Understanding Italy Today through Manzoni and Tamaro

Course Description

This course is designed for teachers who wish to better understand a segment of Italy’s past and its present through selected literary works of Alessandro Manzoni and Susanna Tamaro. Participants will improve their language skills in Italian and be able to develop practical lesson plans for the classroom using Manzoni’s I Promessi Sposi and Tamaro’s Va Dove Ti Porta il Cuore. This course is designed around these two literary works: the story, the setting, the characters, numerous themes, the historical context and its influence in forming today’s Italy. Emphasis will be on comprehension, vocabulary building, improving listening and writing skills, in addition to literature analysis and discussion of the differences between I Promessi Sposi and Va Dove Ti Porta il Cuore including the themes that come up in each novel. Group work will be in the form of discussion boards and lesson plan development. Conducted in Italian by Monica Canetta.

Course Delivery 

Online weekly learning modules, collaborative discussion boards and instructor feedback.  This course is not self-paced. 

Students who matriculate into an Instructor-Facilitated course should adhere to the dates listed on the website. Final coursework should be submitted within one week after the course end date. Course extensions beyond one week are subject to a $50 fee.

Required Textbook

There is no required textbook for this course. All materials are digital and will be provided in the online course.

About the Instructor

Monica Canetta, Instructor. Read more about Monica here.

Click here to request a syllabus.