Luzzi Patrizia Palumbo Language classes in the Italian department are taught using a communicative approach that integrates the skills of speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Literature and cultural materials play an important part in this process.
Specialized courses allow students to develop their conversational skills.
The course in advanced Italian, although part of the requirements for a major in Italian, is open to all qualified students whose main goal is to improve and perfect their competence in the language as distinct from its literature. A major in Italian offers students the opportunity to study Italian literature and culture in an intimate, seminar setting with the close supervision of the department s faculty. Both majors require a sequence of language courses designed to give students a command of written and spoken Italian. The major in Italian literature exposes students to some of the key authors and works in Italian literature from the Middle Ages to the present. Students select an additional five courses from the department s offerings in Italian literature.