Course Offerings - Fall 2012

Required for all Florence Students

What characteristics describe Italy and Italians and who are the people living, studying and working on this peninsula? To answer this question requires reflection on a similar and equally complicated question, “What is the USA and who are Americans?” Depending on whom you ask, the answer will vary.
Through the NYU Florence –Quaderno Digitale Blog (QD Blog), students will use a comparative approach to answer this question. You will compare your experiences in the USA or your home country to the new sights, sounds, people and information you encounter in Italy. The course is organized into three areas of exploration to assist you in this project. In total, during the semester, you will write FOUR blog posts and TWO blog comments.

Professor TBA
This daily course immerses students in the Italian language. The basic structures and vocabulary of the Italian language are presented. Students are also provided with systematic practice of oral Italian through dialogues, pattern drills, and exercises. Special emphasis is given to correct pronunciation, sound placement, and intonation. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 1 & ITAL-UA 2, Elementary Italian I & II; or ITAL-UA 10, Intensive Elementary Italian

Professor TBA
This course offers students who are at the intermediate level a daily immersion class. The acquisition and practice of more sophisticated structures of Italian are undertaken. Fundamental oral and written skills are developed, and vocabulary enrichment and conversational ability are emphasized. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 11, ITAL-UA 12, Intermediate Italian I & II; or ITAL-UA 20, Intensive Intermediate Italian

Professor Tarabusi/Professor Simonti
Intensive review of Italian grammar through written and oral exercises, conversations, compositions, translation, and readings from contemporary Italian literature. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 30, Advanced Review of Modern Italian

Professor Reale
Students entering the course should have mastered the fundamental structure of Italian. The course is designed to help students gain confidence and increase their effectiveness in speaking present-day Italian. Through discussions, oral reports, and readings, students develop vocabulary in a variety of topics, improve pronunciation, and learn an extensive range of idiomatic expressions. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 30, Advanced Review of Modern Italian

Professor Carloni
We will view and discuss Italian films to enrich our knowledge of language and culture, including: classic films; contemporary films, which we will compare with the classics; films in current release and available in the theaters of Florence. Through creative activities, we will work to improve our writing, reading and vocabulary, as well as our skills of observation, comprehension and interpretation. We will discuss the themes presented by the various films and their place within both Italian history and the history of Italian cinema. We will address the different elements that make up the text of each film: direction, screenplay, sound score, cinematography and editing.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Caracciolo
An introduction to seeing and using drawing as a medium of expression. The problems surveyed in the studio show how the draftsperson attains knowledge of the visible world through observation, formulation, and articulation in selected drawing media. Individual independent work supports experimentation and imagination. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Lombardi
This course is a hands-on introduction to the translation of visual experience into painting. The interpretative, formal, expressive, and technical aspects of painting are explored through a series of studio situations. Discussions, slide lectures, and gallery visits highlight individual work. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Caracciolo
This course uses the model to focus on problems in drawing. Students are encouraged to explore a wide range of materials and attitudes. Issues of representation and the historic use of the figure as art are covered through slides and discussions. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Baldry
The aim of this course is to provide an integrated approach to Museum theory and practice. It is designed for those students who are interested in the history and the nature of Museums, Museum management (including the international art legislation), the methods of research and documentation (file system and photography), conservation methodologies to preserve the collections in a Museum context, and the means of presenting all kinds of art objects to the public (the education role of the museum in the society). Themes such as the change of the artistic taste, the role of the artists, the collectors and the dealers in the creation of the public galleries and the house museums will be discussed. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor C. Ewell
This course provides students with an awareness of and appreciation for the cultures and civilization of ancient Italy from 1000 B.C. to 200 A.D. The lectures will examine significant examples of sculpture, painting, architecture, city-planning and the minor arts of the period. The course will include local field trips to important sites and exhibits. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Students in the Art History Dept: This course counts for Urban Design credit, but not Art History credit.

Professor Lombardi

The city of Florence presents important aspects for a visual study of the Renaissance and its messages. This class will stress the ways to visualize the city through the keeping of a sketchbook. There will be walking tours in the city to explore topics and places for the students to draw. No art background necessary. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisite: ARTH-UA 2, History of Western Art II, ARTH-UA 300, Renaissance Art, or equivalent introductory art history course.

Prof. Rebecchini
This course is conceived as a series of selected studies, offering in depth analysis of a few great masters of Early Renaissance Italian painting: Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli and Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, among others.  These artists have been chosen for the unique opportunity afforded by study in Florence to examine their works in original contexts, especially the great fresco cycles they created with their workshops.   The course is, however, neither limited to the study of these artists nor to the study of painting. Their works will be considered in relation to those of other contemporary masters active in the courts of Central and Northern Italy, including Andrea Mantegna, Piero della Francesca, Cosmé Tura and Leonardo da Vinci.  They will also be considered in rapport with other contemporary art forms, especially the sculpture of Ghiberti, Donatello and Verrocchio.  In studying original works of art on site, context, function and materials will be considered equal in importance to matters of style.  Special attention will be given to the phenomenon of collecting as an active force shaping the development of artistic forms and genres. The study of collecting will bring into consideration intellectual, social, economic and political issues that complicate and enrich our understanding of the work of the early masters of the Italian Renaissance. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisite: ARTH-UA 2, History of Western Art II, ARTH-UA 19, History of Architecture, ARTH-UA 301, European Architecture, or permission of the instructor

Professor Mussolin
The new style in architecture, sparked by the buildings of Brunelleschi and the designs and writings of L.B. Alberti, developed in 15th-century Florence against the background of a vigorously evolving humanist culture. A study of the new movement through the great qattrocento masters and the work of the giants of the 16th century (e.g., Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio) and the spread of Renaissance style into other countries. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Students must bring their own camera and use either a digital or a traditional 35mm manual adjust camera for this class.

