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.

“Haunting is a constituent element of modern social life. It is neither premodern superstition nor individual psychosis; it is a generalizable social phenomenon of great import. To study social life one must confront the ghostly aspects of it. This confrontation requires (or produces) a fundamental change in the way we know and make knowledge, in our mode of production” -Avery Gordon Do you believe in ghosts? What if I told you the ghosts we are looking for in this course inhabit not houses, but texts? The specters we will hunt for together lurk not around the foundations of a haunted house but in literary and filmic texts, which, arguably, constitute the foundation of our cultural understanding. The existence of ghosts disrupts our understanding of the fixity of the present by introducing a tenuous figure from the past, thereby undermining a system of temporal relations which would permit us to disregard the past’s impact on the present day. A ghost thus demands our attention, as readers and viewers, calling upon us to question what we think we know about the world around us. Who/what can be a ghost? What does it mean for a text to be haunted? What do we make of a collective haunting, when the affected is not just an individual but a larger group, an imagined community like the nation? To what ends does a ghost haunt, and what does it mean for a haunting to end? In this course we will examine narratives representing life and death, memory and oblivion, and the gray space in-between. This is a writing-intensive course that fosters skills in literary analysis, including close reading, critical thinking, and articulate writing. In this class, you will use your critical reflections on the texts as starting points for writing several papers, including one research paper. Essential to the writing process will be workshopping one another’s work through peer review. You will also complete shorter weekly reading responses and assignments devoted to specific elements of essay writing. This course fulfills the university’s second-semester Reading and Composition requirement. Reading/Viewing list: Primary: Antonio Moresco, Distant Light Luigi Pirandello, Right You Are (If You Think You Are) Igiaba Scego, My Home is Where I Am Julio Llamazares, The Yellow Rain Film: Bernardo Bertolucci, The Spider’s Stratagem Coco, Pixar Animation Studios Secondary: Selections from The Spectralities Reader, Maria del Pilar Blanco and Esther Pereen

Requisites

• Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills