This book consists of student-authored original research papers collectively examining the ways in which gender shaped, and was shaped by, the 2018 Year of the Woman elections.

The origin of this book is in conversations I had over the years with several colleagues in the field of Sinology (the study of history, literature and culture of traditional China). The course title did not only attract the attention of the students, but also of people who would like to teach this material, and asked me for the syllabus and even suggested I write a textbook. What meets the eye at first is a set of chapters written by the students who took the course in Spring 2019. The students are not experts at China, they do not know Chinese and thus had to rely on English-language materials available to them through our library and my personal collection. Many are at the start of their journey of learning to write for their college-level peers.

_Spunti: Italiano elementare 1_ is a unique program for Italian language learning, authored by the Italian faculty of Muhlenberg College (Pennsylvania, USA). Spunti 1 provides fully designed course materials for first-semester Italian that a college instructor can use and adapt, or students can use on their own. Spunti 1 consists of: 1) an online Pressbook with grammar explanations, cultural material, vocabulary, videos, and self-correcting interactive exercises; 2) printable packets of in-class activities; and 3) complete lesson plans for a 15-week semester. Users are free to use Spunti in whole or in part, and are free to adapt it to their needs. Spunti: Italiano elementare 2 is the companion text for second-semester Italian, and is still being elaborated.

Welcome to Spunti: italiano intermedio – a unique program, authored by the Italian faculty of Muhlenberg College, that takes the place of a traditional language textbook. Spunti is a fully designed course that a college instructor of Italian can use and adapt.