Italian 101: Enjoying “la dolce vita” through the Challenges of Present Time (IT 101)

A thorough grounding in the four language skills: reading, understanding, writing, and speaking, as well as an understanding of lifestyle and culture of contemporary Italy. Culture of major and minor proportions is essential in being able to speak a language and to appreciate the country of its origin. (What will you talk about with Italians in Italy?). Dialogues and skits will be performed in groups. They will give you a chance to revisit the cultural themes we studied, and to express your creativity. At the end of this course, you will have elementary survival skills in Italian. For students with no previous knowledge of the language.

Faculty biography

Professor Giuliana Risso Robberto was born in Asti, Italy, a beautiful medieval city among the hill of Monferrato in Piedmont. She attended the University of Torino where she received a Master in Education. After 15 years of teaching in her city, she moved to Heidelberg, Germany and though Italian at the local Volksschule. In 1999 with her husband Massimo she moved to Baltimore, and in 2000 started teaching Italian at Loyola. They have a daughter, her name is Gloria. She is 20. Giuliana’s passions are her family, her students, singing with the Peabody Community Chorus, swimming, walking, and taking care of her orchids.

Encountering the Past (HS 100)

This course sets out to introduce students to some of the methods used by historians, while bearing in mind that historical knowledge is provisional and complex. Along the way, students will develop the skills necessary for understanding and producing histories, which include the critical evaluation of sources and the ability to write cogently and persuasively about events in the past. Finally, this course also asks students to think about why the study of history is important to our lives today. Indeed, our introduction to the discipline of history takes aim at answering a deceptively simple question: why does history matter? For many in the modern world, mention of the Middle Ages conjures up images of backwards ignorance and the savage persecution of any who dared deviate from all-powerful kings and popes. This is a depiction that historians have continued to debate. Some scholars have represented medieval Europe as a "persecuting society," while others have stressed that toleration was much more the rule rather than the exception. In this course, we'll examine the ways in which historians have tried to tell the stories of various groups and identities that faced persecution or marginalization in medieval Europe, such as women, Jewish communities, non-conformist Christians, queer individuals, and the disabled. We'll explore the mechanisms of marginalization and persecution as well as the ways in which these identities survived or found acceptance in a sometimes hostile society.

Faculty biography

Dr. Brandon Parlopiano grew up in a small town outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. from the University of Scranton, and then traveled down to Washington, D.C. to receive a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from the Catholic University of America. He currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland and has been teaching at Loyola since 2013. His main scholarly interests include disability, marginality, and medieval law. His free-time is spent bowling, building Lego sets, and playing various Super Mario games with his six-year-old.

Mentor biography

Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Brooke Herold received her B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Goucher College in Towson and is currently working on an M.A. in Education in the Curriculum & Instruction for Social Justice program here at Loyola. In addition to her Messina Mentor status, Brooke is the Program Assistant to the Office of Student Life. Prior to coming to Loyola, Brooke is an alum from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), where found her passion for working in higher education. At Loyola, Brooke is safe zone certified, a member of the green bandana brigade, Student Life's representative for Late Night Programming, and a graduate student representative on the Committee for Institutional Effectiveness.

 

Virtual Advisor

Students will receive elective credit for IT 101. IT 101 is intended for students with no previous knowledge of Italian and will help students progress towards the successful completion of IT 104 - Loyola's core requirement for Foreign Language. HS 100 satisfies the History core requirement for all students.