Italian Major
Program Requirements
- Total units required: 27 (24 for second majors); of these units, 3 may be taken outside of Italian (L36) with the approval of the major advisor.
For more information about the program and language study in general, Washington University Arts & Sciences has produced a video called "Falling in Love With Another Language and Culture."
Required Courses
- Students may count one of the following:*
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Ital 247 | First-Year Seminar: Italy's Invention of the Modern Museum | 3 |
| Ital 248 | First-Year Seminar: Italian Literary Culture: Identity, Subjectivity, Audience | 3 |
| Ital 249 | Refracted Light: How Others View Italy | 3 |
| Ital 280 | Sex in Italian Culture and Media | 3 |
| Ital 290 | The Culture of Food in Italy (The Culture of Food in Italy) | 3 |
- *
Students may count Ital 201D Intermediate Italian in the Everyday World, Level III toward the major as an elective as well.
- Students are required to complete one of the following courses (3 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Ital 307D | Advanced Italian in the Everyday World | 3 |
| Ital 309 | Transmedia Italian Culture: Stories, Interpretation, Performance | 3 |
- Students are required to complete one of the following courses (3 units):*
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Ital 323C | Italian Literature 1: Genre and Gender in Italy, 1200-1600 | 3 |
| Ital 324C | Italian Literature II: The Making of Modern Italy, Texts and Contexts | 3 |
| Ital 327 | History of the Italian Language | 3 |
- *
Students may count Ital 201D Intermediate Italian in the Everyday World, Level III, which is a prerequisite for Ital 323C and Ital 324C, toward the major as an elective as well.
- Students must complete two of the following 400-level seminars (6 units):
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Ital 408 | Disease, Madness, and Death Italian Style | 3 |
| Ital 428 | The New Sicilian School | 3 |
| Ital 432 | Divergent Voices: Italian Women Writers | 3 |
| Ital 437 | Caffe, Cadavers, Comedy, and Castrati: Italy in the Age of the Grand Tour | 3 |
| Ital 442 | Literature and Fascism | 3 |
| Ital 456 | Romance Philosophy | 3 |
| Ital 462 | Prose Writers of the Sixteenth Century | 3 |
| Ital 473 | Machiavelli and Guicciardini | 3 |
| Ital 481 | Dante | 3 |
| Ital 483 | Boccaccio: Decameron | 3 |
| Ital 485 | Ariosto: Orlando Furioso | 3 |
| Ital 491 | Postmodernism | 3 |
| Ital 492 | The Italian Detective Novel | 3 |
Additional Information
Students must maintain an average of a B- or better, and they must maintain a B or better in Italian. Courses taken credit/no credit do not count toward the Italian major.
Study Abroad
Students are strongly encouraged to participate in a study abroad program. We offer a semester abroad program at our affiliate program with Boston University's Centro in Padua. This program is considered in residence.
Senior Honors
Students are encouraged to work toward Latin honors (cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude). To qualify for Latin honors in the major by thesis, a student must complete special literary research and prepare and orally defend an honors thesis, which is judged by an honors faculty committee. To qualify for Latin honors by course work, a student must enroll in Ital 4951 (Honors, fall of the senior year) and Ital 495 (Senior Honors, spring of the senior year). Recommendations for honors are based on performance and the quality of the thesis in addition to the student's cumulative grade point average. (Please refer to the departmental guidelines for more information about Latin honors.)
Transfer Credits
A minimum of 18 of the 27 units required for the major must be taken in residence. Courses not taken at Washington University may count toward the major only with departmental permission.
Contact Info
| Phone: | 314-935-5175 |
| Email: | rll@wustl.edu |
| Website: | http://rll.wustl.edu |