Master’s degree in Humanities – Italian Language and Literature in Knowledge Society Curriculum (LM-14)

The Master’s degree in Humanities – ” Italian Language and Literature in the Knowledge Society ” curriculum is designed to provide future graduates with a preparation in the humanities that can be distinguished by a wealth of knowledge, methodological ability, and skills. These will be useful in the management and communication of knowledge in learning contexts and in general in the various work areas that have come to be created or changed in the knowledge society.

The course was structured to include an advanced level of courses in the more traditional areas of humanities (Italian language and literature, history and geography, general linguistics and of the Italian language), in the second language (English or Spanish), in the areas of teaching methodologies and in those useful for acquiring advanced level practical use of the main digital tools and applications. This with the awareness of the need to train a new generation of teachers.

Sharing the same characterizing activities and the possibility of customizing one’s course by opting among different disciplines in the same field, UniCusano has prepared for the Bachelor of Humanities, in continuity with the three-year L-10 program, two curricula named respectively “Italian Language and Literature in the Knowledge Society” and “Dissemination of Humanistic Knowledge in Multimedia Forms”

The two curricula require everyone to study the disciplines that characterize the class, but they have different obligations in terms of the number of credits and disciplines to choose from. Different weights and disciplines will be added to these, even when they cover the same field, related disciplines and “Other activities useful for the world of work.”

The curriculum “Italian Language and Literature in Knowledge Society” will focus:

• for the characterizing disciplines, on the study of knowledge in the areas of literary-historical, linguistic-glottodidactic (with more credits in language teaching), linguistics of Latin and a second language, history and psycho-pedagogy;
• for related disciplines, on the study of teaching methodologies and geography, including political geography, with the possibility of including examinations from the area of computer science or anthropology where desired.

Graduates of both curricula will accrue, whichever they choose, at the end of the two-year course, the possibility of access to the postgraduate route and subsequently to competitions for teaching classes in literary subjects and geography (still the most coveted outlet for those who undertake studies in the Humanities branch). At the same time, they will be able to use their qualifications in public and private institutions, associations including those in the third sector, cultural promotion and tourism institutions, traditional and web editorial offices, and any other employment sector in which graduates are required to possess general culture including linguistics, sectorial humanistic culture, transversal and digital skills.

Master’s Degree in Modern Humanities Online

The Master’s degree in Humanities – ” Italian Language and Literature in Knowledge Society ” curriculum program is the best solution for all students, making it possible for those who are unable to attend a traditional university because they are far from home or for professional reasons to obtain this university degree.

Through Unicusano’s e-learning platform, it will be possible to follow the lectures of the online Master’s degree in ” Italian Language and Literature in Knowledge Society ” curriculum, in telematic mode. It is possible to study on computer media from the comfort of home, in your own time, and then take the exams at the local exam centre. Thanks to the quality of its teachings and locations throughout Italy, Unicusano is today the best choice for those who wish to graduate with a Master of Humanities degree online.

Professional profile and expected occupational and professional opportunities for humanities graduates

Expert in Italian language and literature in the knowledge society

Function in a work context:

• Teacher of literary subjects in middle and high schools following the completion of a post-graduate course and a specific competition;
• officer in institutions working in publishing, cultural services, communication and libraries;
• researcher in the humanities.

Skills associated with the function:

High level of the critical and interpretive approach stimulated by the study of metacognitive knowledge; high oral and written mastery of different varieties of the Italian language and of a second language; ability to consciously use the main digital devices and applications. These are the elements that will enable Master of Arts graduates to put their knowledge and skills at the service of teaching and training even in contexts other than school (cf. corporate training). The high textual and hermeneutic skills constitute the stylistic feature of the profile and make the graduate also capable for research activity and any other type of function in which one deals with the analysis and representation of knowledge.

Employment outlets:

The skills acquired allow the Humanities graduate to carry out teaching activities in secondary schools of I and II degree following post-graduate course and specific competition, at national and international cultural institutions and organizations, at associations, including those of the Third Sector, and any other body involved in the teaching of Italian language and culture. It also allows placement, with functions of high responsibility, in the cultural industry, in public administration (where a degree in the class is provided), in the cultural services sectors, in traditional and web publishing, in public administration, at libraries. It also provides adequate preparation in view of participation in competitions for access to third-cycle education (Ph.D. and master’s degrees).

The Master of Humanities course prepares for the profession of (ISTAT codings):

1.            Specialists in public relations, image and related professions – (2.5.1.6.0)

2.            Linguists and philologists – (2.5.4.4.1)

3.            Proof-readers of texts – (2.5.4.4.2)

4.            Lecturers in professional training and continuing education – (2.6.5.3.1)

The following are to be considered fundamental and functional knowledge for attending the degree program:

• basic knowledge and skills related to the disciplinary reference knowledge of the master’s degree;
• mastery at a level of at least B2 of a language of the European Union;
• ability to independently use artificial digital devices and applications for participatory writing and the creation of texts and multimedia presentations.

