Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne

Workshop title: SCREENING AMERICA: U.S. Culture and History through Film

This workshop aims at exposing students to various aspects of US history and culture through some of its most iconic films. We intend to delve into some specific elements of American culture by exploring, analyzing and problematizing the ways in which the US narrates itself through the big screen.

Topics covered include: The Cold War, immigration, racial segregation, the Vietnam War, and others.

Class meets on a weekly basis for 8 weeks, twice a week, for an introduction, film screening, a lecture and discussion. Lectures are delivered by instructors and guest speakers.

Evaluation is based on class attendance, active participation to the discussion and a final paper. Students are required to write THREE QUESTIONS before each discussion session and a final RESEARCH PAPER on ONE of the topics covered during the workshop.

Development of critical thinking and of skills for individual study and learning. Development of critical and analytical tools drawn from lectures and critical readings. Development of communication skills: students will improve their class interaction and academic writing skills.

Class meets on a weekly basis for 8 weeks, twice a week, for an introduction, film screening, a lecture and discussion. Lectures are delivered by instructors and guest speakers.

Evaluation is based on class attendance, participation to the discussion and a final paper. Students are required to write THREE QUESTIONS before each discussion session and a final RESEARCH PAPER on ONE of the topics covered during the workshop.

Attendance (minimum 70%), class participation, written questions and final research paper will ALL be required for course completion. Plagiarism and usage of chatbots will determine a non reversible FAIL grade.

Students write a final paper on ONE of the films studiedd in this workshop. Before writing the paper, students need to submit a 1-page proposal (150 words + bibliography) for approval by one of the instructors.
After receiving instructor's approval, in order to earn their 6 workshops credits, students must 
a. submit a paper that is 2000 words in length for BA level students and 3000 words in length for MA level students (word count DOES NOT include footnotes and bibliography)
b. submit a paper that is graded at least a "pass" (sufficiente) 
c. submit that paper at least 3 DAYS before the examination session you chooose to complete your course, and NO LATER THAN JANUARY 15th 2024. After that date, no credits will be earned for this workshop.
d. Students will also include, at the bottom of the paper, the 21 questions they write during the workshop, on a week by week basis.

Paper grades will be registered automatically to your carerr. You do not need to show up on the day of the oral exam.

Class meets twice a week for 8 weeks, on Thursday (5-8 pm, Palazzo Nuovo, room 34) and Friday (from 11am -2pm, Gorresio, room 9), beginning Feb. 3rd (see calendar below for details). Thursday sessions are devoted to film presentation and screening. Each Friday, a guest speaker talks about the week's film and its cultural significance. We end the class with a discussion. 
Recommended readings for each week can be downloaded here: https://bit.ly/Carosso_SAreader (requires unito login to google drive)

ATTENDANCE FOR THIS WORKSHOP IS MANDATORY. No exceptions.

Topics include: The Cold War, immigration, racial segregation, the Vietnam War, and others.

WORKSHOP CALENDAR:

• Feb. 2-3 - Selma (Ava Du Vernay, 2014, 128 min). Guest speaker: Sonia Di Loreto (Univ. Torino)
• Feb 9-10 - Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979, 150 min.). Speaker: Andrea Carosso.
• Feb 16-17 - The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946, 114 min.). Guest speaker Stefano Rosso (Univ. Bergamo)
• Feb 23-24 - Revolutionary Road (Sam Menders, 2008, 119 min.). Speaker: Cristina Di Maio.
• March 16-17 - The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975, 100 min.). Guest Speaker: Valentina Romanzi (Univ. Verona)
• March 30-31 - Candyman (Nia DaCosta, 2021, 91 min.). Guest speaker: Marco Petrelli (Univ. Pisa)
• April 13-14 - Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee 1989, 120 min)
  April 21st - wrap up: how to write a final paper. SCHEDULE CHANGE ONLY THIS WEEK: 8-11 am, Aldo Moro Informatica 2 AND 2-5 pm, Aldo Moro room s3. PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN PC for the afternoon session. - REFERENCE TEXT HERE.

Critical texts will be made available for each screening. See link at "Programma del corso"