Department of Italian and Italian Studies

Interdisciplinary Courses
The Italian Studies program at Bryn Mawr emphasizes a holistic approach to the study of Italian culture.
View our course offerings
Map of Italy in the Mediterranean: the proximity to Africa
The Beauty of the Island of Lampedusa
Taormina
«Europe starts in Lampedusa.» The inhabitants of Lampedusa draw the attention of the European Union
Fire At Sea. Winner of the “Golden Bear 2016” at the Berlin Film Festival
Italy and the Mediterranean. Words, Sounds and Images of the Post-Cold Era. By Norma Bouchard and Valerio Ferme
The Apulian Diversity: Alberobello
The proximity of Italy and the Balkans
«La nave dolce» a film by Daniele Vicari
Milan today
The new modern architecture of Milan
Milan «Expo 2016»
The Contemporary City in Italian Literature and Cinema: Calvino’s "Invisible Cities"
Fellini’s Rome: La Dolce Vita
Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg: A scene from La dolce vita in the Trevi Fountain
Vatican City
Trinità dei Monti
The Roman historical center
Rome’s “sweet life”
"Criminal Novel", a film by Michele Placido set in Rome
"Gomorrah", the TV series based on the novel by Roberto Saviano
The Ultimate Foodie Map: Road Trip Across Italy
Masterpieces of Italian and World Literature: Dante’s "Divine Comedy"
Petrarc’s "Canzoniere"
Boccaccio’s "Decameron"
Italian political philosophy: Macciavelli’s "The Prince"
Memories of Auschwitz: Primo Levi’s "If This Is a Man"
Italian political philosophy: Agamben’s "Remnants of Auschwitz"
Giorgio Agamben's "Homo Sacer"
Madonna and Child by Fra Filippo Lippi.

The Italian Studies program at Bryn Mawr emphasizes a holistic approach to the study of Italian culture. From language and literature to history and culture, we offer an interdisciplinary course of study that brings together interests in the works of the great Italian authors and more popular genres of literature as well as politics, gender and sexuality, philosophy, history, film, and the visual arts.

Several of our students opt for a double major by combining Italian with work in other fields such as music, International Studies, Comparative Literature, History of Art, Cities, Classics, Anthropology, and Film Studies. After fulfilling basic units of language instruction, students choose from a variety of interesting courses (offered in English and Italian) on the literature, art, culture, history, and cinema of Italy.

Why Study Italian at BMC?

The Department of Italian welcomes all students from the Tri-Co system interested in Italian culture as viewed from a variety of critical perspectives and cross-cultural reflections, including but not limited to cultural studies, women’s studies and feminist criticism, post-colonial theory, and film theory. The sound reputation of Italian that our department enjoys may be measured by the fact that all the students who have majored in Italian and have gone on to do graduate work in Italian have been accepted by the schools of their choice including Harvard, Berkeley, Rutgers, Johns Hopkins—often with financial assistance.

Trico students may choose to study Italian as:

a major in Italian Language/Literature (ILL)
a major in Italian Cultural Studies (ICS)
a minor in Italian Studies
a romance languages major combining Italian with French and/or Spanish
a major in Comparative Literature with Italian as the primary or secondary language
as a double major
as a major or minor in International Studies
as part of the Medieval Studies program

What to do with a major in Italian Studies?

Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to see what our alumnae have done over the years –

Internships in Milano (SITE Program, one or two years).
Graduate School (History, Literature, Linguistics, Romance Languages, Education, Public Health, Library and Information, Social Work, International Education), Law School, Medical School, Veterinary School.
Alumnae who decided not to continue with graduate school, have found employment as – Mortgage Brokers, Sales Associates, Business Managers, Project Managers, Special Youth Managers, Publishing/Translating, Acting, Realtors, Research Assistants, Business Analysts, Service Associates, Researchers, Advertising.

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 first-year class enrollments of 35-40 students and of 7-10 majors in Italian, one third of these will have previous knowledge of the language.

Extracurricular Activities and Fellowships

The classroom experience is enriched through the mediation of the Italian Club (le Italianiste di Bryn Mawr), which sponsors a variety of cultural activities, including the Tavola Italiana (once a week), the Italian Major & Minor Information Session (once a semester), scholarly events, and films.The Italian Department also offers fellowship opportunities for students of Italian via Italian-American institutions. Visit our useful links and Internships page.