Students registering for this course must also register for Lab section ( 0 points).

Professor Massimo Agus

The course will provide the students with the appropriate tools for understanding and photographing the architecture of Florence, using different photographic techniques, and aiming to define a personal approach. The students will be able to explore different architecture styles following various photographic assignments. At the end of the course the students will produce a portfolio on the architecture of Florence. Lectures will cover the History of Photography, with a special attention to Italian architecture and urban photography, History of Architecture in Florence, technical aspects related to photography production. Students will pursue digital and traditional photographic techniques in the course. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor G. Gobbi-Sica
Starting from Villa La Pietra, this course explores the connection between the history of the Italian villa and the economy, architecture, art, and landscape. Historical and economic reasons have contributed to the unique typology of the Florentine landscape and the relationship between the villa, the farmer house and the "podere." The course examines the original development of the villa and the ideology of country life in Florentine culture and society. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Students in the Art History Dept: This course counts for Urban Design credit and Art History elective credit.

Professor N. Leszczynski
The city of Florence has long been admired for its combination of buildings and gardens. This course emphasizes the art of garden and landscape design, with tours to sites around the city and the surrounding areas. The starting point of the course is the 57 acres of historically significant landscape surrounding NYU's Villa La Pietra, with Renaissance-style gardens, rolling hills, and olive groves, all located within the city limits of Florence. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Students in the Art History Dept: This course counts for Art History elective credit.

Prof. Sara Piccolo Paci
Students trace the birth, evolution, decline, revival, and most recent developments of Italian fashion from the Late Gothic Age to the present "made in Italy" design. Italian fashion styles are decoded in relation to art history in an international, social and economic context. Fashion and its connections with culture, subculture, gender and communication are emphasized. On-site visits also illustrate the dominating role of Florence in fashion from its origin until now. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prof. Nicolin

This course examines the rise of Modernity in Italian art from theFuturist avant-garde to current artistic practices. Consideringexhibitions as a particularly useful framework to investigate structuresand narratives of the Italian context in the 20th and 21st centuries, thecourse will examine through in-depth case studies (from Futurist shows tothe Venice Biennale) the development of modern Italian visual culture.The course aims to underscore this articulated history, using exhibitionsas critical subjects of research that would work as tool for the analysisof the intersection between Italian modernity and the internationalcontext.

Although the notion of Modernity in Italy is linked to leading figures orgroups that acted in parallel with international debates on visual art(Futuristi with the European avant-gardes, Lucio Fontana and AlbertoBurri with Informal culture, Arte Povera and Transavanguardia withConceptual art and Abstract Expressionism, just to list a few), thecontext of Italian art practices has been enriched by many actors thatcontributed to redefine medium and issues of Italian visual culture.Through a variety of languages, these figures were, and remain,significant contributors to the broad discussion of issues like thedialogue between historical memory and contemporary practice (Metafisicaand Valori Plastici), between art and design (Bruno Munari, Gruppo T),the notion of spazio/environment or the monument, questions of politicalart and public art, the development of sculptural practice towardsperformance (Maurizio Cattelan), the relationship between art, scienceand technology. Also among the topics to be discussed during the courseare the role of private collections and institutional exhibitions, thebook as a space of production, the art market and the gallerynetwork.

There will be artist lectures and studio, gallery and museum visits in Florence, Milan and Venice.

Sample Syllabus

Art History students: This course counts for Art History elective credit.

Professor A. Pascuzzi 
Step back in time and study like a Renaissance apprentice using the same materials and techniques that Giotto, Leonardo and Michelangelo used. Working only with those materials used in the Renaissance (no modern art materials permitted), students will follow the same course of artistic instruction common to a Renaissance workshop. You will learn to draw with silverpoint, charcoal, and natural chalks, make your own paper, prepare panels, grind pigments for painting, execute in fresco, egg tempera and oil and learn how to use gold leaf. Lectures and drawing sessions will be held in the various museums and churches where students will be required to copy from masterpieces of the Renaissance. The course is a step back in time to learn techniques that have been lost and to revive the spirit of art creation that has made Florentine art admired for centuries. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

NYU Students who have already taken ARTH-UA 2 will not receive major credit for ARTH-UA 5 [Renaissance Art survey] or ARTH-UA 6 [Modern Art survey].

Professor Zaloga & Professor Giorgi
The city of Florence will be the classroom as students study the masters, explore museums, examine texts, and analyze the historical significance of monuments. With eyes cast simultaneously on painting, the graphic arts, sculpture, and architecture, this class will explore a broad range of art patronage that included religious and civic bodies, princely courts, and a growing number of private clients. The course will focus on points of intersection, transition, and the transformations that lead from one tradition to the next. Above all, our approach will encourage critical thinking and a search for unifying connections in studying the underlying logic of image making. Works will be examined on their native terms: both as physical objects, with sensitivity to their particular function and intended reception, and as visual images active within larger contexts. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

This is course is not open to Stern

Professor G. Liberatore
An introduction to the area of financial accounting. Encompasses accounting concepts from the point of view of the corporate investor and business management. Accounting procedures are discussed to facilitate the comprehension of the recording, summarizing, and reporting of business transactions. The basic principles of asset valuation and revenue and cost recognition are presented. Various asset, liability, and capital accounts are studied in detail with emphasis on an analytical and interpretive approach. The area of financial accounting is further analyzed through a discussion of the concepts and underlying financial statement analysis and the exposition of funds flow. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisites: STAT-UB 103 or ECON-UA 18 or both STAT-UB 1 & STAT-UB 3

Professor Schoen
Designed to give students a better understanding of how firms can gain competitive advantage from their operations function. Typically this requires the firm to achieve, at a minimum, cost, quality and ecological parity; responsiveness and adaptability to customer needs and desires; rapid time to market; process technology leadership; and sufficient and responsive capacity. A problem-solving framework is developed that enables students to undertake managerial and technical analysis that should result in the desired competitive advantage. Both service and manufacturing case examples are utilized.

