Current Graduate Courses

2025-26 Course Offerings

ITA1000H (Fall/Winter biweekly) - Methodologies for the Teaching and Study of Italian / L. Somigli

Students are introduced to basic reference materials necessary for research and will familiarize themselves with the Reference, Periodical Rooms, and the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. They will also study philological, computer-assisted and critical methods for the study of Italian literature and linguistics.

ITA 1029H (Fall) - History of Italian Religious Language / F. Pierno

This seminar will consist in a historical overview of Italian Religious Language, from the first Medieval documents to the recent Bible translations and other Ecclesiastical documents. The aims of the course are the following : A) identifying the principal features and the most important genres of the Italian Religious Language; B) analyzing the relation between History of Italian Language and Religion; C) understanding the ideological and religious situations which provoked changes and evolutions in Italian Language. For a better comprehension of theoretical methodologies (point A), the students engage an individual research project focusing on a particular Italian religious text.

ITA1030H (Fall) - Italian Lexicography: History and Methodologies / F. Pierno

This seminar will consist in a historical overview of Italian lexicography, from Medieval glossaries to online or cd-rom dictionaries. The aims of the course are the following: A) identifying the principal research instruments, and their appropriate use; B) analyzing the methodological issues in Italian Lexicography, also in comparison with other lexicographical traditions; C) understanding the ideological situations which provoked changes and evolutions in Italian Lexicography. In order to study in depth the principal research instruments (point A), the students will work under the guide of the teacher in the library and in the computer laboratory. For a better comprehension of theoretical and historical methodologies (point B), the students engage in an individual research project focusing on a particular lexicographical question.

ITA1200H (Winter) Dante / E. Brilli

An examination of Dante’s works and criticism on them.

ITA1540H/425H1S (Winter) Renaissance Italian Theatre / L. Ingallinella

This course explores drama and performance culture in Renaissance Italy (1350-1650). Students explore a variety of dramaturgical genres (e.g., comedy, tragedy, pastoral drama, and commedia dell’arte) to answer this question: How did Renaissance Italians represent, question, and subvert issues related to identity and difference on stage? Assigned readings feature works by Niccolò Machiavelli, Isabella Andreini, and Pietro Aretino, and class discussion will focus on topics such as the history of gender and sexuality, social class, ethnicity and race, disability, and aging.

ITA1560: Fakes, Forgeries, Authenticity, and the Making of Modernity / L. Ingallinella

This course explores the pivotal role that forgeries and notions of authenticity and deception played in the shaping of medieval and early modern European culture, with a focus on Renaissance Italy. By examining forged documents, counterfeit artifacts, and spurious texts, students will gain skills to identify and contextualize forgeries, especially in relation to forgers’ anxieties related to politics, gender, religion, and race.

ITA1737H/ITA426H1F (Fall) Reading Black Italy: Decolonizing the Canon / A. Pesarini

This course will explore texts of different genres produced by Italian authors of African descent including novels, essays, poetry, slam poetry, short stories, autobiographical writing. Topics will include issues of race, gender, identity, racism and anti-racism, colonialism, coming to age experiences, agency, and resistance. This course will follow the principles of a reading group in which students will have the opportunity to take part in collective readings, using the Italian original texts or the English translation, with further socio-cultural context provided in class. Students will be asked to lead class conversations, presentations and text analysis. On occasion, some of the authors will join the class and engage in Q&A and conversations. During the course, students will also be invited to explore forms of autobiographical/creative/fiction writing as forms of assignment.

ITA1728H/426H1F (Fall) New Trends in the Italian Novel from 1957 to the Present / E.Morra

This course explores new trends in Italian fiction, such as neoavanguardia, revivals of the family saga, and postmodernism. Through the lens of authors like Ferrante, de Céspedes, Volponi, Calvino, Eco students will engage with a rich tapestry of literary experimentation. The course periodically shifts focus to offer a monographic study of key authors—such as Morante and Calvino, or Calvino and Eco.

ITA1735HF (Fall) Topics in Italian Studies Professor John Foot, Goggio Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Bristol. 

Course description to follow.

ITA1820H/425H1F (Fall) The Mediterranean Noir: A Transnational Approach / A. Zambenedetti

Through the exploration of a variety of literary and cinematic works this course will grapple with questions arising from the repositioning of film noir in a transnational and global context. We will study films from Mediterranean cinemas (primarily Italian, French, and Spanish) understanding the permeability of noir to ideas and styles from many cultures. Ultimately, this course traces an alternative history of noir, one that engages with dark shadows and rainy North American cityscapes as well as with the sunny landscapes and blue hues of the Mediterranean basin.

ITA 1830H/426H1S (Winter) Editing 900: Leonardo Sciascia, his World, his Archive / E. Morra

This course aims to explore the work of Leonardo Sciascia (1921-1989), among the most notable authors of 20th-century Italian literature, by intertwining literary studies and digital humanities. The theoretical component of the course will place Sciascia's oeuvre into its cultural context (from the crisis of the Christian Democracy to the Moro case, the Years of Lead and Sicilian Mafia), exploring the genesis of his books and Sciascia’s experiments with different literary genres. Moreover, it will include hands-on modules (including some online lectures by guest experts) on digital archives and scholarly editing, enabling students to experience the physical archive and learn the methods of "authorial philology”, i.e. scholarly editing of twentieth century authors. By exploring the unique resources offered by the Sciascia Archive Project, an archive preserved in the Department of Italian Studies, students will reflect on Sciascia’s reception in the Italian and North-American context.

MST 5003H (Fall) Topics in Medieval Languages and Literatures / E. Brilli

Course description to be announced. 

2025-2026 Timetable

Fall Term (September 2025 - December 2025)

~ All times stated in Eastern Time. ~

Winter Term (January 2026 - April 2026)

~ All times stated in Eastern Time. ~

* in collaboration with the Centre for Medieval Studies (https://www.medieval.utoronto.ca)

** in collaboration with the Cinema Studies Institute (www.cinema.utoronto.ca)