ITAL 2240

One Italian Masterpiece I

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

This course will introduce students to sustained study of one Italian masterpiece (a literary, philosophical, historical, or scientific work, or a major achievement in the visual, performance, or media arts).Italian 2400 (first part of semester): One Italian Masterpiece. We will focus on Vittorio De Sica's moving 1953 film The Bicycle Thief with supplementary readings and discussions on Italian culture after WWII and Fascism, from architecture and urbanism to politics; from soccer to cinema itself. We will think with this film about issues such as: What is poverty and what does it mean to represent it on screen? What is the value of work? How can a community come together in the wake of war?One Italian Masterpiece (second part of the semester): We will focus on Federico Fellini's epic 1961 film La dolce vita (the sweet life), with supplementary readings and discussions on topics including: Fashion, Style and Architecture; scandal and the birth of the paparazzo; Modern Rome and Ancient Rome; culture after war and Fascism, and even: Should La dolce vita be cancelled?

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