Spring 2025

ITALIAN R5A 002 - LEC 002

Reading and Composition

Mediterranean Monsters: Exploring the Monstrous in Italian Art and Literature

Rachel K Cook, Sally Anne Tucker

Jan 21, 2025 - May 09, 2025

Mo, We, Fr

10:00 am - 10:59 am

Dwinelle 235

Class #:27468

Units: 4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Offered through Italian Studies

Current Enrollment

Total Open Seats: 0

Enrolled: 17

Waitlisted: 0

Capacity: 17

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 Rachel K Cook

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.

Class Description

Since antiquity, monstrous creatures have played a central role in Mediterranean art and literature. Indeed, the hybrid, grotesque, and monstrous figures that appeared in ancient Mediterranean myth continued to captivate the creative imaginations of subsequent generations. Over time, these monsters have repeatedly reappeared in the visual and literary arts, sometimes changing form and meaning in response to shifting historical and cultural realities. However, they have retained their ability to surprise, fascinate, and terrify. The continued reappearance of archetypal monsters in art and literature across millennia testifies to their lingering appeal and metaphorical significance. By focusing on the representation of the monstrous in the art and literature of Italy and of the wider Mediterranean, this course will explore the ways in which familiar concepts shift, transform, and ultimately endure in cultural production. Through the close reading and visual analysis of texts and works of art from the ancient to the contemporary, students will learn to recognize and engage with recurring themes from a variety of periods and genres and think critically about how these themes relate to various socio-cultural changes throughout history. This course is a writing-intensive class which fulfills the university’s first semester requirement for Reading and Composition and teaches students to read and reflect critically about literary texts and works of art and to express their own, original ideas in an argumentative academic essay. Assignments will focus on visual analysis, close reading, and written composition. Students will also learn to develop their own ideas and respond to those of their classmates through class discussion and peer review.

Class Notes

Due to the high demand for R&C courses we monitor attendance very carefully. Attendance is mandatory the first two weeks of classes, this includes all enrolled and wait listed students. If you do not attend all classes the first two weeks you may be dropped. If you are attempting to add into this class during weeks 1 and 2 and did not attend the first day, you will be expected to attend all class meetings thereafter and, if space permits, you may be enrolled from the wait list show less