Spring 2027

In Translation: Special Topics in Italian Literature

Special topics in Italian literature focusing on a specific period, genre, theme, or movement. Students analyze texts and recognize cultural and philosophical influences.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Stefania Buccini4.0/5Ernesto Livorni3.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Ernesto Livorni

Students read approximately five to eight books and wrote a 10-12 page final research paper, with one student noting the grade was based on a midterm, final, and two major papers.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Analyze and interpret literary texts of different genres by diverse authors.

  • Recognize how cultural shifts and philosophical trends inform literary texts.

  • Articulate understanding of cultural differences across time and geographical spaces.

  • Exercise expository writing skills.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
LITTRANS 410

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.88/5 from 8 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2009: 3.80 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=22 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.77 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.69 GPA, 79.2% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.88/5 from 26 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.1/5 difficulty · 7 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Ernesto Livorni

Ernesto Livorni taught an Italian translated literature course featuring five to eight books and literature analysis papers. Students found his passionate, funny lectures interesting, with one noting they were not too difficult. The workload included a 10-12 page final paper, and the less structured format allowed for deep exploration of interests.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.86 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.73 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Grazia Menechella

Past students described historical instructor Grazia Menechella as dedicated but prone to long, unstructured lectures that sometimes focused on personal anecdotes. The course required heavy reading, with students noting dry material and specific, difficult exam questions. While some found the workload manageable, others felt the tests were too detailed and disconnected from class discussions.

ERNESTO LIVORNI is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2012, Fall 2014, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GRAZIA MENECHELLA is recorded teaching in Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STEFANIA BUCCINI is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Spring 2017, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 390
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 200

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Ernesto Livorni

Ernesto Livorni’s course was described as engaging and supportive, with a passionate approach to literature that helped students adjust to college life and explore their interests.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.73 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.77 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=24 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.70 GPA, 82.3% A/AB (n=62 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Ernesto Livorni

Students read approximately five to eight books and wrote a 10-12 page final research paper, with one student noting the grade was based on a midterm, final, and two major papers.

Past student reviews · Ernesto Livorni

Students found Ernesto friendly and funny, though one noted lectures could be boring, while another felt the lack of structure allowed for deep exploration of topics.

Topics

  • Specific periods, genres, themes, or movements in Italian literature
  • Cultural shifts and philosophical trends informing literary texts

Skills

  • Analyzing and interpreting literary texts
  • Recognizing cultural and philosophical influences on literature
  • Articulating understanding of cultural differences
  • Expository writing

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
LITTRANS 410 · Spring 2027

In Translation: Special Topics in Italian Literature

Recorded 2026-10-14
LITTRANS 410 · Spring 2027

Secrets & Legends of Florence

Recorded 2026-10-14
LITTRANS 410 · Spring 2027

Grand Tour, Romantic Myth IT

Recorded 2026-10-14
LITTRANS 410 · Spring 2027

Italian Mafias: Lit/Film/Hist

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
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  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
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  "output_id": "b85cb04739609f74bc9e5b77a77eae8fb5a3737c0835c3dfd142fbdd31a0956b",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
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