Access to the master’s degree program in Humanities LM-14 may also include those who hold a bachelor’s degree in other classes, or another degree obtained abroad that is recognized as suitable or a degree related to the former four-year system, provided they meet the following curricular requirements, having accrued at least 84 credits among the disciplines:

12 total credits over the three-year period for the following subjects.
L-ANT/03 – Roman History

12 total credits in the three-year period for the following teachings.
M-STO/01
M-STO/02
M-STO/04

12 credits in the three-year period for the following teaching.
M-GGR/01

12 credits in the three-year period for the following teaching.
L-LIN/01

12 credits in the three-year period for each of the following teaching.
L-FIL-LET/10
L-FIL-LET/11

12 credits in the three-year period for the following teaching.
L-FIL-LET/04

Specific educational objectives of the Bachelor of Humanities – “Italian Language and Literature in Knowledge Society” curriculum and course description

The Master’s Degree in Modern Humanities is designed with the aim of training a figure in which high-level knowledge and skills (literary-historical, linguistic-glottodidactic and historical-geographical fields), manage to merge with the digital knowledge and skills necessary to meet the challenges posed by the contemporary knowledge society.

The goal of the degree course is to guide the graduate to deal with 1) methodologies of analysis capable of soliciting critical interpretation of the text and 2) analysis of bibliographic sources, which, at the end of the two-year course, the graduate, thanks to approach to teaching activities, will be able to practice independently.

The knowledge of the cognitive and socio-cultural mechanisms ate the base of linguistic-literary production, together with the knowledge and practice of English as a second language (which, at the end of the two-year course, will have to reach as a minimum objective level B2 and as a desirable level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)), will ensure that graduates in the Humanities obtain an interpretive perspective in the European context, capable of reinforcing in them a sense of belonging to the European community.

The curriculum called “Italian Language and Literature in the Knowledge Society” aims to train professional figures oriented primarily to the world of education and in particular to the teaching of literary subjects in secondary schools of I and II degrees, which they will be able to access following post-graduate course and special competition.

The course designed to achieve these objectives consists of 60 credits of compulsory characterizing activities (with options to choose between fields in the same areas or between disciplines in the same field) in the disciplines characterizing the degree class.

Expected Learning Outcomes

The expected learning outcomes mainly concern:

(1) expert competence in the different varieties of the Italian language and the main varieties of a second language;

(2) a highly experienced critical-philological approach combined with the ability to analyse text stimulated by the study of metalinguistic knowledge;

(3) the expert competence in the work of writing texts in Italian and foreign languages;

(4) the expert competence in combining disciplinary knowledge and the ability to apply learned methodologies with the knowledge and skills required by the contemporary knowledge society;

(5) an informed use of digital tools, combined with recognition of the cultural and/or cognitive processes that originated or stimulate them.

The methodological rigor and the broad (in a diatopic sense, including intercultural, and diachronic) and solid training, gained through attendance of the different types of teaching activities offered and individual study, conducted critically and with increasing autonomy during the two-year course, will subsequently allow graduates of the Bachelor of Humanities to place themselves in positions of responsibility at editorial offices and communication agencies, at educational institutions other than schools, communication offices of entities of various legal natures, cultural centres, foundations and in the field of cultural services and quality tourism.

The presence, in the course program, of scientific-disciplinary areas related to communication, communication dissemination and new technologies will also provide employment opportunities at entities operating in the field of the web and information technologies for communication (ITC), imposed as a result of the revolution that is running through and redefining the knowledge society.

Knowledge, skills and competencies will be acquired through the support provided by:

• attendance of lectures, seminars, exercises and e-activities, activities carried out, all, through the virtual classroom
• individual study, on books, essays, articles from scientific and popular science journals, multimedia materials, in Italian or English
• the autonomous assimilation and identification of primary and secondary bibliography for the various areas included in the course of study.

Verification of results will take place through:

the exercises and problem solving activities proposed in the course of the lectures; – the intermediate tests of the individual teachings; – the work carried out with the teaching tutor; – the final tests of the individual teachings (examinations); – the thesis, crowning the entire course, in which the candidate must show the degree of autonomy and judgment achieved

Knowledge and comprehension skills in summary

Area of training in the characterizing linguistic-literary, historical-philosophical, philological-methodological disciplines

The course of study in the Humanities is set up enabling the student to have expert knowledge of the methodological-operational aspects of the linguistic-literary disciplines and other basic sciences, and to be able to use this knowledge to interpret and describe problems typical of the humanities. Master of Humanities graduates will refine their acquired knowledge and skills, further enhancing their understanding of Italian humanistic culture of the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary ages, primarily linguistic-historical-literary.

