Italian Studies Minor

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Program Director: Daniel Leisawitz, Assistant Professor of Italian
Professors: Cartelli, Cragin, Gambino, Roussel, Sifford, Tighe
Lecturer: Viale

Italian Studies is an interdisciplinary minor in a wide-ranging field with deep connections to ancient and modern Italy, as well as to our own society and ways of understanding and experiencing the world. Students acquire a solid knowledge of the Italian language and delve deep into the study of Italian culture and history, exploring the literary, cinematic, artistic, theatrical, religious, political, and culinary traditions of Italy. A minor in Italian Studies can help prepare students for graduate work and for careers in art, banking, business, diplomacy, music, theatre, and many other fields.

Program Requirements

The minor in Italian Studies consists of six courses. ITL 203 Intermediate Italian I and ITL 204 Intermediate Italian II (or the equivalent taken at another institution, upon approval) are required for the minor. Students with prior knowledge of Italian can place out of Italian Intermediate I and/or II, in which case they would be exempted from taking them. Students placing out of Italian Intermediate I would take Intermediate II and then complete the minor with four electives. Students placing out of Italian Intermediate II would be exempted from both Intermediate courses, and would complete the minor with five elective courses.

In addition to Intermediate Italian I and II, four culture courses are required to complete the minor. These courses include any 300- or 400-level course with the Italian Studies prefix (ITL); up to one course on the list of pre-approved courses offered outside the Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department (see below); courses approved by the program director on an ad hoc basis. If offered, students must participate in the “Italian section” of an ITL course for the course to count toward the minor.

The following is a list of the non-ITL courses which have been pre-approved to count toward the Italian Studies minor. This list is not exhaustive; it is growing year by year and does not include recent Special Topic courses, which are not listed in the catalog. Some of the courses listed below have prerequisites, so students should read the individual course descriptions carefully.

Pre-approved Non-ITL Courses

ARH 207, 208 - Baroque Art 1 course unit
ARH 301 - Italian Renaissance Art 1 course unit
ENG 313, 314 - Medieval Literature 1 course unit
HST 247 - Civil War, Holocaust, Crisis: Europe 1900-1945 1 course unit
HST 315, 316 - Renaissance 1 course unit
THR 351 - Commedia dell’Arte 1 course unit

Italian Studies Abroad

Opportunities to explore Italian Studies, in addition to many other areas of study, are available through various programs in Italy, including (but not limited to) the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Siena Italian Studies, Ferrara Liberal Arts, John Cabot University in Rome, and Florence University of the Arts. Though strongly encouraged, study abroad is not a requirement for the Italian Studies minor. If a student chooses to study abroad, up to two courses taken in Italy can be counted toward the minor (including one through the medium of English). Students minoring in Italian who study abroad must take at least one ITL course after their return to Muhlenberg.