There is a new course being offered at Brooklyn College starting Fall 2011, the title of which is Contemporary Italy — Italian 3515 Net1. The course will be fully online. This course would be particularly suited for students who need or want to take an extra course but can’t because of a conflict or time constraints, or need another course for their major or to graduate. The course is given in English and is open to everyone. Italian majors who want to count it toward their major will be required to do the work in Italian Registration information for visiting students from other CUNY and non-CUNY campuses can be found at http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/pub/visiting.htm

Course Description: A survey of thought, art, literature, politics, and the social and economic milieu of contemporary Italy. Emphasis will be placed on the historical and cultural forces that have transformed Italy from an agricultural country into one of the world’s major economic powers. This course will introduce students to Italy’s social and political institutions, artistic and literary movements, intellectual trends, the economic system, the family, the role of the Catholic Church, the environment, the “Southern Question,” traditional political parties and recent transformations, language and dialects, feminism, education, “Tangentopoli,” current trends. The material for the course will be supplemented by films and documentaries about contemporary Italy.

Required text: Mario Mignone, Italy Today: Facing the Challenges of the New Millennium, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2008 (Paperback)