Sample Syllabus 

STAFF
In this course, students learn how to increase their communication effectiveness for business and professional goals. During the semester, students focus on the strategic implications of communication for modern organizations. A variety of assignments are given to stress the following communication competencies: written, spoken and nonverbal communication basics for business; effective team communication strategies; informative, persuasive and collaborative presentations; communication techniques for required junior and senior year projects. Students regularly receive personal feedback about their writing and their oral presentations from instructors and staff.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Donvito
Evaluates, from the management point of view, marketing as a system for the satisfaction of human wants and as a catalyst of business activity. Deals with the subject at all levels from producer to consumer and emphasizes the planning required for the efficient use of marketing tools in the development and expansion of markets. Concentrates on the principles, functions, and tools of marketing, including quantitative methods. Utilizes cases and projects to develop a problem-solving ability in dealing with specific areas.

Sample Syllabus 

Students must enroll in screening section (0 points).

Professor Fallani
This course covers Italian film from the beginnings of the neo-realist movement to 1960, concentrating both on the aesthetic, theoretical development of neorealism and on its political, economic, social, and cultural context. Directors studied in detail include Rossellini, Visconti, de Sica, and Antonioni. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor C. Ewell
This course provides students with an awareness of and appreciation for the cultures and civilization of ancient Italy from 1000 B.C. to 200 A.D. The lectures will examine significant examples of sculpture, painting, architecture, city-planning and the minor arts of the period. The course will include local field trips to important sites and exhibits. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

This course may be counted towards the Cultural Specialization and Elective requirement for Comp Lit majors, with prior DUS approval.

Professor Barrett
This course focuses on literary representations of WWI and WWII. The online course pack includes examples of the political and military rhetoric to which Montale and Hemingway objected, historical essays and images (war photographs, recruitment posters, etc.), as well as the shorter texts we are studying. Central themes in the course are the concepts of political literature and historical fiction and the contrasting approaches and theoretical premises of classical realism and modernism. Among the supplementary sources available in the Villa Ulivi library are two good cultural histories on the subject: James Shehan Where Have All the Soldiers Gone and Mark Mazower Dark Continent. Other recurring issues will be gender, sexuality, religion, class politics, kitsch, psychoanalysis, rhetoric, and power.  

Sample Syllabus

Prof. Edelstein
In Italy, regional identities have always been strong, while national identity has always been complex, a situation that characterizes even current political debates. Although the Italian peninsula was home to some of the most important ancient civilizations, Italy’s existence as a united country dates only from the nineteenth century, making it younger than the US as a modern nation state. Italy was first unified by the Romans, making Roman antiquity a point of reference throughout history as intellectuals and political leaders dreamed of a unified nation. We examine how Italian identity was formed throughout history, both by Italians and by foreign visitors to Italy, in response to the principal ancient cultures that thrived on the peninsula. The focus is on primary sources, ­literary works, artifacts, art objects, works of architecture,opera and film ­taking advantage of the unique resources of Florence to explore these in their original contexts.

Prerequisites: Pre-calculus or equivalent level of mathematical training

Professor Ricchiuti
Introduction to the American economy, elements of supply and demand, and basic macroeconomic principles. Includes national income and employment, money, banking, inflation, business fluctuations, monetary and fiscal policy, the balance of payments, and comparative economic systems. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

This course is not open to NYU Stern students.

Prerequisite: ECON-UA 1 (Economic Principals) or ECON-UA 5 (Introduction to Economic Analysis)

Professor G. Gallo
Money supply; banking as an industry; banks as suppliers of money; the Federal Reserve System and monetary control; monetary theory; and contemporary monetary policy issues. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisites: ECON-UA 1 Economic Principles or ECON-UA 5 Intro to Economic Analysis or equivalents

Professor G. Gallo

The financial crisis that hit the global economy since the summer of 2008 is without precedent in post-war economic history.  Although its size and extent are exceptional. the crisis has many features in common with similar financial-stress driven recession episodes in the past. However, this time there’s something different, with the crisis being global akin to the events that triggered the Great Depression of the 1930s. This crisis spread quickly and rapidly moved from the US to European countries that show the weakest economic indicators (PIIGS: Portugal, Ireland and Italy, Greece and Spain). This course will focus on the long run causes, consequences and EU responses to the crisis, conditionally on the characteristics of the countries involved. We will focus on the long process of European Integration and discuss whether it may represent a possible solution to the recent crisis.

Prequisite: Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics (ECON-UA 10 & ECON-UA 12) and International Economics (ECON-UA 238) or equivalents. International Economics (ECON-UA 9238) may also be taken as a co-requisite.

