Undergraduate Italian Program

Tulane's Italian program, offering both a major and a minor, is a solid one of long standing whose dynamic faculty is on the cutting edge of developments in research and pedagogical technique. Student preparation begins with thorough linguistic training in the four skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). The latest technology allows access to native materials including an Internet news service, RAI cable news, videos, and computerized language and culture programs. The film library contains a number of classic and contemporary Italian films which enhance course work on all levels. In upper-division courses, small in size and taught by senior faculty or native speakers, students pursue their interests in Italian literature and culture. Their work is supported by computer links to the library's on-line catalogues, which provide valuable assistance in locating materials. Tulane offers the Junior Year Abroad program in which students enroll directly in the University of Florence for a year of extensive contact with the language, scholarship, and culture of Italy. A semester option is available through the John Cabot University program in Rome. Internships giving practical training with business and civic leaders may be pursued in New Orleans, which has a large and vibrant Italian-American community. The Italian Government Prize is awarded to outstanding graduating seniors by the faculty.

The Italian program is well integrated into the university curriculum at all levels. Many students choose Italian as their foreign language because of its importance to their major or minor in fields such as art, music, architecture, political science, political economy, international relations, history, communication or another foreign language. Recent interdisciplinary Italian course offerings have been cross-listed; the seminar "Gender and Power in the Renaissance" was cross-listed with the Women's Studies Program and with Honors Colloquia, while Mellon Professor Peter Bondanella offered his ground-breaking course in Italian-American cinema jointly through the Department of French and Italian and the Communication Department. ITAL 325 Italian Language and Culture enjoys a position on the exclusive list of courses fulfilling the Foundations of Western Culture requirement. Italian is one of the majors in which students can be certified to teach. For those interested in Italian topics in other fields, a major and minor in Italian Studies is available with offerings in Italian culture, history, political science, Classical Studies and music. Graduate students in English, French, and Spanish enroll in Italian literature courses, choose Italian as their reading language or Ph.D. minor field, and pursue interdisciplinary degrees with an Italian literature component. The School of Law and the A.B. Freeman School of Business have instituted study programs in Italy.

Tulane's Italian students have pursued a variety of exciting goals after completing their degrees. They have undertaken graduate work in international affairs at Georgetown University, in political economy at the University of Chicago and in business at Loyola University of Chicago. They have obtained positions in the Foreign Service, network broadcasting in New York, on the staff of a United States senator, in the Rome office of a major insurance firm, in the Milan office of an international business news service, in the fashion industry, on the translating staff of a major airport, and with the administration of the Houston Opera. With the European University's chief center for political science now located near Florence, and with the Italian economic miracle currently enjoying its third wave (its gross national product exceeds that of Great Britain), the relevance of Italian to numerous undertakings can only grow.