aCademiC Catalog 2013-2014 - Lorenzo de Medici

School of Arts & Sciences TUSCANIA
by the “Quartieri dell’Arte” Festival, Viterbo, the Royal National
Theatre, London, the Burgtheater, Vienna and the MEEC, Paris
along with acclaimed playwrights (Pulitzer Prize finalists and
winners included).
Philosophy and Religious
Studies
Western Philosophy
PHR 130 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course presents major questions and thinkers of western
philosophy. Key methods and terms of philosophical inquiry
are explored. Provides a broad overview of major historical
directions, systems and schools of philosophy in the western
tradition from the pre-Socratics to the present. Discussion
centers upon perennial themes such as the existence of God,
the nature of knowledge, proof and reasoning, and ethics.
Serves as the basis for further courses in philosophy.
Introduction to Italian Philosophy
PHR 185 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course examines the evolution of the main schools of
Italian philosophical thought beginning with the Middle Ages,
covering the rich philosophical debate in Renaissance Italy, and
reaching the Counter Reformation and the 18th century Age of
Reason. However, since the problems discussed by these Italian
schools of thought emerged in ancient philosophy and are
directly drawn from it, it is initially necessary to review the ideas
of Greek and early Christian philosophies. Key thinkers include
Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante,
Petrarch, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Machiavelli,
Giordano Bruno and Campanella. The course ends by looking
at the revolutionary philosophical thought that marks the
beginning of the Age of Science and Reason, embodied in Italy
by Galileo Galilei.
Rhythm of the Tao
PHR 272 T; Dual listed: PER 272 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The Rhythm of the Tao is a mental and physical discipline that
enables us to trigger the creative process and experience the
sense of harmony within ourselves through music. Classes,
which will combine debate and reflection with physical activity,
will introduce students to Taoist philosophy and the Eastern
concept of harmony as expressed through music. The physical
dimension focuses on meditation and movement through
music and rhythm.
Religion and Culture in Italy
PHR 284 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course examines the interaction between culture and
religion in Italy, above all modern Italy. The peninsula has been
the almost uninterrupted home of the Catholic church and the
Vatican State, a factor of great importance for centuries and
still today in the development of Italian culture and society. At
the same time Italy is a relatively young nation, democratic,
industrialized, and multicultural. In the lively Italian cultural
landscape religion can mean oceanic crowds at sanctuaries or
a papal appearance, fierce newspaper debates, small parishes,
and Muslims or Christians praying in rented spaces. Italy,
indeed, epitomizes key issues in religion and culture generally.
Students move between themes of diversity in religious
belief and practice, coexistence of communities, continuity of
tradition and local heritage, the political interface, secularism,
religion in the media and popular culture, national identity,
and educational, social and health policies and activities. The
course exploits the special opportunity to investigate various
religious communities in Italy.
Political Science and
International Studies
Modern Italy
POL 296 T; Dual listed: HIS 296 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The main goal of the course is for students to gain a general
understanding of the way Italian history and culture has
developed in the last 50 years, especially in the arena of
public policies and social interactions. The course will be
loosely divided in three main segments. The first one, relying
mainly on historical data and information, aims to provide a
general background about Italian politics and culture. In the
second part, we will focus on the current changes that have
occurred in Italy during the past 20 years, focusing especially
on the breakdown of the traditional political system and on the
decreased relevance of the Church in State and public matters.
Finally, we will examine how the last 10 years – during which
there has been a great transformation in the way media affects
the distribution and spread of information – have brought an
apparent, but possibly not real, upheaval in the way politics,
culture and information are received and debated among
Italians.
Prerequisites: an introductory course in History or Political
Science
Sociology
Italian Life and Cultures
SOC 220 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course analyzes the history of the Italians and major
themes in Italy’s recent past and present. The course is broadly
divided into two parts. The first part weaves a chronological
path through the country’s history from ancient times up to
the present, exploiting the extraordinary physical resources
available in Tuscania for understanding the great civilizations
of the Etruscans and Romans, but also drawing on the locality’s
more recent history to explore some of the challenges that
Italy overcame in the twentieth century on the road to
modernization. The second part of the course is organized
more thematically and examines some major topics in the
modern and contemporary life of Italian society.
Italian Society through the Cinema
SOC 275 T; Dual listed: MCT 282 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course presents the development and changes of the Italian
society in the last decades as seen through Italian cinematic
vision. The films discussed during the lectures will be shown
in chronological order, and cover some of the most significant
periods of Italian society: Fascism, the war and post-war time,
the economic boom of the early sixties, the anger and protest
of the young generation. “Genre” movies will be discussed
with special attention given to the “Comedy Italian Style”.
Information about the most important periods of Italian history,
from Fascism to the present time, will be followed throughout
the course. Films are in Italian with English subtitles.
Writing
Creative Writing
WRI 220 T
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course is geared toward students seriously motivated to
write creatively and constructively through inspiration and
self-discipline. The professor will stimulate students’ creativity
through the confrontation with different aids in order to help
students create different kinds of written products. This class
focuses on both theoretical and practical aspects of creative
writing by providing the basic principles and techniques that
should be used when producing a written piece. Through
inspirational exercises, the student will use the art of creative
writing as a tool for literary expression and self-awareness.
Reading work out loud for discussion and in-class critiquing
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LdM Academic Catalog 2013-2014