The courses for the semester in Italy are designed to meet requirements in Meredith's general education curriculum.  There will be three required courses that all students will take.  In addition there will be a selection of electives from which students will choose to complete their schedule for the semester.

Meredith College reserves the right to make changes to the academic program as necessary.

Courses Offered Every Semester

The following are offered every semester and are required of all students.

Italian Language (7 hours)

One of the hallmarks of the program will be intensive study of Italian language, allowing students to fulfill Meredith’s foreign language requirement in one-semester.  Students will take six credits of beginning Italian as well as a one-credit intermediate conversation course which will be taught in the latter half of the semester.  Courses will utilize the same texts as are used on the Meredith campus so that students will be able to continue their language studies when they return to campus.  Language study at the intermediate level is possible by special arrangement, and likely at an additional cost.

Italy Today (3 hours)

This course will provide an in-depth survey of contemporary issues in Italy.  Students will examine how social, political, and economic factors have contributed to the development of the current socio-cultural context.  Through incorporation of a service-learning component, students will have the opportunity to gain hands on experience with Italian culture.  (Fulfills the Cultural Perspectives or Social and Behavioral Science requirement)

Learn to Travel/Travel to Learn (1 hour)

Among the many skills students should gain while abroad is how to become an educated traveller.  This course will seek to teach students not only the basic skills needed to become a smart traveller, but also help them learn to become aware of their surroundings.  In doing so they will develop an understanding of how their experiences contribute to their development as global citizens.

 

Fall 2013 Elective Courses

Elective Courses:   The list of elective courses will change from semester to semester.  Students will choose 2 options from the courses listed below.

Art 280: Art History – Topics in Art and Architecture (3 hours)

From art created in Italy by Italian artists, to great works commissioned and purchased from artists outside Italy that have been added to famous Italian collections, and from ancient days to contemporary times, there is no shortage of art in Italy! This course will take full advantage of the abundance of art available for students to experience in context. Local experts, familiar with both the art and culture of Italy, will share their knowledge and insights with our students as they guide them to exciting discoveries. Students will acquire skill in visual analysis which utilizes appropriate vocabulary as they engage in verbal and written art critiques. Students will examine important concepts and ideas that shaped both the times in which the work was created and the form of the work itself. (Fulfills the Aesthetics and the Arts requirement.)

Art 101: Drawing (3 hours)

This course is designed to give students an overview of the history and basics of drawing, to present a functional vocabulary, and to stimulate creative application of these concepts in a variety of media. 

Eng 200:  Texts & Contexts (3 hours)

An intertextual course offering continued instruction and practice in reading, writing, and research skills.  Further emphasis on information literacy through required library modules.  Students explore a variety of texts and learn to put them in their literary, social, historical, and cultural contexts.

English/History 940:  Justice & Liberty:  World War II in Italy (3 hours)

This course will ask students to read closely some of the works of Primo Levi, along with those of other Turinese Jews, namely Carlo Levi and Natalia Ginzburg, whose lives and writings were shaped, if not to say determined, by the rise of fascism.  Students will examine autobiographies, biographies, historic accounts, poetry, fiction, and film as they begin to form a picture of Italy during WWII.  Reports on other writers who treat this period of Italian history will give students an opportunity for independent research.  In addition, students will learn firsthand about a  local public history project designed to record the stories of Italians living in Tuscany and Umbria who remember the war.  And if we are lucky, we will take a field trip to see some of the places that feature in this literature.

(Fulfills the Literature Elective or Cultural Perspectives requirement.  Students can elect to take this as either an English course or as a History course)

EDU 234:  Teaching and Learning (3 hours)

Psychological principles that serve as the basis of effective educational practices are examined.  Topics related to human development, individual differences, motivation, and learning theory are researched and applied to elementary, middle, and secondary classroom settings.  Weekly observations in local public schools are required outside of regularly scheduled class time.  Prerequisite:  Sophomore Standing

Global Perspectives

Students will fulfill the CORE 200 or Global Perspectives requirement upon successful completion of the program.