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Italy Through Italian Film – SOC*498*91 - Syllabus
Pino Losacco, Ph.D
Duquesne University, Rome Campus
Email address: giuseppe.losacco@unibo.it
Web site of the course: http://www.sociologiaqualitativa.it/
Required book:
Italian Cinema from Neorealism to the Present, Peter Bondanella. 1999. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company.
Suggested Reading:
Italian National Cinema, Pierre Sorlin. 1996. New York: Routledge.
Schedule: Monday 2-5 pm; Tuesday Night: 9:00 -11:00 pm
This course is based on the vision and the analyse of films made in Italy from the end of World War II to the present. We will
see some of the most important movies of the past fifty years of Italian film history (i.e. “La dolce vita”, “Rome open city”,
“Bread and chocolate” “900” etc..). The aim of the course is using these films as telescopes on the past and present of Italy,
from both the historical and social point of view. In other words, this is a sociology course on Italian culture, which uses the
film as data as well as stimulus for the debate. In addition, another level of analysis will concern the styles, the schools and the
directors of the shown films, and the technical and social contexts that influence the different styles. In this step, we will
consider the mass communication linguistic techniques (figures of speech, metaphors, analogies), in order to get both the
manifest and the latent messages of the film.
The course plan
Every week you will see a different movie and, during the first part of the lesson, we will together discuss the film and the
historical and social period involved. I will provide you with useful information that will integrate your textbook. I expect a lot
of questions from you, since I think we have to build together our lesson. After the coffee-break, there will be an introduction to
the next movie and I will give you the reading key, in order to help your understanding of the director’s meaning.
On Tuesday night ( 9-11 pm) you’ll see the film. I suggest you to use this time also discussing together what you saw.
Attention: are not allowed more than one unexcused absence for all classes
Assignments, test,examinations:
1)Every week you will be asked to study the parts of your textbook that I will tell you.
When possible, I will provide you with some web downloaded articles about the movies and the directors.
2) There will be two written examinations (intermediate and final) basede on open-ended questions concerning the topics
treated in the lessons.
3) At the start of every lesson, 15 minutes will be used for a multiple choice quiz about the movie you saw the previous
Monday night.
The photographic project:
The aim of this course is also to learn how images can describe a culture. For this reason, during the semester, you’ll be invited
to produce a photographic essay around some topics related to the Italian culture.
Evaluations
Movie quiz
Photographic project
Midterm exam
Final exam
= 20%
= 20%
= 30%
= 30%
Grades : A+ (AWESOME) / A A- (100-90%) / B+ B B- (89-80 %) / C+ C C- (79-70 %) /
D + D D- (69 – 60 %) / F (59…….%)
Your professor:
I teached for many years Mass Communication and Visual Anthropology at Bologna University, and I usually give some
lectures for the courses of Sociology of Visual Communication. My academic training and my experience in producing some
visual essays allows me to combine the sociological with the technical and stylistic analysis of the films we will see during the
course. And more, I am Italian.
A web site dedicated to this course is available at this address:
http://www.sociologiaqualitativa.it/italy%20throug%20films/index%20italy%20trough%20film%20new%20version.html
In the web site you’ll find the material used during the lessons, the web articles regarding movies and directors, the
assignments, the plane of lessons, and everything you’ll need during the course.