Studies the problem of economic underdevelopment, with special reference to the countries of Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The building blocks of economic theory are used to understand the historical experiences of these countries. Macroeconomic topics covered include economic growth, income distribution, and poverty, with particular emphasis on the concept of  underdevelopment as a circular, self-reinforcing trap. Microeconomic topics include the study of particular markets that are especially relevant to developing countries: those for land, labor, and credit. Notions of market fragmentation, limited information, and incentive problems receive emphasis. Ends with international issues: trading patterns, capital flows, and global financial crises are studied from the viewpoint of developing countries.

This course is not open to NYU Stern students.

Prerequisites: Microeconomics & Macroeconomics (ECON-UA 1 and ECON-UA 2) or equivalents.

Focuses on international trade in goods, services, and capital.The issues discussed include gains from trade and their distribution; analysis of protectionism; strategic trade barriers; the trade deficit; exchange rate determination; and government intervention in foreign exchange markets.

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Cross-listed with HIST-UA 9168 (History) and ITAL-UA 9868 (Italian Studies)

Professor Travis
Politics and society, war and peace in modern Europe over a fifty-year period in the middle of the last century. The primary goal of this course is to consider how developments since the 1930s have influenced the lives and formed the outlook of today's Europeans. This course relies heavily on historically-based novels to explore the topics of particular concern: European fascism, the Second World War, the division of Europe and the Cold War, reconstruction and economic "miracle" in western Europe, de-colonization, eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the 1960s, and the collapse of communist states in the 1980s. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Both English and Italian sections of this course will be offered.

Professor L. Tarabusi
An in-depth experience of Italian language and culture through participation in a variety of community service organizations. Entails volunteer placements in agencies working with women, immigrants, and the poor and on issues of health care and the environment. Students are required to attend weekly two-hour seminars, where they may clarify cultural and language issues, share experiences, and participate in discussions with speakers from the various community organizations involved in the program. During the first week of this course, a learning contract will be discussed and then signed by each student in consultation with the professor. With this learning contract the student will commit to follow the requirements of the course in either English or Italian.

Sample Syllabus Italian Section

Sample Syllabus English Section 

This course is for Global Liberal Studies students only.

STAFF
Experiential Learning I includes both classroom instruction and community experience (whenever practicable, individual community experience).  the principle goal of Experiential Learning I is immersion in the current and historical character of the site.  Classroom instruction provides an interdisciplinary perspective on local, national and global forces that have shaped the character of life in the Italian city.

Professor Simoni 

Prof. Travis
In this course students will study fascism as a political, social, and cultural phenomenon in the 20th century. The nature and appeals of fascist movements in individual European countries from the First through the Second World War, including fascist regimes in Italy and Germany are studied. Background readings are the center of discussion in the first half of the course; students present short papers for class discussion and criticism during the second half. Attention given to the role of leadership, economic conditions, class conflicts, ethnic hatreds, foreign relations, and social and cultural regimentation. Conducted in English. 

Sample Syllabus

Cross-listed with MEDI-UA 9270 (Medieval and Renaissance Studies)

Professor R.M. Comanducci
Students in this course will examine the role and status of women in medieval and Renaissance Europe, exploring theological and medieval attitudes toward women as well as economic and social determinants for women's lives. The topics include the development of the institution of marriage; the ideal of romantic love; women's religious experience; and women's economic, literary, and artistic contributions to society. This course balances studying women as a group in history and examining individual women, when possible, through their own words. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Cross-listed with MEDI-UA 9123 (Medieval and Renaissance Studies)

Prof. Duni
The Renaissance began and reached maturity in Italy between 1350 and 1500. This course closely examines the political, economic, and social situations in Italy during this period, emphasizing the special conditions that produced Renaissance art and literature. The relationship between culture, society, and politics is studied in the case of Florence, in which the hegemony of the Medici house and its patronage brought the city to cultural leadership in the Western world. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Cross-listed with EURO-UA 9163 (European Studies) and ITAL-UA 9868 (Italian Studies)

Professor Travis
Italy, a major Euro-Mediterranean nation, often appears like a beautiful but bizarre country. It can only be better understood through an analysis of its past. This course will thus provide an overview of Italian history since its path towards unification, and will consequently highlight the most salient political, social and economic events since 1815. In the first half of the course we will look at the liberalism which characterised the pre-WWI period, the rise of Fascism and Italy during WWII including the role of the anti-fascist ‘partisans’. In the second part of the course we will examine post-war developments such as the country’s reconstruction, the birth of the neo-fascist right, mass emigration from the South, the so called ‘years of lead’ and the rise of Silvio Berlusconi and the transition to the so-called Second Republic. We shall also discover some of the dark shadows of contemporary Italian society such as the role of the different mafias and the succession of political scandals and corruption cases that continue to blight the nation. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Cross-listed with MEDI-UA 9017 (Medieval and Renaissance Studies) and RELST-UA 9672 (Religious Studies).

Prof. M. Duni
The aim of the course is to follow the evolution of religious ideas and practices throughout the period that goes from early Renaissance to the years of the reorganization of the Catholic Church after the Council of Trent. The geographical area covered will include the countries of southern Europe (mainly Italy, but also Spain, France and Portugal) and the German World. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Staff

Topics in the History of Diplomacy focuses on the history of international relations among European nations or between European nations and the rest of the world. Topics in the History of Diplomacy may cover chronological periods that precede the twentieth century.

Sample Syllabus

STAFF
Courses on subjects of special interest taught by either a regular or a visiting faculty member.  Course taught in English; original texts read in translation.

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Students registering for this course must also register for a screening time ( 0 points).

