2025 Fall
ITALIAN 101 001 - LEC 001
Advanced Writing Workshop
“Made in Italy”: Cultural Icons or Stereotypes?
Giuliana Perco
Class #:23262
Units: 4
Instruction Mode:
In-Person Instruction
Offered through
Italian Studies
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
9
Enrolled: 6
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 15
Waitlist Max: 3
No Reserved Seats
Hours & Workload
3 hours of instructor presentation of course materials per week, and 9 hours of outside work hours per week.
Other classes by Giuliana Perco
Course Catalog Description
A writing-intensive course that aims to strengthen writing skills though varied genres, including literary analysis, journalism, and biography, and through multiple revisions. The course is a prerequisite for all upper division courses.
Class Description
Taught in Italian. Required of all majors and minors.
This is a content based, writing intensive course. Its thematic content changes every semester.
In Fall 2025, we will focus on the idea “Made in Italy”, and in particular on the main three cultural “icons” widely known abroad: food, fashion and design. We will discuss and analyze this theme from multiple perspectives through texts, documentaries and audio recordings. Thus, for instance, we will look not only at the unifying cultural value represented by such icons, but also at what lays behind the “traditional” food served in Italian restaurants abroad and advertised via TV programs and films. We will also discuss the fashion industry in Italy and look at who actually manufactures the “Italian” fashion populating the pages of international glossy magazines.
The purpose of Italian 101 is to help students strengthen and refine their writing skills in Italian, by expanding their vocabulary, and experimenting with more complex grammatical structures. Emphasis is given on refining writing skills through a process of writing, reviewing and re-writing. You will be exposed to texts from a variety of different genres and writing styles (newspaper and magazine articles, essays, personal narratives, etc.) focusing on relevant topics in Italian culture and society. Grammar will be reviewed in the context of the texts and genres analyzed.
This course is writing intensive. You will write several different types of texts of different length and purpose: letters, film reviews, personal narratives, argumentative texts, etc. You will also review your peers’ work and have your own work read and commented on by your peers. Re-writing will be required for several of the texts you’ll create for this class. At the end of the semester you will have created a portfolio of about 20-30 pages in Italian.
The course is entirely and exclusively taught in Italian.
This is a content based, writing intensive course. Its thematic content changes every semester.
In Fall 2025, we will focus on the idea “Made in Italy”, and in particular on the main three cultural “icons” widely known abroad: food, fashion and design. We will discuss and analyze this theme from multiple perspectives through texts, documentaries and audio recordings. Thus, for instance, we will look not only at the unifying cultural value represented by such icons, but also at what lays behind the “traditional” food served in Italian restaurants abroad and advertised via TV programs and films. We will also discuss the fashion industry in Italy and look at who actually manufactures the “Italian” fashion populating the pages of international glossy magazines.
The purpose of Italian 101 is to help students strengthen and refine their writing skills in Italian, by expanding their vocabulary, and experimenting with more complex grammatical structures. Emphasis is given on refining writing skills through a process of writing, reviewing and re-writing. You will be exposed to texts from a variety of different genres and writing styles (newspaper and magazine articles, essays, personal narratives, etc.) focusing on relevant topics in Italian culture and society. Grammar will be reviewed in the context of the texts and genres analyzed.
This course is writing intensive. You will write several different types of texts of different length and purpose: letters, film reviews, personal narratives, argumentative texts, etc. You will also review your peers’ work and have your own work read and commented on by your peers. Re-writing will be required for several of the texts you’ll create for this class. At the end of the semester you will have created a portfolio of about 20-30 pages in Italian.
The course is entirely and exclusively taught in Italian.
Class Notes
Prerequisites: Italian 4 or placement exam.
https://italian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/language-placement
Please contact Dr. Giuliana Perco if you have questions regarding placement in this course: gperco@berkeley.edu.
https://italian.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/language-placement
Please contact Dr. Giuliana Perco if you have questions regarding placement in this course: gperco@berkeley.edu.
Rules & Requirements
Repeat Rules
Requirements class fulfills
Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
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