IDIS 2501 - Italy Through Film

3 cr. 3 hr. Offered once every two years.

This course will explore Italian history, society and culture through works of Italian cinema from 1940s to the present day. Trends in cinematic style and genre as well as the contributions of noted directors such as Visconti, Pasolini, Antonioni and Fellini will be discussed, but primarily as expressive of socio-economic, historical, political, and artistic realities. Focus of class discussion and readings will be topics such as “The Myth of Italy”, “North-South Divide”, “The Changing Family”, “Roles of Women and Men”, “The Era of Fascism”, “Immigration and Emigration”, “Mafia”, “Terrorism”. Students will create their own blogs, participate in class discussions, give presentations, and develop a proposal for an original Italian film series. ITAL 2500 CTW, GDC, AIA, DP