Professor Vito Zagarrio
Thecourse compares two Myths: on one side the American Myth for the Italianculture, on the other side the Italian Myth for the Americans. Americanculture, music and cinema have always been crucial for the Italian people.Since the 20s, Hollywod has been a big model for Italian intellectuals (as anexample Attilio Bertolucci, Bernardo Bertolucci’s father); in the late 30s and 40sthe American novelists were a tremendous model for such Italian writers asVittorini, Calvino, Pavese, Sciascia, Bufalino. After the war, the Hollywood genres (above all the Western) became veryimportant for the Italian film industry. The other way round, the Italian modelhas always been important for the American culture. The myth of the art cities,or the cinematic love for the Italian Neorealism are still some of the crucialpoints of the relationship between the two cultures.    Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisite: successful completion of ITAL-UA 30 Advanced Review of Modern Italian or permission of instructor.

Professor Bagorda
This course is a survey of the basic texts of Italian Early Modernliterature, starting from Classical and Provençal archetypes and tracingthe specific and original way in which these same archetypes wereembedded in Italian literature. Among the main themes that will be takeninto consideration are: the tradition of love poetry, also related to thechivalric world, starting with the Sicilian school and arriving at thelove treatises of the Cinquecento; the issue of Italian (literary) language, starting from the very first examples of literary production in Italian and going through the scholarly discussion started by Dante’sDe vulgari eloquentia and continued with Bembo’s Prose dellaVolgar Lingua; literature and politics, throughthe treatises by Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini;literature and philosophy, with the interaction betweenscholastic/Averroistic and Platonic/Neoplatonicphilosophy, together with their interaction with Christian doctrine;women writers and the “other” side/perspective in love phenomenology andpoetry, through the works by Gaspara Stampa, Vittoria Colonna, VeronicaFranco, and Tullia D’Aragona among others, with analysis of social, gender and genres issues.

The course will explore these and other important themes in Medieval andRenaissance Italian literature, focusing on how to read primary sourcescritically, which in turn will serve as the basis for class discussion,an essential component of the course. Conducted in Italian. 

Sample syllabus

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Professor Grimaldi
This course analyzes Dante's poetry in itself and as an object of translation and adaptation. The text of the Divine Comedy, a 14,000-line journey through the afterlife, will be studied in terms of its transmission and reception in contemporary culture. Emphasis will be put on Dante's influence on literature, art, music, media and film. The text is read in translation with references to the original Italian facing text. Conducted in English. 

Sample Syllabus

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students. 

Cross-listed with POL-UA 9512 (Politics)

Professor Chiaramonte
Presents a study of post-World War II Italian politics and society in comparative and historical perspective. Seeks explanations of Italian political development in specific historical factors such as the 19th century patterns of state formation and the experience of fascism. Comparative analysis seeks to show how the social structure, political culture, and party systems have shaped Italy's distinct development. Current and recurrent political issues include the problem of integrating the south into the national economy and state response to social movements, particularly terrorism. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Cross-listed with HIST-UA 9168 (History) and EURO-UA 9163 (European Studies)

Professor Travis
Politics and society, war and peace in modern Europe over a fifty-year period in the middle of the last century. The primary goal of this course is to consider how developments since the 1930s have influenced the lives and formed the outlook of today's Europeans. This course relies heavily on historically-based novels to explore the topics of particular concern: European fascism, the Second World War, the division of Europe and the Cold War, reconstruction and economic "miracle" in western Europe, de-colonization, eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, the 1960s, and the collapse of communist states in the 1980s. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Lombardi
Urban culture is complex, fantastic, frightening, and a part of daily life, encompassing everything from the opera to street musicians, the public library to the piazza, the theater to local cafes and social clubs. This course, where cities are considered to be sources of cultural invention, explores through literature, history, social science and student experience, the evolution of high and popular culture, both modernist and post-modern. Emphasis will be placed on how cultures create bonds between specific interest groups, and how culture becomes the arena for acting out or resolving group conflict. This course will focus on Italian cities, including Florence. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor C. Ewell
This course provides students with an awareness of and appreciation for the cultures and civilization of ancient Italy from 1000 B.C. to 200 A.D. The lectures will examine significant examples of sculpture, painting, architecture, city-planning and the minor arts of the period. The course will include local field trips to important sites and exhibits. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor G. Gobbi-Sica
Starting from Villa La Pietra, this course explores the connection between the history of the Italian villa and the economy, architecture, art, and landscape. Historical and economic reasons have contributed to the unique typology of the Florentine landscape and the relationship between the villa, the farmer house and the "podere." The course examines the original development of the villa and the ideology of country life in Florentine culture and society. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Students in the Art History Dept: This course counts for Urban Design credit and Art History elective credit.

Professor N. Leszczynski
The city of Florence has long been admired for its combination of buildings and gardens. This course emphasizes the art of garden and landscape design, with tours to sites around the city and the surrounding areas. The starting point of the course is the 57 acres of historically significant landscape surrounding NYU's Villa La Pietra, with Renaissance-style gardens, rolling hills, and olive groves, all located within the city limits of Florence. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Students in the Art History Dept: This course counts for Art History elective credit.

