Good all-round language skills in English

The ability to think critically, analyse texts, evaluate arguments, and challenge assumptions; the ability to communicate ideas and arguments effectively, in class
discussion and in written form; the ability to work effectively with others in groups and to learn collaboratively through discussion and interaction; the ability to locate relevant bibliographical resources and to use them; the ability to use a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval and assignment presentation.

Anticipatory Thinking: Androids, Robots and Clones in Twenty-first-Century Fiction

Literature and popular culture have long been speculating about the possible futures that technological innovations and Artificial Intelligence (AI) could usher in. The popularity of the TV series Black Mirror (2011-2013) testifies to a widespread interest in the kind of anticipatory thinking that the arts and culture stimulate. This module will focus on literary fiction by well-established authors whose novels engage with fascinating as well as troubling issues - from human cloning to transhumanism - exploring shifting conceptions of what it means to be 'human'.

Our starting point will be Mary Shelley's masterpiece, Frankenstein (1818), for the myth Shelley created and the questions she raised at the beginning of the first Industrial Revolution are still pertinent today, in the midst of the fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by the accelerated pace of development of new technologies (fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds), and characterised by the increasingly powerful presence, in our everyday lives, of AI, robots and what Shoshanna Zuboff terms 'surveillance capitalism'.

The module will explore questions related to the shifting boundaries between human bodies and machines, the ethics of robotics, utopian and dystopian futures, the personhood of androids, the relationship between human and non-human or quasi-human entities, the predicaments of clones, and other riveting questions that contemporary novelists address in their fiction in many interesting ways, soliciting us, the readers, to reflect on our post-human condition.

Primary Sources

1. Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, 1818
2. Kazuro Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go, 2005
3. Eva Hoffmann, The Secret, 2002.
4. Ian McEwan, Machines like me (and people like us), 2019
5. Jeanette Winterson, Frankissstein, A Love Story, 2019.

A list of secondary sources -- comprising essays, reviews and book chapters to help students gain a deeper understanding of the problems addressed in the novels - will be provided at the start of the semester. All texts will be made available in PDF format.

• 1.  (A) Mary Shelley Frankenstein Qualsiasi, UK, 1818
• 2.  (A) Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go Qualsiasi, UK, 2005
• 3.  (A) Eva Hoffman The Secret Qualsiasi, UK, 2002
• 4.  (A) Ian McEwan Machines like Me Qualsiasi, UK, 2019
• 5.  (A) Jeanette Winterson Frankissstein Qualsiasi, UK, 2019

I romanzi saranno tutti analizzati e spiegati in classe. Lo studente dovrà scegliere TRE romanzi da portare all'esame. La bibliografia critica e teorica verrò messa a disposizione degli studenti all'inizio del corso.

• Lezioni frontali dialogate, come previsto dalla normativa italiana. Per stimolare la discussione e la partecipazione, agli studenti verrà chiesto di preparare una presentazione orale (10-15 min.) su uno o due dei testi in programma, individualmente o in piccoli gruppi (max 3 persone). Il topic specifico è a scelta degli studenti, ma viene concordato con la docente preventivamente.
  
  This is a lecture-based module, in accordance with the standard Italian framework for academic teaching which demands this format. However, to stimulate participation in class discussion, students will be asked to prepare an oral presentation (10 to 15 mins), individually or in a small group (max 3 people) about texts included in the syllabus. They are free to chose the specific topic of their presentation.

• Saggio critico in inglese (circa 2.500 parole) con la bibliografia delle fonti citate, da consegnar e via email 10 gg prima dell'appello orale. Si deve saper argomentare in modo appropriato, analizzare criticamente i testi proposti e avere una buona capacità espositiva in inglese. Criteri voto: capacità di esprimersi in modo corretto in inglese (50%); di costruire l'argomentazione e di entrare in dialogo con le fonti critiche (25%); analisi critica individuale (25%)
  Prova orale: presentazione in classe di circa 15 min. in inglese. Si deve dimostrare di
  saper comunicare oralmente, con buona pronuncia, i risultati delle proprie analisi; di saper organizzare e presentare le informazioni in forma sintetica; di aver letto la
  bibliografia e di aver meditato criticamente sulle principali tematiche proposte.
  
  Criteri voto: proprietà di linguaggio (30%); pronuncia inglese (20%); analisi critica
  (25%); comprensione di testi e bibliografia critica (25%).
  
  
  

Inglese

Inglese