ITL 315 - Eatalians: An Exploration of Italian Culinary Culture

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement HU and is a linked (IL) course.
Food is an intrinsic element in the shaping of cultural identities—both individual and communal—as it is interwoven throughout all aspects of culture. This course delves into the history of Italian food and the representations of food in Italian cultural production from the Middle Ages to the present, examining its historical, social, economic, political, artistic, and symbolic values. Among other things, we will read texts by authors such as Dante, Boccaccio, Goldoni, Manzoni, Verga, Fenoglio and Levi; explore the diet of famous Italians such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Casanova; examine the presence of food in important paintings from the Renaissance and Mannerist periods; analyze the role of food in films and advertisements, and read news pertaining to our topics. Throughout, the course highlights the diverse roles and functions of food (or lack thereof), and examines the perceptions and realities of Italian food as conceived by foreigners as well as Italians. We will, in particular, consider staples of the Italian and Mediterranean diet—such as bread, pasta, pizza, wine, extra-virgin olive oil, and cheese—as lenses through which to learn about the people who consume them, and as sources of sustenance, pleasure, and troubles.