Bachelor of Arts in Italian
The study of Italian involves the mastery of the language and its literary expressions – fictional, non-fictional, dramatic and poetic, as well as the study of social, cultural and political institutions within the context of intellectual history.
The Department of French and Italian offers courses taught in Italian and English in interrelated subject areas such as Italian culture and society, cinema, gender and women studies, black studies, and cinema.
Courses are kept small to allow for maximum interaction between students and professors.
Students must take:
FOUR Language Courses (16 Units)
Some or all of these courses may be waived by examination:
- ITAL 120 “Italian I”
- ITAL 150 “Italian II”
- ITAL 220 “Italian III”
- ITAL 240 “Italian IV”
- ITAL 300g Inventing Modern Italy
The upper-division requirements include five courses to be selected in consultation with the department adviser. No more than three of them can be in English.
FIVE Upper-Division Courses (20 Units)
- ITAL 340g French and Italian Cinema and Society
- ITAL 345 Contemporary Italy
- ITAL 347 Italy Today
- ITAL 350g Gender and Sexuality in Renaissance Italy
- ITAL 352 The Holocaust in Italian Fiction & Film
- ITAL 360g Italian Cinema
- ITAL 380 Italian Women Writers
- ITAL 381 Storytelling in the Italian Tradition
- ITAL 382g Dante
- ITAL 392 Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies
- ITAL 393 Seminar in Italian Thought
- ITAL 402 Studies in Modernity
- ITAL 403 Studies in Colonialism and Postcolonialism
- ITAL 440 Futurism and Fascism in Italy
- ITAL 461 Italian Theatre
At least two courses must be at the 400 level. A maximum of one course may be completed outside the department.
These requirements are excerpted from the USC Catalogue.
- The USC Catalogue is the document of authority for all students. The program requirements listed in the USC Catalogue supersede any information which may be contained in any bulletin of any school or department. The university reserves the right to change its policies, rules, regulations, requirements for graduation, course offerings and any other contents of this catalog at any time.
- Students who major in Italian may choose to fulfill some of the requirements with a semester of study abroad in Florence or Milan during the academic year, or with our summer program in Rome. Students who choose to study abroad in Italy must enroll in an Italian course upon their return.
- For more information and specific degree requirements, please contact Isaura Peña, the department advisor, by email at isarape@usc.edu or by telephone at 213-821-4316; her office is at Kaprelian Hall (KAP) 357.
- For further information on Undergraduate Studies in French and Italian, please contact the director of Undergraduate Studies, Dr. Julie Van Dam by email at julie.vandam@usc.edu.