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2025-2026 / LROM0160-3

Research seminar in Italian language and literature II

Duration

30h SEM, 15h Th

Number of credits

 Master in French and Romance languages and literatures : general, research focus10 crédits 
 Master in modern languages and literatures : general, reasearch focus10 crédits 

Lecturer

Hélène Miesse, Thea Rimini, Guido Scaravilli

Language(s) of instruction

Italian language

Organisation and examination

All year long

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The seminar is organized into a thematic section composed of three parts and a general research training (see below).

The themes addressed this year are as follows:

- The Italian Casanova (H. Miesse)

- The first books of Antonio Tabucchi (T. Rimini)

-  Narratology, stylistics and social classes in 19th-century italian narrative (G. Scaravilli)

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this seminar, the student will be able to:

  • know and use the bibliographic tools necessary for research in Italian literature;
  • account for the specificities of the authors, texts, and movements studied, moving beyond simplifications and demonstrating nuance;
  • situate the texts/authors/movements studied within their cultural, spatial, and temporal context;
  • identify and comment on the distinctive aspects of Antonio Tabucchi's poetics;
  • be familiar with the main challenges of editing 18th and 20th-century texts;
  • understand the issues involved in analyzing editions of 18th and 20th-century texts;
  • carry out research in order to fully understand an unpublished text: context of production, chronology, lexicon, and cited names;
  • transcribe an Italian text in accordance with previously established standards;
  • analyze representative texts of 19th-century Italian literature;
  • compare texts;
  • apply the concepts studied (e.g., narratology) to text analysis;
  • write an abstract;
  • prepare a visual aid to accompany an oral presentation;
  • present orally, in Italian, the results of the research carried out.


 

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

B2 level in the Italian language (e.g., upon completion of Italian I and II courses).

In-depth knowledge of the history of Italian literature.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Disciplinary Component

  • Readings and discussions based on these readings. Students are expected to read and prepare in advance the material that will be covered in the courses.
  • Practical activities: transcription, editing, encoding, indexing, analysis, critical review.
  • Participation in cultural events related to the various aspects of the seminar (visits, film screenings, theatrical performances).

Cross-disciplinary Program

In addition to the activities mentioned above, students will participate in two types of learning activities:

[1] Cross-disciplinary sessions held in French with students enrolled in an advanced seminar, covering research topics across all languages.

(a) Themes of the general sessions:

- Open science
- Research integrity
- The different phases of scientific publication (article submission, peer review, revision)
- Disciplinary knowledge in literature: literary studies in the digital age
- Disciplinary knowledge in linguistics: introduction to qualitative and quantitative research
- The dissemination of science to the general public


Students must participate in three out of these six sessions.

(b) Practical workshops aimed at preparing students for the student symposium (see [2]):

- Writing an abstract
- Designing a visual aid (PowerPoint) for a presentation
- Oral presentation: how to manage your voice


Students must attend the three practical workshops in their first year (M1) and the first two in their second year (M2). In M1, they attend without prior preparation and familiarize themselves with the practices taught. In M2, they must come prepared (with an abstract and a PowerPoint presentation, see below), which will form the basis of the discussion. Students (M1 and M2) will evaluate whether the preparations meet the expected standards.

[2] Mandatory participation in a student symposium, where students enrolled in the advanced seminar, across all languages and disciplines, will present one of their research projects. Faculty members of the department and undergraduate students (BAC3 in LLM) will be invited to attend this mini-conference.

Students will write an abstract in French and in a foreign language, which will be distributed to the symposium audience, and they will present their research projects in 10 minutes, supported by a visual aid. They can choose to present in French or a foreign language. If they present in a foreign language, the visual aid must be in French to facilitate audience understanding and discussion. Indeed, after each presentation, there will be 5 minutes for comments and audience questions.

This mini-conference will take place before the start of the first session.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

The thematic parts of the seminar are held in person and in Italian. They require student engagement and a certain amount of independent work (particularly readings).

The cross-disciplinary sessions in the first semester (Q1) may be organized in a hybrid format to allow Erasmus students to participate remotely.

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

H. Miesse: readings indicated in class and materials gradually uploaded on eCampus.

T. Rimini: readings indicated in class and materials gradually uploaded on eCampus.

G. Scaravilli: readings indicated in class and materials gradually uploaded on eCampus, in addition to the following required reading:
  - Dorrit Cohn, La transparence intérieure : modes de représentation de la vie psychique dans le roman, Paris, Seuil, 1981 (The pages to study will be indicated during the class)
  - Harald Weinrich, Le temps: le récit et le commentaire, Paris, Seuil, 1973 (The pages to study will be indicated during the class)
  - Gérard Genette, Discours du récit, Paris, Seuil, 2007 (The pages to study will be indicated during the class)

 

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Written work / report


Further information:

Disciplinary Component

With the aid of visual support, the student will present the results of their various research projects (3 × 10 minutes) before the three seminar instructors on a date chosen in consultation, prior to the symposium (see below). They will also answer the instructors' questions regarding their research. One of the three presentations (of the student's choice) will serve as the basis for the presentation at the symposium. The instructors will assess the content of the presentation and the relevance of the results presented, the quality of expression and of the visual support, as well as the precision in responding to questions.

Written assignments, of a formative nature and intended to prepare the oral presentations, may be required from the students.

The use of artificial intelligence is prohibited, except as a linguistic assistant, comparable to existing spelling and grammar checkers.



Cross-disciplinary Program

The cross-disciplinary program is worth 2 credits, or 20% of the overall grade.

Both components of the seminar will be evaluated by the instructors of the disciplinary component.


 

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

The seminar is organized throughout the year, with the first component in the first semester and the other two components in the second semester.



Part 1 (Ms Miesse) - from 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays: 21/10, 18/11, 25/11, 2/12, 9/12, 16/12.

Part 2 (Ms Rimini) - from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesdays: 4/02, 11/02, 25/02, 4/03, 11/03, and 25/03.

Part 3 (Mr Scaravilli) - from 9 to 11 a.m. on Fridays: 13/03, 20/03, 27/03, 3/04, 10/04, and 17/04.

Contacts

Hélène MIESSE
tél. 04 366 54 24
E-mail helene.miesse@uliege.be

Thea RIMINI
Bureau A2 6/18
Courriel: thea.rimini@uliege.be

Guido SCARAVILLI
E-mail : guido.scaravilli@uliege.be 



 

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