Prof. Sara Piccolo Paci
Students trace the birth, evolution, decline, revival, and most recent developments of Italian fashion from the Late Gothic Age to the present "made in Italy" design. Italian fashion styles are decoded in relation to art history in an international, social and economic context. Fashion and its connections with culture, subculture, gender and communication are emphasized. On-site visits also illustrate the dominating role of Florence in fashion from its origin until now. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Vaccari
The goal of this course is to present a thorough historical survey of fifty years of television in Italy, with a special emphasis on the relation between television broadcasting and democratic politics. The course will be structured in four parts: the early days of television in Italy, characterized by the monopoly of RAI and the political influence of the Christian Democrats; the political conflicts and policy-making choices of the 70s; the so-called “far west” of commercial broadcasting and the birth of the duopoly during the 80s; the change of political landscape during the 90s and the years 2000, with the increasing competition between RAI and Mediaset, the conflicts of interest of Berlusconi and the advent of pay per view and digital terrestrial television. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor M. Sansone
The course covers the evolution of Italian opera from its beginnings in Florence to the early 20th century with special emphasis on Monteverdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. The approach is multidisciplinary and aims at a comprehensive survey of the music theatre in the context of the Italian cultural heritage. Literary sources, musico-dramatic features, vocal styles are studied in connection with major works that best represent trends and genres in the Italian operatic tradition. Students are expected to master the distinctive characteristics of such genres as favola in musica, intermezzo, opera seria, opera buffa, grand opera, dramma lirico, and the basic elements of Italian versification. Students listen to and watch recorded operas and attend performances in Florence or other Italian cities. Conducted in English

Sample Syllabus

Both English and Italian sections of this course will be offered.

Professor L. Tarabusi
An in-depth experience of Italian language and culture through participation in a variety of community service organizations. Entails volunteer placements in agencies working with women, immigrants, and the poor and on issues of health care and the environment. Students are required to attend weekly two-hour seminars, where they may clarify cultural and language issues, share experiences, and participate in discussions with speakers from the various community organizations involved in the program. During the first week of this course, a learning contract will be discussed and then signed by each student in consultation with the professor. With this learning contract the student will commit to follow the requirements of the course in either English or Italian.

Sample Syllabus Italian Section

Sample Syllabus English Section 

STAFF
This course provides a thorough introduction to the international system for the protection of human rights and the preconditions under which it functions at international and national levels. The course aims to develop the students’ interest in, and knowledge of, international human rights; to explore human rights theory and practice; to introduce various human rights conventions and mechanisms, particularly the United Nations system; and to provide advanced instruction in several key aspects of international human rights, including the effects of globalisation on human rights, the question of the universality / cultural-specificity of human rights, and the so-called ‘interdependence’ of various human rights. 

Sample Syllabus

Professor Vaccari
The goal of this course is to present a thorough historical survey of fifty years of television in Italy, with a special emphasis on the relation between television broadcasting and democratic politics. The course will be structured in four parts: the early days of television in Italy, characterized by the monopoly of RAI and the political influence of the Christian Democrats; the political conflicts and policy-making choices of the 70s; the so-called “far west” of commercial broadcasting and the birth of the duopoly during the 80s; the change of political landscape during the 90s and the years 2000, with the increasing competition between RAI and Mediaset, the conflicts of interest of Berlusconi and the advent of pay per view and digital terrestrial television. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Cross-listed with HIST-UA 9270 (History)

Professor R.M. Comanducci
Students in this course will examine the role and status of women in medieval and Renaissance Europe, exploring theological and medieval attitudes toward women as well as economic and social determinants for women's lives. The topics include the development of the institution of marriage; the ideal of romantic love; women's religious experience; and women's economic, literary, and artistic contributions to society. This course balances studying women as a group in history and examining individual women, when possible, through their own words. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Cross-listed with HIST-UA 9123 (History)

Professor Duni
The Renaissance began and reached maturity in Italy between 1350 and 1500. This course closely examines the political, economic, and social situations in Italy during this period, emphasizing the special conditions that produced Renaissance art and literature. The relationship between culture, society, and politics is studied in the case of Florence, in which the hegemony of the Medici house and its patronage brought the city to cultural leadership in the Western world. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Cross-listed with HIST-UA 9117 (History) and RELST-UA 9672 (Religious Studies).

Prof. M. Duni
The aim of the course is to follow the evolution of religious ideas and practices throughout the period that goes from early Renaissance to the years of the reorganization of the Catholic Church after the Council of Trent. The geographical area covered will include the countries of southern Europe (mainly Italy, but also Spain, France and Portugal) and the German World. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Lombardi
Urban culture is complex, fantastic, frightening, and a part of daily life, encompassing everything from the opera to street musicians, the public library to the piazza, the theater to local cafes and social clubs. This course, where cities are considered to be sources of cultural invention, explores through literature, history, social science and student experience, the evolution of high and popular culture, both modernist and post-modern. Emphasis will be placed on how cultures create bonds between specific interest groups, and how culture becomes the arena for acting out or resolving group conflict. This course will focus on Italian cities, including Florence. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor M. Sansone
The course covers the evolution of Italian opera from its beginnings in Florence to the early 20th century with special emphasis on Monteverdi, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini. The approach is multidisciplinary and aims at a comprehensive survey of the music theatre in the context of the Italian cultural heritage. Literary sources, musico-dramatic features, vocal styles are studied in connection with major works that best represent trends and genres in the Italian operatic tradition. Students are expected to master the distinctive characteristics of such genres as favola in musica, intermezzo, opera seria, opera buffa, grand opera, dramma lirico, and the basic elements of Italian versification. Students listen to and watch recorded operas and attend performances in Florence or other Italian cities. Conducted in English

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisite: Photo I or equivalent. An analog or a digital camera with manual settings is required. Students registering for this course must also register for Directed Projects Lab  (0 points).

NOTE: This course meets in the center of Florence. Student should allow for 30 minutes commute time between this class and their prior or subsequent class.

