Transnational Italian Studies at Bryn Mawr College

Why Pursue Transnational Italian Studies at Bryn Mawr College?

The Transnational Italian Studies program at Bryn Mawr takes a holistic approach to the study of Italian culture. We welcome your interest in Italian culture as we explore different points of view.

We explore all the communities that have identified themselves as Italian throughout history. This includes looking at issues of gender and sexuality, language and class, race and ethnicity in the Italian world. We also study the works of well-known Italian authors and traditionally marginalized voices.

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Courses of Study

The Transnational Italian Studies program offers several programs of study with different focuses.

Major in Letters in Italian

Major in Intercultural Italian Studies

Minor in Transnational Italian Studies

Bryn Mawr College Transnational Italian Studies Students attend a cultural event in italy

Related Majors and Minors

Image of a Roman fountain for Italian Major

Lillian Belzer '25

"I am forever grateful to my professors for preparing me to contribute meaningfully to Italy and to the global scientific community."

Course Highlights

ITAL B201 Problematiche di oggi: conversare insieme/Italy Today
Do patriarchal societies still exist today? Who are the neo-fascists? What does it mean to be a woman, an immigrant, or a queer person in the land of ultra-traditionalism, of the Pope, and the Camorra? Which Italian are we speaking in Italy? This course will explore these questions through a variety of materials in Italian: stories, TV shows, poems, newspaper articles, public art, essays, videos, and songs. We will deal with issues of identity, gender violence, historical memory, politics, and patriarchy. We will immerse ourselves in the culture of patriarchal contemporary Italy through key-themes: conversando insieme.

ITAL B207 From Hell to Heaven: Dante's Divine Comedy
This course offers the opportunity to read in its entirety Dante's Divine Comedy, one of the greatest masterpieces of world literatures, as well as some other Dantean works like La Vita Nuova and Il Convivio. We will follow Dante on his journey through the three realms of his vision of the afterlife: the descent into Hell, the climb up the mountain of Purgatory, and the final ascent to Paradise. Dante's masterpiece lends itself to study from various perspectives: literary, allegorical, cultural, historical, political, philosophical, and theological.

ITAL B209 Love, Magic, and Women Warriors: Renaissance Italian Epic
This course offers an overview of one of the great literary traditions of Renaissance Italy: that of chivalric poems narrating tales of war, love, and magic. Thematically, the course will focus on questions of diversity in political and religious ideologies, differing treatments of love and conceptions of the heroic, and the representation of sexuality and gender, which is exceptionally fluid and interesting in these works. The course is taught in English and is accessible also to students without a background in Renaissance literature and with no knowledge of Italian.

Check Out the Course Catalog for More Classes in Transnational Italian Studies

Faculty Spotlight

Luca Zipoli

Assistant Professor of Transnational Italian Studies

A native of Rome, Luca Zipoli was trained at the distinguished Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, where he attended both the undergraduate and the graduate program. Before joining Bryn Mawr, he researched and taught at Princeton and New York University. He was appointed as Fellow of the Italian Academy at Columbia University for the Spring of 2025.

His specialization is the literary culture of late medieval and early modern Italy. His work relates to history and visual arts, comparative literature and trans-medial studies, book history, and gender studies.

Meet the Other Transnational Italian Studies Faculty

A Bright Future

How Transnational Italian Studies grads are lighting their paths

Lillian Belzer '25: Fulbright Scholar in Siena, Italy

Jessi Harvey '09: Composer and Music Teacher

Learn More About Alumnae/i Outcomes

Lillian and friend standing in an Italian plaza

Opportunities for Transnational Italian Studies Students

Professor and Students of Italian at a restaurant

Translation and Writing

Students in the Transnational Italian Studies department have collaborated with faculty on several writing and translation projects, including the creation of an Open Educational Resource textbook for beginning Italian language students.

Teaching Assistant Positions

TAs help with lower-level Italian language classes, including drilling students on recently studied material and supervising learning activities.

A Bryn Mawr student studying abroad in Italy poses in front of the Colosseum

Study Abroad

We encourage all students of Transnational Italian Studies to study abroad for at least one semester. Immersion in a foreign culture improves language learning outcomes and gives you a sense of global community.

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Do I need to take a placement test?

You are required to take a language placement test only if you come to Bryn Mawr with prior knowledge of Italian, so that you can be placed in the upper-level courses appropriate to your language proficiency skills. All the information is available at this link.

We know that arriving at college can be scary. Even so, we encourage you to trust the faculty’s judgement when enrolling in courses. Please don't choose a level based solely on where you feel comfortable.

Can I start an Italian major from scratch?

Yes, a beginner in Italian has the same chance of majoring in Italian with honors (3.7 GPA) as a non-beginner. In our average enrollments two-thirds of our majors will start with the course "Beginning Italian I" and only one third of these will have previous knowledge of the language.

Am I required to take Italian language courses if I'm pursuing a Transnational Italian Studies degree?

Yes, all Transnational Italian Studies majors and minors must take ITAL B101/ITAL B102, as well as at least one 300 level course taught in Italian. For more details on major and minor requirements, see the course catalogue.

Are Italian majors required to study abroad?

Study abroad is not required to be an Italian major, but we do encourage it.

Mafia and Organized Crimes Class

Professor Roberta Ricci leads her advanced level class in a study of the real life crime syndicates of Italy, and the repercussions of organized crime.

Learn More About This Course

Professor of Transnational Italian Studies Roberta Ricci teaches a class

"I appreciate that Professor Ricci has highlighted the roles women play as heads of organized crime families, exercising near-absolute control over illegal activities like gambling, extortion, and racketeering." — Sabina Farney '28

The Italian Legacy in Global Philadelphia

Professor Luca Zipoli and his Tri-Co Philly students in ITAL B240 Philadelphia the Global City: The Italian Legacy across Time spent a full semester investigating and documenting the history of Italian culture in Philadelphia. They presented their work in a symposium in December 2025.