CORE COURSE SYLLABUS
ITALIAN HISTORY
Lecture #1: “Roman and the Medieval Italy” ( 2 hr.)
Readings: C. Duggan, A concise history of Italy, pp. 9 – 31 (Ch. 1&2)
Lecture #2: “Risorgimento & Fascismo” (2 hr.)
Readings: C. Duggan, A concise history of Italy, pp.87–143/205-240 (Ch. 4,5,8)
Lecture #3: “Contemporary Italy” (2 hr.)
Readings: C. Duggan, A concise history of Italy, pp. 240 – 299 (Ch. 9)
Three questions exam on history (1 hr. and half)
PREPARATORY LECTURE (2 hr.) AND THESIS DRIVEN ESSAY #1
ITALIAN POLITICS AND CHURCH INSTITUTIONS: A DIFFICULT COHABITATION?
Parma, like many cities in Italy, has many churches – 52 at last count – and yet Parma is not known as a city of churchgoers. How does one account for this apparent anomaly? At the same time, Italian politics seem to be constantly affected by the opinions of the Vatican institutions. How are issues such as divorce, abortion, cohabitation, bioethics issues etc. seen in Parma and Italy in general? Using specific examples drawn from the readings assigned and interviews with Parmigiani of three different age groups: senior, middle-aged, young adult or teen, analyze the relation between Church and State.
Suggestions: Write a set of questions for interviews to elicit information on direct and indirect aspects of religion in people’s lives. Attend daily and Sunday Mass at several churches, noting who is there. Interview a priest. Write down your assumptions before starting and try to find ways to challenge them. Note the presence of religious items in the home and other secular places.
READINGS:
Reading Packet #1
From Catholic Encyclopedia: Roman Catholicism; The secular power of the Popes
The ambiguities of the Catholic church, from Paul Ginsborg, Italy and its Discontents: Family, Civil society, State: 1980-2001
Pietra e Parola, from T. Jones, The Dark Heart of Italy
Level of religiosity by country in Europe (1980-2008)
From Modern Italian Culture, ed. by Z. G. Baranski and R. J. West
Catholicism…………………………………………………………. p. 97
Church and State: The Cold War…………………………………… p. 133
(Readings can vary as they are constantly up dated and/or integrated with current newspaper articles)
PREPARATORY LECTURE (2 hr.) AND THESIS DRIVEN ESSAY #2
THE IMPORTANCE OF FOOD IN ITALY AND AROUND THE WORLD:
ITS INFLUENCE IN THE ITALIAN SOCIETY, DIFFERENCES WITH THE U.S. AND OTHER CULTURES, GLOBAL ISSUES, NEW TRENDS
“A Parma si è golosi come in tutta l’Emilia, ma ci si vanta d’essere più raffinati, di svolgere, direi, gli stessi temi con maggiore capriccio. Si entra qui nella terra d’Italia dove il cibarsi è un aspetto della cultura e quasi dell’erudizione….”
Guido Piovene
Viaggio in Italia, 1977
Eating in Italy is not only “cibarsi” but can be considered as “il piacere di stare a tavola,” a sort of social rite. Based on your readings, lectures, visits and on your experience eating at home with your family and eating out, explore the role that food seem to play in Parmesan and Italian society in contrast to other cultures you are familiar with. Why is food so important in Italy and what does this tell you, if anything, about Italian culture? Are attitudes toward food changing (are vegeterians/vegans present in Italy? What is the attitude towards eating meat?) If so, what influences are responsible for the change?
READINGS:
Reading Packet #2
Emilia-Romagna; Reggio-Emilia, from Root, W., The Food of Italy
Parma simply primo for ham and cheese and Italian cuisine, by English, J., For the Journal-Constitution
(Readings can vary as they are constantly up dated and/or integrated with current newspaper articles)
PREPARATORY LECTURE (2 hr.) AND THESIS DRIVEN ESSAY #3
ITALIA: DA TERRA DI EMIGRANTI A TERRA DI IMMIGRATI
“In the late 1960’s, Italy was still a country of emigration, and there were only around 150,000 immigrants living in the country; twenty years later, Italy had over 500,000 immigrants, while having the lowest birth rate in Europe.” (R.West, Modern Italian Culture)
Today the number of immigrants has reached about 3,400,000 (7% of the population). Discuss this phenomenon analyzing the readings provided and interviewing two Italians of different ages and one immigrant person. Use his/her life story as a case study. What is his/her condition today? How does he/she perceive Parma and Parmesans’ attitudes? How do Parmesans perceive immigrants? Can you find examples of integration in Parma?
READINGS:
Reading Packet #3
Immigration and racism, from Paul Ginsborg, Italy and its Discontents: Family, Civil society, State: 1980-2001
- Rusconi, Italy’s migration experiences
The Italian Diaspora, from Wikipedia
Immigrants abandoning recession-hit Italy, by Guy Dinmore, Financial Times, January 6, 2013
From Modern Italian Culture, ed. by Z. G. Baranski and R. J. West
The Notion of Italy……………………………………………………p. 17
Italian Culture or Multiculture in the New Millenium?……………….p. 337
(Readings can vary as they are constantly up dated and/or integrated with current newspaper articles)
- Lecture on history of Parma and walking tour (4 hr.)
