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University of Pittsburgh    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
 
  Nov 25, 2024
 
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Italian Studies, BA


French and Italian Major Requirements


The following requirements apply to French, Italian, and Italian Studies majors:

  • Students are required to maintain at least a 2.00 GPA in major courses.
  • Reading competency in at least one other language is recommended for students interested in graduate school.
  • To earn departmental honors, students must major in French, Italian, or Italian Studies; demonstrate superior performance in departmental courses; and be enrolled in 1000-level French/Italian courses no later than the first term of the junior year. Selection of honors candidates takes place only in the second term of the junior year. During the senior year, two appropriate sequential courses are chosen in consultation with the major advisor, and a research paper must be completed. The paper must be defended before a faculty committee. Honors will be determined by the quality of the paper and the defense, as well as the cumulative grades in all departmental courses counting toward the major.

Requirements


The Italian Studies major promotes the cross-discipline exploration of a variety of areas relating to Italian and Italian American culture: language, literature, theatre, cinema, art and architecture, music, history, social and immigration history, politics and political theory. Students can combine a major in Italian Studies with a second major in a field such as political science, history, anthropology, history of art and architecture, music, English, business, linguistics or another foreign language.

After one term of college instruction in the Italian language ( ITAL 0101 - ITALIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 1   or equivalent as determined by placement testing), students may enroll in ITAL 0102 - ITALIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE 2  for credit toward the major.

This major requires 36 credits for completion. ITAL 0101  does not count toward the major.

Note


Because ITAL 0081  is taught in English and has no prerequisites, the department recommends that students interested in majoring in Italian take this course as early in their studies as possible.

Additional Requirements


Students must complete five courses in addition to the core courses listed above. At least three of these additional courses must be at the 1000-level, and at least two of these courses must be offered by the Italian program. The remaining courses can be selected from a list of approved offerings in other departments, chosen in consultation with the major advisor. Italian Studies majors are encouraged to continue their study of the Italian langugae to the greatest extent possible.

At least one of the 1000-level courses must be a writing-intensive course taught in Italian. The following courses meet this requirement.

Capstone course


Students must complete a 1-credit capstone course. The details of the capstone experience should be determined in consultation with the major advisor.



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