The department offers a variety of courses in Italian language, literature, cinema, and general culture. We believe that the study of another language is central to a liberal arts education and to the intercultural understanding required in an increasingly globalized world. Students can pursue a major or a correlate sequence. Besides achieving fluency in spoken and written Italian, through our courses students explore the debates that have shaped Italy over the centuries and its important contribution to humanistic culture.
An integral component of the Italian curriculum is the E.C.Co Program (Vassar-Wellesley-Wesleyan) in Bologna, where students can take classes at our Centro Studi, or directly at the University of Bologna. Students are encouraged to spend one or two semesters of their junior year in Italy. The department also coordinates an independent summer program at the University of Siena, Italy.