Professor A. Capodacqua
Florence can be considered the historic capital of optics: as the leading center for the production of lenses and spectacles in the Renaissance, it was also a center for extraordinary experimentation regarding the science of vision.  The experiments and writings of such masters as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Giovan Battista della Porta and Galileo, among others, are testimony to the extraordinary contributions made here to the understanding of sight and to the development of devices that aided, altered or controlled vision for artistic purpose.

This course proposes to contextualize historic photographic techniques within this rich context of the history of optics.  An invaluable resource for this exploration will be the Acton Photograph Archive at Villa La Pietra with its rich collection of stereographs, daguerrotypes, ambrotypes, silver prints and albumen prints.  Students will thus be able to learn about these historic techniques by examining firsthand surviving, in some cases extremely rare, examples of them.

Following the inspiration of these historic techniques, from the experiments of the Florentine Renaissance artists to those of the Alinari Brothers, a firm founded in Florence in the nineteenth century and renowned throughout the world as an early innovator in the uses and techniques of photography, students will have the opportunity to explore these techniques themselves hands on.  They will be encouraged to develop their individual expression through their own projects employing one or more of these historic photographic techniques.  This inspiring course on experimental photography explores new possibilities of imagemaking by combining pinhole and toy cameras and other alternative techniques with a theoretical approach to representation.

Sample Syllabus

Professor D'Alimonte
The European Union is a unique and strange entity.  It has 27 states and 500 million people. Its GNP is more or less equal to that of the USA. Many of its members share a common currency and a common monetary policy.  Yet it is a union without a state. The spectacular progress in the area of economic integration has not been matched by the creation of a common government and a common identity.  The economic giant is still a political dwarf as it has been confirmed time and again whenever there is an international crisis,. Yet so far this strange entity has been working. Its achievements in the economic arena have been remarkable. The course will analyze in an interdisciplinary fashion the making of the Union, its institutions, its policies and its prospects in the very challenging environment of today.  Probably more so than in any other period in its history the survival of the Union, as we have known it, will be tested by the impact of the most serious crisis of the post-war period.  Particular attention will be given to the new economic governance established by the Union in responding to the problems posed by the poor economic and financial performance of some of its members, i.e. the PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain).. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Tucker
This course will introduce students to the study of comparative politics, which is defined as the study of politics anywhere in the world.  Specific focus is on the process of democratic transition by analyzing the democratic revolution that that swept the globe during the last thirty-five years.  We will explore the causes of democratization, threats to democratization and factors that may aid in a successful consolidation of of democracy.  As part of this process, students will be exposed to a wide range of topics in comparative politics, including the politics of economic reform, party systems and voting, theories of ethnic politics and social capital.

Professor Wagemann
Comparative study of the main features of Western European political systems, with a special attention to current politics. Analyzes both political institutions and societal groups, referring to the social and political history of the single countries. Presents challenges and changes in today’s Western European democracies. Attempts to introduce the basic concepts and categories of comparative political analysis. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Cross-listed with ITAL-UA 9512 (Italian)

Professor Chiaramonte
Presents a study of post-World War II Italian politics and society in comparative and historical perspective. Seeks explanations of Italian political development in specific historical factors such as the 19th century patterns of state formation and the experience of fascism. Comparative analysis seeks to show how the social structure, political culture, and party systems have shaped Italy's distinct development. Current and recurrent political issues include the problem of integrating the south into the national economy and state response to social movements, particularly terrorism. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Biondi
Explores the norms that govern European states in their legal relations and the current development of law among these nations, based on cases and other legal materials relating to the nature and function of the law; recognition of states and governments; continuity of states and state succession; jurisdiction over persons, land, sea, air, and outer space; international responsibility and the law of space; diplomatic privileges and immunities; treaties; regulation of the use of force; and the challenges posed by new states to the established legal order. The course is divided into three parts: sources, natures, and the making of European Community (EC) law; different areas of EC law (single market, social policy and EC citizenship, competition policy, economic and monetary union, and European Union extended relations); and implementation and enforcement of EC law. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor R. D'Alimonte
This course explores the role of the US in Europe from the end of World War II to the present with a particular emphasis on understanding the sources of cooperation and conflict. The topics covered in the first part will include the US vision of the new international order, the end of the old European balance of power, the Cold War and the division of Europe, the building of the Western alliance, the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. The second part of the course will concentrate on contemporary issues ranging from the evolution of NATO to trade relations and the role of the dollar and the euro in the international monetary system. Particular attention will also be given to the challenges posed by the ‘war on terror’, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor TBA

In our society the need for deep understanding of what is going on translates into a need to keep track what has happened, how to outline trends, plan the future knowing the present or the past. We have all heard about demographic pressure, social policies, health care planning, inflation, market volatility: these are all concepts which rely heavily on statistical information. Changes have to be managed properly and in an informed way: scientific experiments be they on a medicine, on fertilizer or airbags must be planned as to ensure their validity. Total quality in production is a statistics-based philosophy of management, and if you like a commercial it is also because a statistician has provided information about consumer tastes and behaviour. In this course we will provide an introduction to the tools of statistics but most importantly we will try and understand the rationale behind statistics.

Professor F. Peressotti
Introduction to theories and research in some major areas of cognitive psychology, including human memory, attention, language production and comprehension, thinking, and reasoning. Conducted in English. 

