The course Italian Workshop Laboratorio Italiano is designed to provide you with cultural, methodological, and linguistic competencies to enhance your intellectual and academic life in Italy and at the University of Bologna. Through this course, you will explore topics spanning various disciplinary fields (literature, art, cinema, history, science) that can enrich your understanding of Italian culture and society over time.
During the first part of the semester, the Laboratorio Italiano lessons introduce you to themes related to the history of the city of Bologna. Our course of study begins with medieval society, progresses through Renaissance and Baroque art, and culminates in the ideology of the anti-fascist Resistance in Bologna. The course guides you in experimenting with different learning methodologies typical of the Italian university system and in developing linguistic skills in comprehension, oral communication, and writing, using a pragmatic, context-based approach (grammar in context) tailored to academic needs. Through the course’s educational visits, you will discover the most significant historical and artistic landmarks in Bologna, while practical activity sessions will help you navigate everyday university student life in Italy.
In the second part of the semester, the Laboratorio Italiano lessons delve into critical aspects of Italian culture, such as anti-fascism, the patriarchal society, new media, and opera. Each week, you will engage in classroom discussions of texts from various genres (literary stories, essays, films, artworks, and audiovisual materials), which will serve as a foundation for oral exercises conducted in pairs or groups. Special emphasis will be placed on learning strategies for mastering key forms of academic writing: essays, open-ended responses, definitions, narratives, outlines, and structured presentations. A pivotal element of this second part of the course is the individual meetings with the instructor, held weekly, which will enable you to practice your oral linguistic skills and support your preparation for exams in other E.C.Co. and Unibo courses.
