, Petrarca, Stampa, Franco, Verga, Foscolo, and Ortese. Reading knowledge of Italiani is required.
Students will be required to give two in-class presentations and to write two short 8-10 page papers.
The course is required of M.A. students in Italian Studies, and recommended for Ph.D. students.
Rules & Requirements
Repeat Rules
Reserved Seats
Current Enrollment
No Reserved Seats
Textbooks & Materials
See class syllabus or https://calstudentstore.berkeley.edu/textbooks for the most current information.
Guide to Open, Free, & Affordable Course Materials
Associated Sections
None