Reading and composition course based on works by Italians and foreigners about Italy and its culture and by Italians about their distinctive experiences of other cultures as tourists and emigrants. Works studied will be primarily chosen from among fiction and non fiction narratives, both originally in English and translated into it. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition Requirement and R5B satisfies the second half.

The Italian popular imagination has been haunted by spirits, demons, and myriad creatures that continue to both frighten and entertain. Yet tales of the supernatural can also engage some of the most profound human inquiries such as mortality, grief, commemoration, spirituality, ethics, human imagination, and the violations of "proper" societal behavior. This course examines the many forms of supernatural belief that people express through traditional genres and popular media in Italy. From folk tales to films, we will look at a wide survey of the various employments of the supernatural tale across Italy's complex, varied geography and belated identity-formation. Key concepts will include belief and visibility: in this case, the conviction that experiences of the supernatural have important implications in everyday life, as well as the existence of spirits, magic, and related topics on the nature of social and individual hauntings. In addition to a foundational survey knowledge of some of the earliest works of Italian literature and oral history, we will discuss how the introduction of modern technology has shaped to resist, satirize, and indulge in the paranormal into the 20th and 21st centuries, and how these phenomena have shifted our relationship with the supernatural. Through specific case studies, we will explore the forms supernatural tradition and belief take in everyday life and develop models for understanding how these beliefs relate to other aspects of worldview and culture (including deconstructing the supposed binaries of tradition-modernity, backwardness-progress) and highlight the diverse ways in which supernatural storytelling can function in our lives. Ultimately, we will also examine functions of place-based supernatural narratives to discuss how this type of storytelling can be mobilized to make powerful political claims and change the contours of our everyday reality. R5A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement. This course will be writing intensive and ultimately aimed toward the cultivation of students’ writing and thinking skills. Therefore, a great deal of time will be devoted to practicing the techniques of summary, synthesis of ideas, and logical argument. Students will complete regular shorter papers in which they will explore the texts and themes of the course, which will then become the basis for peer review exercises and written reflections on the process of writing and revision.

Requisites

• Satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing Requirement.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills