Monash University Handbook

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

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement. + Additional requirements + This unit is taught intensively at Prato