Seeing Differently: Transcultural Approaches to Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies

Catalog description

Studying Francophone, Italian, and Germanic cultures is an exercise in seeing differently. It means stepping outside the norms and preconceived notions of our own culture and approaching the unfamiliar on its own terms. It means learning how the Francophone, Italian, and Germanic linguistic and cultural spheres each have their own histories marked by unique forms of cultural production such as literature, artworks, and films that shape how their speakers perceive and talk about everyday life. It means understanding why French advertising slogans often have 8 or 12 syllables, why Italians might say that something mediocre is "senza infamia e senza lode," and why German satirical cartoons might depict lying politicians as Baron Munchausen hurtling through outer space atop a cannonball. At the same time, these three spheres are continually shaped by exchange and by shared literary, philosophical, and theoretical traditions. To understand Francophone, Italian, and Germanic cultures, we need to understand how all three cultural-linguistic spheres influence each other, borrow from each other, and define themselves in relation to each other, how they see and are seen by each other. We also need to understand these linguistic spheres and their cultures as products of global exchange from the Middle Ages to the colonial and postcolonial eras. By fostering this understanding of foreign language learning as a transcultural enterprise, the FIGS Core Seminar trains students to see differently. Although it is open to all Penn undergraduate students, it is primarily intended to prepare FIGS majors for coursework at the advanced level and independent research. The seminar centers on the study of literary works, films, fine art, and places marked by transcultural exchange between the Francophone, Italian, and Germanic spheres while training students to develop key competencies for…