Department of Italian and Italian Studies

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.

With particular emphases on research and writing in both Italian and English, a degree in Italian Studies prepares students for a world that requires flexible workers, efficient problem solvers, excellent collaborators, and effective communicators. The Italian Studies program was developed in the truest spirit of the liberal arts curriculum and the department aims to produce through the study of Italian language and culture well-rounded students equipped with real-world research, analytical, and communication skills. 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

Italian Club

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 (the “Italian Table,” which meets weekly), the Italian Tea (once a semester), scholarly events, and films.