Italian Studies (2020 - 2022)

Major in Italian Studies

The major consists of nine 4-point courses (36 points) as follows:

Advanced Review of Modern Italian (ITAL-UA 30)
One conversation course: Conversations in Italian (ITAL-UA 101); Italian through Cinema (ITAL-UA 107); or Italian through Opera (ITAL-UA 108)
One composition course: Creative Writing in Italian (ITAL-UA 103); Advanced Composition (ITAL-UA 105); or Translation (ITAL-UA 110)
At least one literature survey course: either Readings in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (ITAL-UA 115) or Readings in Modern Italian Literature (ITAL-UA 116). Note: majors are advised to take both.
Five courses drawn from advanced literature and culture and society offerings in the department. At least one of these courses must focus on the medieval/early modern period and one on the modern/contemporary period.

Major in Italian and Linguistics

This joint major requires a total of nine 4-point courses (36 points) completed with a grade of C or better. The Italian part of this major is satisfied by taking four 4-point courses (16 points) as follows:

Advanced Review of Modern Italian (ITAL-UA 30)
One advanced Italian language course (ITAL-UA 101, ITAL-UA 103, ITAL-UA 105, ITAL-UA 107, ITAL-UA 108, or ITAL-UA 110)
Two advanced courses in either Italian literature or culture and society, to be determined in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies.

The linguistics part of this major is satisfied by taking the following five courses (20 points):

Either Language (LING-UA 1) or Language and Mind (LING-UA 3)
Sound and Language (LING-UA 11)
Grammatical Analysis (LING-UA 13)
A total of two additional courses from two different fields of linguistics, chosen from the following (please see linguistics in this Bulletin for course titles and descriptions):
- Historical linguistics (LING-UA 14)
- Sociolinguistics (LING-UA 15, LING-UA 18, LING-UA 30, LING-UA 38, LING-UA 57)
- Phonology (LING-UA 12)
- Semantics (LING-UA 4)
- Computational linguistics (LING-UA 6, LING-UA 7)
- Psycholinguistics (LING-UA 5, LING-UA 43, LING-UA 54, LING-UA 59)
- Structure of a modern language (LING-UA 10, LING-UA 42, LING-UA 44, LING-UA 9032)

Major in Romance Languages

See the Romance languages section of this Bulletin for details and requirements.

Policies Applying to the Major

All courses for the major must be completed with a grade of C or better and cannot be taken on a Pass/Fail basis.
No more than two courses from CORE-UA and/or FYSEM-UA can count toward the major in Italian. They must be taught by Italian studies faculty members.
Internships do not count toward the Italian major.
Transfer students must complete at least five courses (20 points) of the nine courses (36 points) required for the Italian major while in residence at New York University.

Minor in Italian Studies

The minor in Italian studies consists of four courses (16 points) above Intermediate Italian II (ITAL-UA 12) or Intensive Intermediate (ITAL-UA 20), as follows:

Advanced Review of Modern Italian (ITAL-UA 30)
One advanced language course (ITAL-UA 101, ITAL-UA 103, ITAL-UA 105, ITAL-UA 107, ITAL-UA 108, or ITAL-UA 110)
Two courses in literature and/or culture and society, to be chosen in consultation with a departmental adviser.

Policies Applying to the Minor

All courses must be completed with a C or better and may not be taken Pass/Fail. Transfer students must complete at least two of the four courses at NYU. Internships do not count toward the minor.
No more than one course from CORE-UA or FYSEM-UA can count toward the minor in Italian Studies. This course must be taught by an Italian Studies faculty member.

Honors Program in Italian Studies

To qualify for honors in the Italian studies major, a student must maintain an overall GPA of 3.65 and a major GPA of 3.65 or higher. Students who wish to pursue honors should contact the director of undergraduate studies for an application during the junior year. The director of undergraduate studies may, by petition to the director of college honors, consider strong candidates who do not meet the GPA threshold of 3.65.

Honors majors complete an 8-point sequence consisting of the Senior Honors Seminar (ITAL-UA 999), taken in the fall of senior year, and the Honors Independent Study (ITAL-UA 990), taken in the spring of senior year. Both count as advanced courses for the major. Students work closely with a departmental faculty member who becomes the honors thesis adviser (chosen in consultation with the director of undergraduate studies). The thesis should be a work of scholarship and/or criticism from 40 to 60 pages in length. In consultation with a second faculty reader, the student’s thesis adviser determines whether or not to recommend him or her for honors in Italian. A grade of at least A-minus is required for the award of honors. Students receiving a lower grade will simply be awarded 8 credits toward the major.

Capstone Project Option for Non-Honors Majors

Majors in the department who do not choose or qualify to write a senior honors thesis may pursue the capstone project option, which is not a requirement for the major. Developed in conjunction with a faculty member in the junior or senior year, the capstone consists of a research paper or research project, as well as a final oral defense/discussion of the project in Italian. The capstone does not require a separate course or independent study, but rather is developed within a class in which the student is already enrolled. The project is completed in addition to the existing course requirements (whether a final paper written in the Italian language, extra pages added to a research paper, a creative project such as a film or film script, etc.). The department’s spring undergraduate conference offers an ideal venue for the presentation of outstanding capstone projects.

Accelerated B.A/M.A. Program in Italian Studies

Undergraduates with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible for the five-year program in Italian Studies. For full-time students in CAS, tuition for the fifth year is offered at a 50 percent discount, and the application fee and GRE exam are waived. Majors in Italian studies may apply to the program once they have completed between 48 and 96 credits toward the B.A. Students in the program must satisfy all of the requirements of both the B.A. and M.A.; there is no double-counting of courses. To complete the program in five years, students must finish at least a fourth of the master’s requirements (two graduate courses) before the beginning of the fifth year. For further information about the B.A./M.A., contact the department’s director of graduate studies.

Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at New York University

The Department of Italian Studies shares the space at 24 West 12th Street with Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò. The Casa was founded in 1990 by Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò with the goal of promoting Italian culture by offering a program of free events, open to everyone, on all topics related to Italian studies, including language, literature, cinema, music, theater, and visual art, as well as politics, economics, and lifestyle. The Casa’s mission is to create a physical and virtual space for dialogue between Italy and the United States on all of these themes. Students are encouraged to participate in the many lectures, conferences, concerts, and film series that Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo and the Department of Italian Studies offer.

NYU Florence

Students are able to study at NYU Florence in the fall, spring, and summer semesters. While most courses are taught in English, NYU Florence also offers an Italian immersion program for Italian studies majors and minors, as well as for those whose language abilities are sufficiently advanced. Advanced students are also eligible to take courses at the Università di Firenze. Students can study abroad in the summer through the 6-week program Summer in Florence, which offers courses in Italian language as well as literature, cinema, opera, and art history. Visit the department’s website for more study away information.

Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)