The course aims at:

1. critically examining philosophical and other theoretical queries concerning the nature of reality, human experience, knowledge, and cultural production in themselves but also within a larger network of interdisciplinary contexts;
   
2. developing students' research skills as well as their ability to express themselves orally in discussing Italian literature and cinematic works;
   
3. providing students with an overview of Boccaccio's contributions to the Italian literature;
   
4. developing analytic tools for examining a literary work and a movie; distinguishing among different poetic, prose, and cinematic works and discussing the implications of different literary genres and media.