Sample Syllabus

Professor Kiesner
Introduction and overview of theoretical issues and selected research in developmental psychology. Focus on infancy through adolescence. Lectures interweave theory, methods, and findings about how we develop as perceiving, thinking, and feeling beings. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Martelli
How do we construct a description of physical reality based on visual sensory information? Survey of basic facts, theories, and methods of studying sensation and perception. The major emphasis is on vision and audition, although other modalities may be covered. Representative topics include receptor function and physiology; color; motion; depth; psychophysics of detection, discrimination, and appearance; perceptual constancies; adaptation, pattern recognition, and the interaction of knowledge and perception. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Cross-listed with HIST-UA 9117 (History) and MEDI-UA 9017 ( Medieval Studies).

Prof. M. Duni
The aim of the course is to follow the evolution of religious ideas and practices throughout the period that goes from early Renaissance to the years of the reorganization of the Catholic Church after the Council of Trent. The geographical area covered will include the countries of southern Europe (mainly Italy, but also Spain, France and Portugal) and the German World. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor Ciacci
One of the aims of the course is to try and understand the accomplishments that Western civilization considers literary and artistic (plastic, visual) products from the vantage point of modern sociology. Each historical period has developed its own "ways of seeing." Attention will be devoted to specific instances in the 19th and 20th centuries. This should allow us to discuss and evaluate the processes involved, in a) the production and dissemination of literary and artistic products, and in b) the consumption patterns affecting those same products in contemporary societies. The purpose is to discover the creative strategies by which such works are generated, the social and economic contexts in which they are produced, and the different ways in which they have been circulated and received. This will allow us to account for changes in taste and social priorities. The city of Florence, viewed in itself as a cultural product, will provide various opportunities (with its museums, libraries, temporary exhibits, etc.) for testing such theoretical statements. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus 

Prof. M. Ciacci
One of the aims of this course is to prompt students to understand the workings of the many cultural rules that keep shaping their own personal identity. It will be a matter of trying to define oneself in a new cultural environment; finding the ordinary in the apparently exotic setting while disembedding its underlying patterns; assessing the extent to which being a “foreigner” may (or may not) help as an interpretive tool for cultural experience. The topic of food, its different meanings and varying relationships to the human body, is going to be used as a case-study through which cultural processes may be nicely seen at work. By the end of the semester, students are expected to develop an individual research project that should prove their skills at decoding some of the cultural phenomena to which they have been exposed during their stay abroad.

Sample Syllabus 

Professor TBA

In our society the need for deep understanding of what is going on translates into a need to keep track what has happened, how to outline trends, plan the future knowing the present or the past. We have all heard about demographic pressure, social policies, health care planning, inflation, market volatility: these are all concepts which rely heavily on statistical information. Changes have to be managed properly and in an informed way: scientific experiments be they on a medicine, on fertilizer or airbags must be planned as to ensure their validity. Total quality in production is a statistics-based philosophy of management, and if you like a commercial it is also because a statistician has provided information about consumer tastes and behaviour. In this course we will provide an introduction to the tools of statistics but most importantly we will try and understand the rationale behind statistics.

This course will introduce students to the study of criminal organizations in Italy and abroad. Analysis of real-world data over the last decades, such as court proceedings and crime statistics, dismisses many of the accepted myths about Italian mafias. We will explore the organization of mafia groups, rules and codes, activities both in legitimate business and illegal markets, and their relationship to politics. This comparative approach will help students identify those factors facilitating the emergence, migration and persistence of organized crime across countries. The course will include a review of the legislative efforts and best-practices designed to prevent and control organized crime in Italy and in the United States.

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 11, ITAL-UA 12, Intermediate Italian I & II; or ITAL-UA 20, Intensive Intermediate Italian

Professor TBA
Intensive review of Italian grammar through written and oral exercises, conversations, compositions, translation, and readings from contemporary Italian literature. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 30, Advanced Review of Modern Italian

Professor Reale

Students entering the course should have mastered the fundamental structure of Italian. The course is designed to help students gain confidence and increase their effectiveness in speaking present-day Italian. Through discussions, oral reports, and readings, students develop vocabulary in a variety of topics, improve pronunciation, and learn an extensive range of idiomatic expressions. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus 

Prerequisites: ITAL-UA 30, Advanced Review of Modern Italian

Professor Carloni
Aims to improve Italian comprehension and writing skills through an analysis of the language of cinema. The focus is on detailed readings of selected films and their scripts. Emphasis on colloquial and contemporary Italian. Conducted in Italian.

Sample Syllabus 

Both English and Italian sections of this course will be offered.

Professor L. Tarabusi

An in-depth experience of Italian language and culture through participation in a variety of community service organizations. Entails volunteer placements in agencies working with women, immigrants, and the poor and on issues of health care and the environment. Students are required to attend weekly two-hour seminars, where they may clarify cultural and language issues, share experiences, and participate in discussions with speakers from the various community organizations involved in the program. During the first week of this course, a learning contract will be discussed and then signed by each student in consultation with the professor. With this learning contract the student will commit to follow the requirements of the course in either English or Italian.

Sample Syllabus Italian Section 

Italian instruction will be offered for Italian Immersion students.

Cross-listed with POL-UA 9512 (Politics)

Professor Chiaramonte
Presents a study of post-World War II Italian politics and society in comparative and historical perspective. Seeks explanations of Italian political development in specific historical factors such as the 19th century patterns of state formation and the experience of fascism. Comparative analysis seeks to show how the social structure, political culture, and party systems have shaped Italy's distinct development. Current and recurrent political issues include the problem of integrating the south into the national economy and state response to social movements, particularly terrorism. Conducted in English.

Sample Syllabus