Modern humanities

MAURO CAMIZ

A) Knowledge and understanding
- Students will be required to demonstrate basic knowledge and understanding of the topics covered during the course and presented in the reference bibliography; they will be able to prove to possess abilities of analysis, reflection and comparison concerning the main areas of Germanic Philology.
B) Applying knowledge and understanding
- Students will be able to demonstrate the full understanding of the syllabus of the course; they will be expected to apply the knowledge acquired to relevant issues in a thoughtful and critical way; they will be able to demonstrate they possess the appropriate skills to build and support arguments related to the topics covered by the course, and to apply the suitable techniques and methods to the field.
C) Making judgements
- Students will be able to express judgments in an autonomous form, on the basis of examples provided in the lectures and/or in the bibliographic resources provided, and prove to be able to find and interpret data in order to formulate answers to general – both concrete and abstract – problems.
D) Communication skills
- Students will be able to communicate information, ideas, problems and related solutions; to demonstrate adequate capacity of synthesis and expressive ability in the light of the specific terminology.
E) Learning skills
- Students will develop the skills necessary to undertake further studies with a certain degree of autonomy.

It is expected that attending the course and engaging in individual study will provide the fundamental elements and vocabulary of the discipline, which are necessary both to pass the final exam and to develop the ability to think critically and independently about the topics covered, as well as to possibly pursue further in-depth studies.

No specific prerequisites are needed. While not mandatory, a basic knowledge of Linguistics and/or of any modern Germanic language may be of some help in understanding some topics.

This introductory class aims at providing students with a basic knowledge of the subject, mainly focussing on linguistic and philological aspects of the Germanic languages from their origins to the Middle Ages, as well as on elements of their literature history. Subsequently, a grammatical deepening will allow the participants to read, analyse, and translate one or more short texts from the Old English tradition.

1. S. LEONARDI, E. MORLICCHIO, La filologia germanica e le lingue moderne, 2009

2a. F. MOSSÉ, Manuel de l'Anglais du Moyen Age, 1945: Partie I, Grammaire (provided as PDF file)
or as an alternative:
2b. R. QUIRK, C. L. WRENN, An Old English Grammar, 1957 (provided as PDF file).

Further bibliographical information and materials will be indicated and/or provided during the course.

Frontal lessons (1st semester) with presentation and discussion of topics also with slideshows or other (multi-medial or traditional) tools (made available for individual study). Students intervention and questions are strongly encouraged and may stimulate further discussions.At times, participants may be required to actively participate in the lessons.

Classes take place usually in-person. Occasionally on-line lessons could be required due to unforeseeable reasons (eg. public transportation strikes or the like). Attendance is not mandatory but it is extremely encouraged.

Individual oral exam (min. 15/20 minutes) with questions on any parts in the program. Besides knowledge of the topics, also communicative skills, usage of the subject erminology and the ability to elaborate on the topics of the course are evaluated. Quick exercises may be also proposed, to assess the ability of the examinee to apply theoretical principles on a specific case.

Not necessary

• The first block of lessons (approximately 50% of the course) provides the historical and linguistic foundations of the discipline: elements of diachronic and synchronic linguistics - development of the accentual system - developments in the vowel and consonant systems.
  • Books: Textbook listed in the bibliography and materials provided by the lecturer (slides, etc.)


• A second block of lessons (approximately 25%) introduces the topic of runes and epigraphic writing: runic alphabets and their characteristics - cultural aspects related to runic writing - analysis and commentary on short runic inscriptions.
  • Books: Materials provided by the lecturer (slides, texts, etc.)


• A third block of lessons (approximately 25%) introduces the topics of literary writing and linguistic investigation: historical-cultural development - textual typology and linguistic-stylistic characteristics - text analysis: elements of historical morphology and grammar, syntactic observations, lexical study.
  • Books: Grammar listed in the bibliography and materials provided by the lecturer (slides, texts, etc.)