Year 1 Modules
Most of our students are beginners, but we also provide for the growing numbers of non-beginners taking Italian. In the award-winning Year 1 culture module, the focus is on modern Italian culture and society, providing you with a survey of Italy since unification in 1860, through the analysis of texts which include passages from literary works, films and documentaries, examples of art and architecture, music and historical documents.
You will be guided in your reading through specially written introductions, notes, and glossaries, and through the close readings led by lecturers in class. UCC Italian students have an excellent record in the NUI’s Scholarship for the best performance in first-year Italian, winning the award on at least eight out of 14 occasions since 1999.
Beginner Level
- IT1101 Introduction to Written and Spoken Italian (10 credits)
- IT1201 Post-Unification Italian Culture and Society
Non-Beginner Level
- IT1102 Non-Beginners' Written and Spoken Italian (10 credits)
- IT1201 Post-Unification Italian Culture and Society
Year 2
Students continue their intensive study of the Italian language, in preparation for Year 3, which may be spent abroad, or final year. Modules on Italian literature, cinema and the media (continuing to focus on the modern period) give you an understanding of the country’s culture and society. At the same time, the modules provide you with an intellectual challenge, helping you develop important critical and analytical skills sought after by employers.
Final Year
Students in the final year take an advanced language course and may continue to specialise in modern Italian culture, as well as developing independent thinking through the study of Dante’s Divine Comedy and other landmarks of world literature.
Course Practicalities
Expected lecture hours
In each year of the course, students have four hours of contact per week with language tutors, and receive feedback on the exercises done outside class. In Year 1 students have a further one-hour lecture on Italian culture, supplemented by independent study of up to three hours per week. In years 2 and 3, joint honours students in Italian have four hours of lectures/seminars on culture and society, as well as required reading.
Access is also provided to an online language course, reinforcing classwork and taken whenever and wherever you have internet access, or in the language laboratories.
Assessment
Written exams will take place before Christmas and in May. Not all modules will have formal examinations. Many modules use other types of assessment.
Language skills are assessed by assignments and/or written and listening tests, which provide students with regular feedback on their progress. At the end of the semester, you take written and oral examinations.
Modules on Italian culture are assessed by a combination of in-class tests, written assignments and end-of-semester examinations. The Department of Italian places great emphasis on guiding students in the development of writing skills, and you are encouraged to engage in dialogue with lecturers during the drafting of essays and projects.
