FLIT 3054 – Italian Cinema

3 Semester Hours
Dr. Giovanna Summerfield
Professor
Auburn University

Prerequisites: Basic computer skills, such as word processing, along with basic experience using email and the internet is necessary.

Delivery Systems:

This course requires a computer with Internet access. You will need to be able to adjust settings, install software and plug-ins, and be able to create files on the computer you will be using. Please be advised that public\lab computers often prevent these types of activities. You should check to ensure that you have these capabilities before participating in this course.

The course will consist of a broad and varied sampling of important films from the time of the telefoni bianchi to the present. We will consider works that typify major directors and major trends. Attention will be also given to the intellectual, historical, cultural, and literary matrix of each film and to aesthetic appreciation of motion pictures. The approach to Italian cinema is nterdisciplinary and international in scope and concerned with understanding films in terms of style, technology, spectatorship, cultural history, and narrative. The course will be taught in English; the readings are in English; the films to screen are in Italian with English subtitles.

FLIT3054 is a 3-credit hour course composed of 15 sessions of instruction and one final examination. The students will learn about the socio-cultural and historical background of each film presented and the methods and tools to criticize films. Each student is required to complete a series of quizzes, 2 essays, a special project, and a final comprehensive examination.

The course will analyze the cultural and historical context, the director and his techniques, for each film from the 30s to our age. In class and at home, students are expected to complete the assigned readings and take careful notes of the lectures in order to be well prepared for class. The instructor will stimulate debate in class with questions and critical information. Class participation is of the utmost importance. Thus the objectives of the course are: to introduce students to Italian culture; to provide students with an overview of the Italian history and cinema of past and present times; to improve students’ reading and thinking skills, and students’ writing skills by requiring them to submit two essays in which they thoughtfully consider the films screened, the critical works read and the socio-historical circumstances of the time. Last but not least, students will be expected to express themselves freely but observing respect to others’ opinions and justifying their own comments.

The topics in this course will be the following:

Week 1 – Introduction to Italian Cinema (an overview)
Week 2 - I telefoni bianchi (Mario Camerini)
Week 3 – Neorealismo (Rossellini, Visconti)
Week 4 – Neorealismo (Visconti, De Sica)
Week 5 – Gli anni 50/60 (Fellini)
Week 6 – Gli anni 50/60 (Antonioni)
Week 7 – Il western (Sergio Leone)
Week 8 – La commedia all’italiana (Germi, Scola)
Week 9 – I registi dell’impegno (Bertolucci)
Week 10 – I registi dell’impegno (I fratelli Taviani)
Week 11 – Il cinema politico (E. Petri)
Week 12 – Gli anni 80 (Tornatore)
Week 13 – Gli anni 80/90 (Benigni, Moretti)
Week 14 – Le ultime leve (Muccino, Amelio, Giordana)/Conclusions

Bondanella, Peter. Italian Cinema from Neorealism to the Present (3rd edition). New York: Continuum, 2001.

Celli, Carlo and Marga Cottino- Jones. A New Guide to Italian Cinema. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

Bazin, André. What is Cinema? Vol 2. Trans. Hugh Gray. Berkeley: U of California P, 1971 (highly recommended)

To all students who are proficient in Italian, the site http://www.italica.rai.it/cinema/ is also highly recommended.

The on-campus course, FLIT3050, and its distance education counterpart, FLIT3054, are for the larger part identical in form, content, assignments, and materials. There will be a high level of interaction in this course. As the on-campus students will have real time interaction with peers and instructors, the distance learners will be able to contribute to discussions with peers and instructors, via the many types of communication tools offered by Blackboard/Wimba, i.e. discussion boards, online submissions of assignments, emails among class members and instructors, and chats. The on-campus and its distance education counterpart activities are selected and assessed in an identical way. Both sets of students will attend lectures, complete textbook assignments, submit online weekly quizzes, and participate to discussions on selected themes/films and to specific film screenings. There will be two essays (instructor will need to be consulted for the choice of topic for each of these assignments) – detailed guidelines will be posted on the Blackboard. There will also be a proctored final examination which will be comprehensive.

Course Requirements:

1. Reading Assignments:

(from the texts mentioned in the Required Material section), as assigned following the class schedule. These are essential for class discussions and essay completion.

