Degrees Offered: Minor, B.A. (Italian track within the World Languages and Cultures major)

Why Study Italian?

The program in Italian language, literature, and cultures provides students with mastery of the language and in-depth knowledge of Italian literature and culture. Lower-division courses provide basic linguistic skills (reading, writing, and speaking) and introduce students to Italian culture and aesthetic production. Upper-division courses give students expertise in socio-cultural issues as well as literary and cinematic history, analysis, and theory. Our interdisciplinary approach is grounded in the history of Italy and its culture from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to the present.

Study Abroad

We strongly encourage students studying Italian to spend a semester or a year abroad. SU's program in Florence, Italy, enables students to take fully accredited classes in Italian language and literature, fine arts, history, political science, and a number of electives outside Arts and Sciences. Students fluent in Italian may take courses at the Centro per Stranieri at the University of Florence. For further information, contact the Italian program coordinator or visit the SU Abroad Website.

Italian Language Placement

All students who would like to take Italian are required to take a language placement assessment, regardless of previous exposure to or instruction in Italian.

Please note that the language placement assessment is designed to place you at the correct skill level. It is not a graded exam or a proficiency test but rather an assessment to match your current skills with the appropriate language course at SU.

Information to navigate the assessments can be found at Language Placement Exams - College of Arts & Sciences at Syracuse University

If you have questions about your placement, contact the Italian Language Coordinator, Lauren Surovi.

Questions concerning fulfilling your program’s language requirement can be directed to the Department Chair at lllchair@syr.edu.