They will also perfect expert competence in selecting, among the different ones available, the most useful tools of analysis and innovative methodologies for the interpretation and dissemination of knowledge of cultural phenomena, knowing how to motivate their choices.

Area of training in area teachings related to Related or supplementary educational activities.

The course of study of study in the Humanities is set up allowing the student to acquire mature and in-depth knowledge and comprehension skills in the linguistic-philological, historical-artistic-literary disciplines. The consolidation of knowledge at the basis of argumentation will be stimulated continuously and progressively by the study of texts (compulsory and recommended), also including the consultation of multimedia materials.

The goal is to enable the graduate to acquire and refine expert skills in interpreting, analysing and solving problems typical of the humanities, particularly through direct examination of outcome products of different textual types – verbal and/or nonverbal, as in the case of visual, musical, performance art works -, and the adoption of a contrastive methodology in the frontal lectures, which will take place in the virtual classroom, as well as training in critical reading of scientific texts, will enable the extension and deepening of students’ abilities to understand texts, to place them in their cultural context and to examine them, strengthened also by the knowledge of what has been produced about them by critics. The transposition of such knowledge is entrusted mainly to the teachings belonging to the areas of: Modern Literature; Philology, Linguistics and Literature; and History, Archaeology and Art History.

The skills above mentioned will be further extended through seminar experiences, elaboration of the dissertation, and refinement of personal skills through disciplines of choice, which will enhance the development of skills of understanding, comparison, and autonomous reworking; the master’s degree student will also have acquired the ability to collect and interpret data so as to be able to formulate autonomous expert-level evaluations.

The aforementioned knowledge and understanding skills are achieved by the student through participation in lectures, seminar exercises and individual study, as provided by the activated educational activities.

Verification of the achievement of learning outcomes is mainly through examination tests (spoken and/or written examinations) and/or self-formative tests (tests, questionnaires, production of e-activities).

Area of training in the characterizing linguistic-literary, historical-philosophical, philological-methodological disciplines

• In the development of the training process, the student will acquire the skills to:
• Master in-depth knowledge and comprehension skills in the linguistic-philological, historical-artistic-literary disciplines.
• Expertly apply the methodological-operational tools of the linguistic-literary disciplines and other basic sciences.
• Use such knowledge to solidly interpret and describe problems typical of the humanities.
• Mature critical and autonomous judgment about a text.
• Apply in an expert form knowledge and comprehension skills directly related to Italian linguistic and literary culture of the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary ages.
• Frame and place, in its completeness and by scans, significant themes and authors, the history of Italian literature and deal with the same also in an interdisciplinary key.
• Master structures and functions of languages in general and of Italian (and its varieties) more specifically and be able to understand the main changes that have determined them.
• Recognize and discern the most significant stages in the linguistic history of Italian and their outcome on contemporary Italian.
• Make use of analytical tools and methodologies that enable humanistic studies to be firmly rooted in modernity and critically interpret cultural phenomena.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

Linguistic and textual area of the first and second language

Knowledge and understanding

At the end of the master’s degree program, graduates will have achieved a high level of knowledge, critical interpretation skills and production of texts relevant to the communicative process, in the first and second language.

They should also have developed a consistent methodology for analysing and interpreting texts and the various processes underlying them.

Achievement of the objective will be facilitated through the many different activities delivered in the virtual classroom and verified through oral and/or written examinations and in midterm tests.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

At the end of the master’s degree program, graduates should be able to apply linguistic, metalinguistic, textual and metatextual knowledge in both production and comprehension of texts of high difficulty; they should also be comfortable with the problem solving posed by texts and be able to identify strategies for effectively communicating their analysis, regardless of the medium used.

Achievement of the objective will be verified through the critical analysis and active production of original texts of a heterogeneous nature in terms of type, period, geographical, cultural, social context and medium of dissemination, which will take place during e-activities and as part of the midterm and final examinations.

Historical-Literary Area

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of the course, master’s degree graduates will have attained a high level of knowledge and ability to understand and critically analyse literary texts of various periods, forms and content. They should also have perfected the methodology of historical-literary and critical text analysis.

Achievement of the objective will be facilitated through the various activities delivered in the virtual classroom and verified through work with the tutor, in itinere and final oral and/or written tests.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, master’s graduates should be able to recognize and frame independently any literary text produced in the Italian language, recognizing the traits of continuity and innovation with respect to the reference tradition. They will also have improved their level of competence in the translation and analysis of Latin texts.

Achievement of the objective will be verified through the reading, critical analysis, and translation (including between language varieties) of synchronic and diachronic literary texts, offered continuously during lectures and exercises in the virtual classroom and as part of midterm and final examinations.