2. Quizzes:

There will be a quiz each week, after each film screening. The quizzes will be available online following certain deadlines. Each quiz will be open for 30 hours; it will be timed and accessible only once

3. Essays:

There will be two four-page essays – following the class schedule, as announced in class. Students will have to support their thesis with footnoted references and a bibliography. All essays must be typed and double-spaced.
Recommendations:
• DO NOT GIVE PLOT SUMMARY
• DO NOT MAKE VAGUE GENERALIZATIONS. Show that you have viewed the film or read the text with careful attention and interest.
• GIVE CONCRETE EXAMPLES
• HAVE ONE LINE OF THOUGHT AND ORGANIZATION
• BE ORIGINAL
• REVISE YOUR ESSAY. Correct errors of spelling and grammar or punctuation.

4. Final Exam

There will be a proctored examination at the end of the course. The examination will test all that the students have learned from the beginning to the end of the course. Students will have 2.5 hours to complete the exam. There will be a combination of multiple choice and essay questions, together with a brief section on matching (directors, films, times, and “genres”).

The class will be fully web-based. Students should be disciplined and self-motivated since this course is semi-independent. Online students should be aware that the film screenings are to be done on their own, following the schedule. This means that they should check out the required DVDs from a local library or video store. The instructor will also provide an optional film per each director, in case the first choice is not available.

Final Examination Process:

You must select a proctor to supervise your examination. Distance Learning and Outreach Technology (DLOT) approved proctors are academic administrators in the student’s locale: school superintendent or principal, academic dean or department head at a college, another independent learning office test supervisor at a college, or an education officer at a military installation. All proposed proctors are verified for appropriateness by DLOT student service staff. Examinations are given under the same circumstances as they would be on campus, e.g. closed book, no notes, for 80 minutes. You are expected to get the Examination Proctor Information form properly filled in and signed by the proctor, just before sending it to the DLOT office. Then the DLOT office will verify the proctor and lets the student know about it. After the proctored exam is done, the proctor will sign a document and sends it to DLOT. The exam will be graded by the instructor. Copies of the completed grade report form are distributed to the instructor, the DLOT office, the registrar, and the student.

Evaluation:

Evaluation Procedures:

Weekly Quizzes: 25%
Essays (Mid and Final): 35%
Final Exam 25%
Discussions 15%

Mid-term and Final-examination Proctor Process:

Students must select a proctor to supervise their examinations. Arrangements to take the mid-term and final examination are made by contacting the Auburn University Distance Learning Office at (334)-844-3106, or via electronic mail at qualljo@auburn.edu. Students must obtain the consent of an approved proctor and have the proctor complete the Examination Proctor Form. The form must be signed by the proctor and returned to the Auburn University Distance Learning Office at least ten days prior to the examination date. Distance Learning Office Test (DLOT) approved proctors are academic administrators in the student’s locale. Examples are city and county school superintendents, college or university academic deans or department heads, principals of accredited senior high schools, an education officer at a military installation, or another independent learning office test supervisor at a college or university. Without exception, only persons in these positions are approved to supervise examinations. All proposed proctors are verified for appropriateness by DLOT student service staff. Examinations are administered under the same circumstances as they would be on campus, e.g., closed book, no notes, and completed within one hour, except in special cases where legitimate disabilities are present. Examinations are sent directly to the proctor only after the Distance Learning Office has received and approved the completed Examination Proctor Form. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the proctor and arrange to take the examination within the deadline time frame. Once the proctored examination is over, the proctor collects the examination, seals it in an envelope and immediately forwards the examination in the mail. When the examination is received by DLOT, it is handled in the same method as an assignment. An examination and course grade report is provided by the instructor.

The final course grade will be determined by the final class average using the scale below

90% or above A
80%-89% B
70%-79% C
60%-69% D
Less than 60% F

Late Submissions:

No late submissions and/or make-ups are allowed unless a serious situation arises and the student contacts the instructor as soon as possible for special consideration, with a due DOCUMENTED excuse (official, with signature and seal). It is the responsibility of the student to prepare for the course and to keep up with the material.

Auburn University is committed to providing accommodations and services to students with documented disabilities. Any learner with a qualified disability which requires accommodations should contact The Program for Students with Disabilities, 1244 Haley Center, Auburn University, AL 36849, 334-844-2096 PH, 334-844-2099 FAX. More information is available on their website at www.auburn.edu/disability. The office will fax or mail the required forms to learners to apply for services. Learners who have questions to participate in this course should contact the above office in advance to ensure proper accommodations. .  

Plagiarism is the act of presenting directly or indirectly someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarism is a major type of academic dishonesty and will not be tolerated. Similarly cheating on tests in any way, falsifying bibliographies, fraudulent quotes, and similar practices are intolerable forms of academic dishonesty. The University’s policy for academic misconduct in the Student Code of Conduct will be followed for this course (Tiger Club, pp. 83 and 92). If any questions regarding its contents, please contact the instructor.