Italian Studies
The concentration in Italian Studies highlights major periods and authors of the Italian literary tradition, from Dante to the present, and includes contributions to modern popular culture, theater, film, philosophy, and industrial design. Courses also introduce the literatures and cultures of immigrant populations within Italy and Italian-speaking communities around the world. Concentrators are encouraged to supplement their coursework by incorporating interdisciplinary studies in their program..
Courses Taken for Concentration Credit
Concentrators in Italian take twelve courses (48 units, each course equals 4 units).
Honors concentrators take fourteen courses (56 units).
Any substitution for equivalent courses below must be approved by the Advisor for Italian Studies or the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Courses taken for concentration credit may not be taken Pass/Fail (with the exception of an approved First-Year Seminar).
Recommended courses (or equivalent as approved by the Advisor for Italian Studies):
- 40-60 level courses
Students whose language proficiency places them out of category A take additional courses in categories B and D instead.
Recommended courses (or equivalents as approved by the Advisor for Italian Studies):
- 70- and 80-level courses
- A total maximum of three 80-level courses may be taken across categories B and D
- ROM-STD 97 (taken spring semester sophomore year)
- At least three of these courses must be taught in Italian. (If three are not available, course readings and papers must count be in Italian to count for the concentration.)
- At least three must be at the 100 level or above.
- At least one course in category B or D should deal with literature and history from before 1800.
Up to 3 courses that are outside Italian may count toward the concentration. Content must be clearly related to Italian Studies. Approved First-Year Seminars or General Education courses may also count. The concentration advisor or DUS may require that individual research related to the course, such as the final paper, incorporate Italian content.
Fields which RLL concentrators often explore for these courses include History of Art and Architecture; Music; Classics; History; Philosophy; Comparative Literature; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; AFVS; Linguistics; Anthropology; Government; History of Science; and Environmental Studies.
Students are not obligated to take courses in related fields and can instead continue to take courses in Italian Studies at the 70 level or above. The junior tutorial, if taken, replaces one of the slots allocated to a course in a related field.
The junior tutorial provides concentrators who opt in to the semester-long course with a rigorous, well-supported, and deeply relational learning experience where they will be able to take ownership of their intellectual journey by actively constructing their own intellectual project and field of study, honing their reading, writing, research, and interpretative skills. The tutorial provides a structured environment for future thesis writers to work on their junior paper, serving as a natural bridge to the senior tutorial (i.e. the thesis), and provides non-thesis writers with the opportunity to develop the above-mentioned skills in community with fellow concentrators.
A tutorial section will be offered for each concentration track to be conducted in small groups of 1-4 students, to ensure the formation of a tight-knit community, and be run by a graduate student tutor. The small group format also means that each tutorial section will collectively come up with a time to meet.
The tutorial will be offered both in the fall and the spring. The spring semester will be the default semester it is offered, but the fall semester will be made available for students who are studying abroad in the spring. If a student is available both semesters, they will be recommended to take the tutorial in the spring. The tutorial will be graded SAT/UNSAT, to encourage students to take intellectual risks, create a collaborative classroom environment, and focus on their learning and intellectual growth, rather than on a grade as an outcome.
The 13 weeks of the semester will be broken down as follows:
- Weeks 1-2: collaboratively crafting a syllabus that speaks to all the participants' interests (this would probably take the form of identifying an overarching theme or question that everyone is interested in). The syllabus should come up with primary sources for 5 weeks, and secondary sources for 3 weeks, where the secondary sources are selected for their portability (that is to say, their capacity to be applicable to a broad range of texts), so this means more theoretical works of criticism, or works of theory. The syllabus is a living document, which can be updated and tweaked as appropriate, depending on how the tutorial participants’ interests evolve.
- Weeks 3-7: These next five weeks are dedicated to reading, analyzing, and discussing the primary texts, with weekly responses.
- Weeks 8-10: These three weeks are dedicated to reading, analyzing, and discussing the secondary sources, bringing them into conversation with the primary texts. The weekly responses should read the secondary sources and the primary sources together.
- Weeks 11-13: The last 3 weeks of the semester are dedicated to writing the longer-form junior paper (20+ pages), where the idea for the paper will have been conceived in individual meetings with the tutor (and, in the case of thesis writers, in individual meetings with the faculty member who will advise the thesis) leading up to this point, and each session in the last 3 weeks of the semester is the opportunity to share writing with each other and get feedback and support. This paper is, for thesis writers, ideally the initial exploration and formulation of a thesis project. And for non-thesis-writers, this independent work of research serves as a kind of capstone project.
Tutors will be expected to meet with students for 1 or 2 hours a week (at minimum one hour if tutoring just one student, and 2 hours a week if tutoring 2-4 students). They will be expected to give both written and verbal feedback on weekly responses (the verbal feedback is used to launch discussion, and the written feedback gives the student more detailed as well as structural feedback). This feedback is expected to be turned around rapidly, at least a day (preferably more) before the next class meeting.
The tutorial replaces one of the course slots that is currently allocated to a course in a related field.
Students who qualify for the Honors track may elect a thesis or no-thesis option.
The Thesis Option is structured around the researching and preparation of a senior thesis. Students who choose this track spend one semester of the third year writing a junior essay in conjunction with a 100-level literature course. Upon successful completion of the junior paper, the concentrator enrolls in the two-semester senior tutorial (Italian 99a and 99b, taken SAT/UNSAT) devoted to the preparation of the senior thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor, with weekly assistance from an assigned tutor and scheduled department-wide thesis workshops. The senior thesis is due in mid-March. Thesis writers present their work in a one-hour oral defense, scheduled during reading period in May of their senior year. See Thesis Timeline for more details.
The Non-Thesis Option requires, in place of the two-semester thesis tutorial, two additional courses at the 100 level or above, completed with a grade of A or A-. Students seeking honors eligibility who prefer not to write a thesis may take two courses at the 100 level or above in the concentration, in addition to the twelve courses stipulated for the concentration. Students who take two additional courses at the 100 level, or one additional course at the 100 level and one additional course at the 200 level, with a minimum grade of A- in each, can be recommended for a departmental degree of Honors (but not High or Highest Honors). Students who take two additional courses at the 200 level with a minimum grade of A- in each can be recommended for a departmental degree of Honors or High Honors (but not Highest Honors). To be considered for Highest Honors, students must pursue the Thesis Option.
Study abroad, during the summer or the academic year, though not a requirement, is strongly encouraged.
- Summer courses taught in a Romance language may be approved for up to two courses of concentration credit.
- Term-time study abroad courses may be approved for a maximum of three courses for one semester, or six courses for a full year.
Note that RLL concentrators must take a minimum of six courses counted for the concentration in residence at Harvard. Honors concentrators must take a minimum of eight.