aCademiC Catalog 2013-2014 - Lorenzo de Medici

include but are not limited to: writing articles, updating articles,
events research, filing database entries; contributing to blogs,
social media, websites; developing new projects.
Note: Placement opportunities are limited and subject
to change. Students who enroll must submit supporting
documentation by the registration deadline, and acceptance is
conditional upon result of an onsite interview during the first
week of the term. Fluency in Italian may be advantageous.
Prerequisites: English/Writing/Journalism majors of junior
standing
Cultural Studies
Food and Culture
CLT 198 F; Dual listed: ANT 198 F / NUH 198 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
If “you are what you eat”, just why do you eat the way you do?
This course considers the relationships between the multiple
meanings of food and the acts of preparing and eating food,
and further explores food and personal and social identity.
Students will examine why different people make different
food choices in their daily lives, why individuals from certain
social classes will avoid or esteem particular foods, and in
general how food serves as a factor in self-definition. Because
a person’s attitude toward food can reveal not just personal
identity traits but a whole food ideology, this course will also
analyze the role of food in the construction of ethnic identity, in
the display of religious beliefs, and in the negotiation of gender
roles. Students learn how cultures and values are transmitted
and preserved through food. Through personal essays and the
interdisciplinary secondary literature, students will be guided
to analyze the complex and fascinating relationships between
people and food, helping them to understand how cultures
(including their own) ultimately determine all human food
choices.
Women, History and Culture
CLT 250 F; Dual listed: GND 250 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course surveys the changing roles and perceptions of
women in Western history and culture from ancient times to
the present. The relatively recent political enfranchisement
of women and the rise of feminist thought and theory offer
a framework and a destination. Students examine a wide
variety of exemplary roles (wife, mother, priestess, nun, etc.)
and individuals. Matrifocal societies and the widespread cult of
the Mother Goddess were supplanted by patriarchal traditions,
examined through Judaism and the Classical Greek world and
their ideas, texts, mythologies, and social strategies. Students
next explore the religious, social, and medical views of the first
millenium and a half of the CE. With the Renaissance arrive
new and better-documented perceptions by and of women.
Social policies and both high and popular culture reveal
persistent prejudices. The Early Modern era brings changes
in social position as women become agents in the arts and
sciences. Women’s Rights are inscribed upon wider social and
cultural struggles of the modern world. In conclusion, students
encounter constructions of women present in today’s culture
and media, and still unresolved issues.
Prerequisites: HIS 130 Western Civilization, or equivalent
Many Italies, Other Italies: Modern Literary
Representations
CLT 285 F; Dual listed: LIT 285 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
Focusing on Italian and Anglo-American literature and some
films, this course will explore the multiple representations of
Italy in the twentieth and twenty-first Century. Far from being
the homogeneous culture that is often perceived from abroad,
Italian culture is a very complex text where many different, and
sometimes conflicting voices and images encounter. This course
aims to look beyond what may be seen as mainstream Italy
to discover peoples often marginalized by dominant cultural
norms and stereotypes. Starting with the critical examination
of the idealized image of Italy propagated by many famous
foreigners throughout the ages, the course will then focus
on the representation of Italy offered by its own writers and
filmmakers. The texts that we will look into encompass many
different peripheral voices that are nonetheless very powerful
and fundamental to a true understanding of the Italian culture:
southern Italians, Jewish Italians, emigrants (and Italian
Americans), political dissidents, women, and more recently,
immigrants from the global East and South are the voices
that have contributed to create a country of intrinsically great
and complex ethnic, religious, linguistic and political diversity;
voices that often remain unheard.
Italian Culture through Music
CLT 292 F; Dual listed: MCT 292 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course offers students an approach to understanding
Italian culture and society through an exploration of its rich
and varied musical traditions. Mountainous geography and
political struggles have given Italy a wide variety of musical
styles and cultures. Taking the form of a musical journey across
Italy, the course explores sacred, secular and dramatic music
from the major Italian cities and also strays off the beaten
path to discover the vibrant folk traditions of villages and rural
communities. The course also explores the origins and influence
of Italy’s dramatic and lyrical tradition, from the early multimedia
spectacles of 16th-century Florence to the patriotic
operas of Verdi and the realism of Puccini. Classes will include
musical illustrations and demonstrations and students will also
be encouraged to go to related concerts and musical events in
Florence and Tuscany. Music offers an original and important
perspective on the culture of Italy.
Broadcasting: Italian Culture and Television
CLT 305 F; Dual listed: COM 305 F / SOC 305 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
This course examines the development of commercial
television broadcasting, its beginnings in radio and its creation
of distinctive genres in Italy. Italian state and private television
are analyzed and compared. The course also considers
different theoretical approaches to the analysis of television by
investigating the various theories of its effects and the impact
on other media. The course will examine today’s main trends,
strategies and broadcast in Italian television. A strong link is
also provided between Italian television and Italian culture.
Prerequisites: COM 180 Mass Communication, or equivalent
Images and Words
CLT 355 F; Dual listed: ART 355 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
In this interdisciplinary course different disciplines converge
to enhance students’ skills as readers of visual as well as
verbal texts. It aims to open up new ways of seeing and
perceiving works of art by exploring the relationship between
us (spectators and/or creators), images and words, involving
questions such as What is art? Where do we see art? How do
we look at art? What words do we use while talking about a
work of art, explaining and/or describing it? Can we “read”
images? Can we “see” stories? Students analyze a selection of
fundamental theoretical texts and produce close examinations
of visual and written works, including narrative prose and poetry.
Students have the opportunity to become active spectators
who, through activities of observing, reading, sketching and
writing, experience different modes of looking at art while
learning about art theory, art history, literature, museum culture
and sociology.
Prerequisites: Junior standing
Gender Studies
Women, History and Culture
GND 250 F; Dual listed: CLT 250 F
Cr: 3; Contact hrs: 45
The course surveys the changing roles and perceptions of
women in Western history and culture from ancient times to
the present. The relatively recent political enfranchisement
of women and the rise of feminist thought and theory offer
a framework and a destination. Students examine a wide
variety of exemplary roles (wife, mother, priestess, nun, etc.)
and individuals. Matrifocal societies and the widespread cult of
School of Arts & Sciences FLORENCE
LdM Academic Catalog 2013-2014
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