Historical-geographical area

Knowledge and understanding

By the end of the course, master’s degree graduates will have achieved significant knowledge and skills of orientation in time and space, including social and intercultural, and will be able to comment critically on a substantial number of significant phenomena from all periods and areas.

They should also have gained fluency in reading and understanding historical and geographical texts, including physical, political and historical maps, including digital maps.

The achievement of this objective will be verified in itinere, in the course of the lectures carried out in the virtual classroom, in the intermediate tests, where provided, and through the final exam.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, master’s graduates will need to be able to place a significant number of facts that characterize a geographical and social space in synchrony and diachrony. They will also have to be able to produce texts and maps from solicitations received and place relevant elements in them.

Achievement of this objective will be verified by continuously subjecting the student to reading and interpreting authentic materials and urging them to design and produce materials, such as historical and geographical maps, including digital ones.

This will be done in the exercises that will supplement the lectures in the virtual classroom, in the midterm tests, where scheduled, and in the final exam.

Socio-psycho-pedagogical area

Knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, master’s graduates will be able to describe and argue in sufficient detail connections between the texts analysed and the cognitive processes that originated them, together with the learning and cultural contexts in which they were produced.

They should also have acquired a consolidated knowledge and application of methodologies for research in pedagogy, anthropology and sociology of cultural processes.

The achievement of this objective will be verified through midterm tests, where provided, and at the final written and/or oral examination.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding

At the end of the course, graduates will be able to identify and describe the main connections between a text other than those analysed and the cognitive and/or cultural processes that originated it. They will also be able to make assessments of the learning and/or sociocultural contexts of production.

Achievement of this objective will be verified through practical and/or written and/or oral tests administered in the course of the lectures, carried out in the virtual classroom, in the midterm tests, where scheduled, and at the final written and/or oral and/or practical examination.

Autonomy of judgment

Master’s degree graduates in Modern Humanities should be able to mature critical and autonomous thinking with reference to the different knowledge objects of their study. Moving from the treatment of authors, epochs, themes, and problems, they will also have to be able to set inter- and transdisciplinary paths, supported by the analytical approach best suited to the case study and by the matured aptitude to make use of the general bibliography of scope and specialist, including the most recent and not only in Italian.

The pursuit of this goal will be made possible through the work conducted primarily within the characterizing disciplines, in which systematic work will be done on the comparison of different theoretical perspectives and methodologies of analysis and discussion of paradigmatic case studies and possible lines of research arising from their treatment.

Autonomy will also be enriched by the work conducted within the related disciplines, in which one will focus on the relevance of problems from a psycho-pedagogical and socio-cultural perspective, conduct further work on methodologies of analysis, and practice, with increasing degrees of skill, digital tools and applications.

Thanks to the contribution of the Other activities, the graduate will also be enriched by a sense of responsibility, especially as a result of conducting a professional internship, in the course of which he or she will have the opportunity to deal with authentic materials and problems.

The verification of the achievement of this competence will be continuous and will take place during the lectures, in the course of which the student will be continuously placed before texts to be contextualized, interpreted and motivated by referring to theoretical frameworks and related case studies; in itinere, during the intermediate assessment tests, where foreseen, and during the examinations, which may be written and/or oral and/or practical. At the conclusion of the course, the overall degree of autonomy achieved will be measured at the time of the writing and discussion of the thesis.

Communication skills

Master of Modern Humanities graduates will have to perfect their communicative effectiveness in both oral and written, traditional and digital production. Thanks to the transversal skills acquired through attendance in disciplinary, methodological and Other activities courses, they will also be able to identify the most suitable strategies for the creation and dissemination, including online, of communication products on given topics.

Learning skills

Master’s graduates in Humanities will arrive at a high level of competence in the disciplinary and methodological areas related to the cultural fields characterizing the course.

They will also mature their level of transversal skills and the ability to consciously use digital tools and techniques of effective communication.

Through the plurality of approaches and continuous hermeneutic training they will improve their understanding of the complexity of contemporary knowledge society and its explanation.

Final Examination

The final examination consists of the presentation and discussion of an original project to be carried out under the guidance of a lecturer-reporter, within the disciplines forming part of the Master of Modern Humanities.

This test aims to confirm the acquired competencies and communicative-expository skills, autonomy of judgment, ability to generalize learning, etc., as a function of the profession.

The purpose of the final exam, therefore, is to verify, in the form of a written report, the critical acquisition of the main disciplinary content addressed, to bring out the ability of the master’s degree student to make a synthesis of the qualifying constructs of the course of study. This ability aims to confirm with a conclusive and personal work the communicative-expository skills, the autonomy of judgment, the ability to generalize learning, and the ability to design, plan and evaluate in the field of both teaching and the communication profession.