Undergraduate - UnitATS2898 - The Italian city: Historical and literary perspectives

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Italian Studies
Monash Passport category	International Short Field Experience (Explore Program)
Offered	Prato Term 1 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Patrizia Sambuco

Notes

This is an international study program that requires an application to be enrolled - see the Arts Prato page for further information http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/prato/

Synopsis

The Italian city, a microcosm of Italian society, reveals the rich layers of Italian culture and history. This unit explores Italian cityscapes through their monuments and art works and their representation in literature and film. It offers a journey through the social spaces of the modern city to the virtual zones of the postmodern city. By visiting the city through literature and film students will be exposed to a diversity of texts, written and visual, that grapple with the complexity of urban spaces and with challenges posed to Italian cities by increased migration. In addition to considering textual representations of urban spaces, a particular focus of the unit will be the urban biography of Prato, from the Middle Ages to the present day. This will include examining how Prato's remarkable economic history has contributed to its distinctive civic identity, and how the culture of the city is reflected in contemporary writings.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should:

Have a greater understanding of Italy, the Italian city (Prato) and Italian culture;
Have consolidated both oral and written language through linguistic and cultural immersion;
Have gained knowledge of the city's long history and its contemporary cultural and urban landscape;
Have acquired an understanding of how Italian Archives work and be able to further develop research skills;
Have acquired an understanding theoretical issues surrounding the conception of city.

Assessment

Written assignment: 50%
Project presentation: 25%
Class test: 25%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Patrizia Sambuco

Workload requirements

The unit will be taught in intensive mode at Prato, Italy.

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

History
Italian studies
Literary studies

Prerequisites

Two gateway units in Italian studies or equivalent knowledge of the language