- Lecture on “Intercultural Communication” (2 hr.)
- Lecture on “Life with an Italian family”(2 hr.)
- Mid-term discussion (3 hr.)
- Preparatory lecture (2 hr.) and study trip to Venice (two days). Visit to: Santa Maria dei Frari church, Ponte di Rialto, Piazza and Basilica of San Marco.
Three questions exam on Venice (1 hr. and half)
History of Art
Renaissance Art in Parma and Northern Italy:
Correggio, Parmigianino and their influence on Italian Art
Sample Syllabus
Lesson 1: (2 hr.)
Historical introduction: Italy in the Renaissance time
The concept of Renaissance: meaning and philosophy
Readings:
Hersey, G., The Liberation of Italy. From High Renaissance Art in Italy, Chicago Press
Lesson 2: (2 hr.)
The “bottega”. The artist workshop. Civic and religious patronage
Readings:
Welch, E., Part I: Artistic Enterprises. Materials and Method. The Organization of Art, and Part II: Sites of Devotion. From Art in Renaissance Italy 1350-1500, Oxford University Press
Lesson 3: (2 hr.)
Renaissance Florence: The Medici family and the guilds.
The great Florentine Renaissance works: Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo
Preparation to study trip to Florence
Readings:
From: Paoletti J.T. –Radke G.M, Art in Renaissance Italy, Laurence King
Florence I: Civic and Guild Commissions as Expressions of the New Republic: Decoration for the Cathedral; The Competition for the Second Baptistery Doors; Ghiberti versus Brunelleschi; Brunelleschi’s Dome; The Strozzi Chapel, pp. 176-199
Florence: Civic and Personal Commissions under the Medici: The Gates of Paradise; Civic Imagery; The Tomb of Leonardo Bruni; The Medici; Donatello’s Bronze David and Judith and Holofernes, pp. 216-232
The Myth of the State; Restructuring Civic Space: The Uffizi, pp. 397-398
Sandro Botticelli and the Neo-Platonism of the Medici, pp. 15-39, from: B. Santi, Botticelli, 1991
Lesson 4&5: TRIP TO FLORENCE (two days): Uffizi museum, Duomo and Baptistery, Piazza della Signoria
Lesson 6: (2 hr.)
Correggio: life&works
Readings:
Degrazia, D., Correggio and His Legacy, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Fornari Schianchi, L., Correggio, Scala Editore
Lesson 7: (2 hr.)
Parma on-site visit: Correggio’s frescoes in Parma:
Camera di S.Paolo, Monastero di S.Giovanni, Cupola del Duomo
Readings:
Mendogni, PP., Correggio and St. Paul’s Monastery, PPS Editore
Art History paper #1 due
Lesson 8: (2 hr.)
Mannerism & Parmigianino
Readings:
Degrazia, D., Parmigianino, in Correggio and His Legacy, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Mannerism, from Encarta Encyclopedia
Sypher, W., Mannerism, from Four Stages of Renaissance Style, Anchor Books
Lesson 9: (2 hr.)
Parma on-site visit: Correggio&Parmigianino panel paintings in the Galleria Nazionale and the Teatro Farnese; Parmigianino’s frescoes in the church of S.Maria della Steccata
Readings:
- Maria della Steccata, from Wikipedia
Lesson 10: (3 hr.)
On-site visit: The castle of Fontanellato
Parmigianino’s fresco and Parma high Renaissance school
Readings:
Parmigianino and the Castle of Fontanellato, Dall’Acqua, M., Rocca Sanvitale, FMR, Editore
Guadalupi, G.- Ricci, FM., The Room of Parmigianino, FMR Editore
McIver, K., Love, Death and Mourning: Paola Gonzaga’s Camerino at Fontanellato
Lesson 11: (3 hr.)
On – site visit: The castle of Torrechiara
Lesson 12: (2 hr.)
Leonardo da Vinci. Life&works. Focus on Milano and “Last Supper”
Preparation to study trip to Milano
Readings:
Paoletti J.T. –Radke G.M., Santa Maria delle Grazie. Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna of the Rocks. Leonardo at Ludovico’s Court. Epilogue: Milan under Foreign Rule. From Art in Renaissance Italy, Laurence King
Lesson 13: ONE DAY TRIP TO MILANO
Visit to: Castello Sforzesco museum, Leonardo Da Vinci “Last Supper”, Michelangelo “Pietà Rondanini”
Lesson 14: (2 hr.)
Discussion and wrap-up session
Art History paper #2 due
ART HISTORY FINAL EXAM (1 hr. and half)
(Readings may change and/or updated)
