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.

Is there a distinctive way to write about science, compared to other literary genres? How are different scientific arguments developed across the centuries that saw the birth of modern science? What, if anything, distinguishes the Italian tradition from the rest of the West? Is there a non-Western scientific genre, and how does that interact with the Italian tradition of scientific writing? How are other historical literary genres (theology, natural philosophy, narrative prose and fiction, letters, juridical literature, poetry, commentary, accounting, drama, epic, history, journalism, theory of art) involved in the formation of a scientific canon? In this course, we will read a few staples in the history of science to understand how different ways of science-making reveal different assumptions about the formation of knowledge, thinking processes, and identity. We will focus on the Italian tradition as resulting from the seventeenth and early eighteenth century scientific revolution to expand on how science is ultimately indissociable from its own historical course. The emergence of concepts and practices that have become the core of what we now understand as “science” will be the basis of our reflection. The course revolves around an understanding of “science” that is chiefly pre-modern, to then include the methodologies that form the basis of the modern scientific practice. 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 a diagnostic essay and developing three longer papers. 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 first-semester Reading and Composition requirement. No prior knowledge of Italian is required, and students from all majors are welcome. After completing this course, you should have an analytical toolkit that allows you to analyze primary texts, draft essays in clear and elegant academic prose, and provide your peers with constructive feedback on written assignments. One of our major goals in this class is to reflect on who we are as writers, how we present our ideas, and how we can gain a sense of pride in both the writing process and the product. To that end, all activities—formal and exploratory writing, active reading, peer feedback, classroom discussion, etc.—are designed to encourage awareness and reflection in the cultivation of our academic voices. Texts for Purchase - Tommaso Campanella, The City of the Sun (1602) [ISBN: 9780520040366] - Galileo Galilei, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632) [ISBN: 9780520004504] - Giambattista Vico, New Science (1725) [ISBN: 0140435697] - Paul Feyerabend, Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge (1975) [ISBN: 1844674428] - Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1996) [ISBN: 9780226458113]

Requisites

• Satisfaction of the Entry Level Writing Requirement.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills