Italian Courses

Elementary Italian I (4 credits) is for students who have not previously studied the Italian language. The course provides an introduction to the written and spoken language through a variety of exercises. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environmental issues and civil rights). The class will be conducted in Italian.

Elementary Italian 2 (4 credits) is for students who have successfully completed IT 001 (or equivalent). The course continues the introduction to the written and spoken language in IT 001 through a variety of exercises. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environmental issues and civil rights). The class will be conducted in Italian.

This course (4 credits) is designed for students who have successfully completed Italian 001 and 002 at Penn State, or the equivalent level at another university, or who have taken four or more years of high school Italian. The purpose of the course is to continue the development of communication skills in written and spoken Italian at the intermediate level. The course offers students the opportunity to expand their vocabulary and to use more complex sentence structures in a variety of contexts to express more sophisticated concepts and opinions. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environmental issues and civil rights). The course will be conducted in Italian.

Intensive Beginning Italian is equivalent to IT 001 and half of IT 002. This course is intended for students with no experience of Italian and provides an intensive language-learning environment in which to complete 6 credits of Italian language. Students receive an extensive introduction to Italian grammar, speech, and culture and develop skills in written and spoken Italian through a variety of exercises. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, environment and civil rights). The course will be conducted in Italian and prepares students for IT20, Intensive Intermediate Italian.

Intensive Intermediate Italian is equivalent to the second half of IT 002 and IT 003. The course is for students who have successfully completed IT 010 Intensive Elementary Italian and who seek an intensive learning environment of all aspects of Italian language: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The course emphasizes reinforcement of elementary language and offers students the opportunity to expand their vocabulary, to use Italian in a variety of contexts and acquire more complex skills. Information is also presented regarding current issues in Italian society with the goal of developing intercultural competencies. Topics may include both traditional themes (e.g. cuisine, family and the arts) and contemporary themes (e.g. immigration, the environment, and civil rights). The course will be conducted in Italian. The course satisfies the B.A. 12th-credit level language requirement.

Roundtable conversation practicum for students concurrently enrolled in IT 001, 002, 003, 010, or 020. May be repeated up to three times for credit. IT 050 Italian Conversation Tutorial (1-3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Students supplement their elementary or intermediate language classes (001, 002, 003, 010, 020) with this practicum, which has as its objective to improve pronunciation and oral conversational skills. This course must be taken concurrently with an elementary or intermediate language course and may be repeated up to three times for credit. Evaluation based on student participation (80%) and performance in oral drills and exercises (20 percent).

Introduction to the study of Italian literature and culture. IT 083S First Year Seminar in Italian Literature, Film, and Culture (3) (GH;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The first-year seminar will introduce students to the study of Italian literature, film and culture in their first year at Penn State. Students will read significant texts (in English), view videos (with subtitles), listen to music and explore Italian thought and culture in general. These experiences will help prepare students for additional courses in literature and in Italian as well provide a point of comparison with U.S. culture. In addition to the academic topic explored in this course, students can expect to gain a general introduction to the University as an academic community and have the opportunity to explore their responsibilities as members of that community. Students will develop an understanding of the learning tools and resources available to them including the opportunity to develop relationships with faculty and other students who share their academic interests. This course satisfies both the first-year seminar and a General Education humanities or Bachelor of Arts humanities requirement. We will offer the course once every two years with enrollment limit of twenty students.

Introductory courses taken abroad through study abroad programs, focusing on Italian language and culture.

IT 130, Italian Culture and Civilization, examines Italian life from antiquity to the present. It is designated an International Cultures course, which aims to develop critical and analytical skills of undergraduate students through a global exploration of the historical, cultural, and political aspects of Italian society. Historical material will be studied to facilitate understanding of how Italian unity is imagined across time, and will emphasize the continuous process of fragmentation and negotiation of cultural, national, and political identity through the ages. The course traces, among other topics, the importance of the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church, the Renaissance, Italian Unification, Fascism, and contemporary immigration to Italy. Students will analyze primary texts—literature, visual art, essays and speeches, music, dramatic works, and film—to become familiar with significant aspects of Italian thought and culture. Consideration will be given to the various representative Italians such as Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Galileo Galilei, and Vittorio de Sica; inclusion of lesser-known figures, such as Igiaba Scego and Amara Lakhous, will provide students with a wider range of voices that will enrich critical engagement with course themes. By the end of the course students will be able to identify and critically analyze diversity within the peninsula, and demonstrate a familiarity with the key moments, people, and products of Italian culture from antiquity to the present. Throughout the semester, students will also be encouraged to develop a critical appreciation of the influence of Italian culture on Western civilization, and demonstrate a more nuanced understanding of the country by recognizing and articulating similarities and differences among the various international cultures that have influenced, and continue to shape Italy.

Between 1870 and 1920 over five million Italians immigrated to the United States. Of those who came, about one-third returned to Italy. Those who remained, often joined by their families, left an indelible mark on the American cultural, political, artistic, educational, and social landscape. This course provides an overview of Italian emigration to America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the conditions within the United States as a destination culture. Through a study of historical, sociological, literary, and cinematic texts, students will consider, among other topics: nineteenth-century Italy, the odyssey of immigration to and assimilation in the United States, and life in ethnic neighborhoods. The course will also look at the Mafia, forms of prejudice, and ways Italians uniquely manifested their social values in labor unions, religion, and education in America. Interrogating the immigrant experience for at least three generational periods through the lens of race and ethnicity, the course probes how Italian American identity has been represented in American culture both as profoundly "other" and as emblematically "American." Upon successfully completing this course, students will have a solid grasp of how Italians, in becoming Americans, contributed to the rich fabric of life in the United States. Conducted in English.

IT 140 prepares students for study abroad in Italy through contact with language and customs and through the inclusion of pragmatic information and cultural intelligence/sensitivity. IT 140 splits equal classroom time between developing basic language skills and providing important cultural information. Pronunciation, key vocabulary terms and scenario-based instruction form the basis of the language portion. Vocabulary sets include travel (emphasis on public transportation), cuisine (cafe and restaurant settings), navigation (using maps, giving/receiving directions), health (pharmacy and doctor's office settings) and shopping (open air market and boutique settings). These areas of content naturally overlap with cultural lessons as does learning to use formal and informal registers. Accordingly, cultural lessons deal with these topics as well as geography (including regional variations), history and safety. Italian 140 is both GH and IL. This course does not count for the Italian major or minor.

IT175 Italian Language and Culture for Embedded Experiences Abroad, is designed for students who have little or no knowledge of Italy's language and culture. This course is linguistic and cultural preparation for students participating in an embedded experience in Italy. Properly preparing for study and travel to Italy helps students to maximize the abroad experience. The ability of students to function abroad can be greatly facilitated by an understanding of the local culture and language. Students will be introduced to key Italian social and cultural issues, pragmatic information (for travelers, students, and residents of Italy) as well as essential vocabulary terms, phrases, and pronunciation. The course also explores themes of cultural intelligence/sensitivity and proper behavior abroad. IT175 is designed to be taught as a co-requisite for any course with an embedded experience in Italy (e.g. BIOL 475N Anatomy in Italy). With this co-requisite, particular emphasis is placed on vocabulary relevant to the embedded experiences in history of science/medicine museums, university settings and religious institutions.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore special topics of interest at the 100 level.

Courses offered in foreign countries by individual or group instruction.

IT 225N / CRIM 225N, Organized Crime in Film and Society, examines the relationship between criminological and justice theories regarding organized crime and the portrayal of the mafia in popular Italian American film. The course follows two simultaneous threads of inquiry: an examination of historical and theoretical models of organized crime in the United States and the state and federal laws that address them; and an analysis of how such models are depicted in American films and television about the the Italian American community. By the end of the course, students will gain key literacy skills by identifying varied definitions of organized crime and distinguishing between structural models, particularly La Cosa Nostra and network models. Students will also sharpen analytical and critical thinking skills through written and spoken interpretations of films and the scholarly approaches to studying organized crime (e.g. research methods). Throughout the semester students will also be able to apply knowledge of the social scientific aspects of organized crime to guide their observations and analyses of film and Italian American culture, thus refining Integrative Thinking across the humanities and social sciences.

This course surveys the institutions and social networks in which European fine arts were created, consumed and critiqued. Beginning with the medieval period and ranging to the early twentieth century, the course will examine the variety of communities where public and private often intersected and which sponsored innovations in the arts. Often indexing social movements and political change, such communities include convents and cathedrals, royal academies and courts, coffee houses, salons, and theaters. Artists, performers, patrons, politicians, journalists, and others collaborated and competed in these spaces. Such communities could embody political and economic power, or foster resistance to it. This approach to the history of the arts in western culture puts the focus less on the individual creative genius of great composers, writers, painters, and sculptors, and more on the social exchanges and institutions that sponsored and received their work. Such an approach brings to light particularly the ways in which women played significant roles in the production and reception of culture: as salon hostesses, patronesses, and divas, women often enabled and enacted cultural production. Some examples of particular units of study might include: the German convent of Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), where monophonic chant and allegorical morality plays developed; the Mantuan (Italy) court of Isabella d'Este ,the first lady of the world, (1474–1539) where the roots of the madrigal began and where notable painters found support and sponsorship; the French salons of Mme. Geoffrin (1699–1777) and Mme. de Staël (1766–1817); and the student residences in Madrid where avant-garde writers and artists interacted. Each unit will also consider the relationships between the aesthetic norms and values of a period and the economic and political realities of sponsorship. The course will require that students attend at least one musical performance or concert held on campus during the semester and complete a brief writing project based on that experience. This requirement will encourage students to think about their own university as a contemporary space of cultural sponsorship.

IT 301 serves as a bridge between intermediate language courses (IT 3/20) and 300- and 400-level Italian courses. This language course begins with a review of grammar basics and includes intermediate and advanced topics (subjunctive, hypothetical sentence, passive voice, etc.) that students need for success in upper-level courses. The grammar review is conducted in context of contemporary cultural materials, such as websites, music lyrics, newspapers, and magazine articles. Our readings will illuminate how 'italianità' is continuously reimagined as it embraces, or resists, movements towards greater inclusivity and diversity. More challenging speaking and writing tasks that students will encounter in advanced 300- and 400-level courses are here delivered in manageable pieces, and IT 301 helps students increase their comfort level with the language through reading and writing assignments, conversation, class discussions and presentations. By successfully completing this course, students will feel more confident in their study of Italian and have a smoother transition into upper-level courses.

Focusing on intensive oral communication practice, this course is designed to bolster student self-confidence in the use of advanced intermediate speaking skills through vocabulary development, presentations, and oral practice in small and large group discussions on a wide array of conversational topics.

This course focuses on cultural, historical, and sociopolitical issues of Italy, with a particular emphasis on contemporary current events, and by utilizing advanced grammatical tools. Students will be exposed to authentic material from books, newspapers, magazines, comics, movies, songs, the web, and they will deal with topical aspects of the Italian culture: not only food, fashion, and family, but also art, graffiti, cinema - as well as current sociopolitical issues such as immigration, racism, integration, lgbtq rights, and feminism. Evaluation methods include quizzes, exams, current events reviews, class discussions, and oral presentations. This course is in Italian.

In this highly interdisciplinary course taught in Italian, students take cues from a selection of Italy's great examples of literature, art, music, science and innovation, design and artisanal goods, political change, etc., to explore their own intellectual and creative potential through participation in class activities, group trips, oral presentations, notebooks in the style of Leonardo da Vinci, and a final project in which students learn a new hobby or skill directly in Italian. Among the class content modules is one on Il movimento Slow Food and the ethics of sustainability within Italian culture today. The course will amplify students' Italian vocabulary in multiple disciplinary areas and will provide the opportunity to work on the expression of advanced conditional and subjunctive modes to express hopes, fears, and ambitions.

A survey of the greatest books of Italian literature (prose, poetry, drama). Time period varies each semester. In Italian. IT 330W Greatest Books of Italian Literature (3) This course is a survey of the greatest books of Italian literature (prose, poetry, drama). Time period varies each semester, and may include early literature (St. Francis, Marco Polo, Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Machiavelli, etc.) or modern authors (Vico, Goldoni, Manzoni, Foscolo, Leopardi, Pirandello, Fo, Calvino, Eco, etc.). Please check with department faculty for current offering. Taught in Italian. Course objectives are to read, discuss, and better understand the enduring relevance of Italy's literary masterpieces, while strengthening linguistic skills in writing (especially), as well as reading, speaking, and listening, through weekly or bi-weekly written reading reactions, critical notebooks, and class discussions/participation. Course is appropriate for students who have successfully completed an intermediate Italian course (such as IT 003 or 020) and counts toward the Italian major (all tracks) and minor. Successful completion of this course may permit further Italian study at the 400-level.

Supervised off-campus, nongroup instruction including field experiences, practica, or internships.

Advanced courses offered in Italy as part of a education abroad program.

Advanced practicum in Italian explores the technical, artistic, and practical applications of translation between Italian and American cultures. IT 412 Theory and Practice of Translation (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course explores the technical, artistic, and practical applications of translation between Italian and American cultures in wide variety of contexts: literature, technical writing, film subtitling, etc. Taught in Italian. Evaluation consists of reading quizzes, short translation assignments, class presentation, longer essay (roughly ten pages) individual final translation project. Prerequisite: Any 300-level course in Italian.

Students read and discuss in Italian selections from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy with special consideration of the biographical, historical, political, literary, and/or theological ramifications of the poetic masterpiece, and without forgetting its enduring influence today. Critical thinking skills in literary interpretation are rigorously emphasized. Given the sustained examination of Dante's hierarchical ethical scheme and his notion of "contrapasso," credits from this course may be applied to the Paterno Fellows Ethics requirement.

Topics vary by year and may include "Theories of Love," "Magic, Witchcraft, Alchemy, and the Emergence of Modern Science," etc. IT 422 Topics in the Italian Renaissance (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. In this course students develop their advanced language skills while pursuing study of Italian Renaissance and/or Humanist topics. Check with faculty for current topic. Course may only be taken once for credit. Course counts toward the Italian major and minor. Course taught in Italian. Evaluation methods include two midterms, short reading response papers, class presentation, and final exam. Prerequisite: any 300-level Italian course.

This course, conducted in Italian, examines Italian children's books from the post-unification period (1880s) to the present day.

Italian romanticism, Verismo and neoclassicism, their origin and development in the novel, poetry, and drama.

Italy of the 20th century underwent great changes, constantly reshaping itself against the backdrop of technological innovation and a series of violent and tragic political conflicts. This course examines the Italian prose, poetry, and drama of this tumultuous period and considers how the Italian nation was represented and constructed through literature. Topics studied may include (but are not limited to) war, revolution, politics and political violence, economics, immigration, gender and sexuality, and the role of the family in Italian society. This class is taught in Italian.

This course explores ghost storytelling and visions of the afterlife in early Italian literature and culture. Motivations for telling ghost stories go far beyond entertaining or inducing fear in an audience. Ghost stories can engage some of the most profound human inquiries, mortality, grief, commemoration, spirituality, ethics, human imagination, and the violations of proper societal behavior. This course will explore such issues in a range of readings (poetry, short stories, diaries, and dialogues), including works by Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Ficino, Machiavelli, and Ariosto. In addition to a foundational survey knowledge and contextualization of some of the greatest works of medieval/Renaissance Italian literature, successful students of this course will receive a deep understanding of the potentials of authorial power and the rhetorical strategies that storytellers use to convince or manipulate the beliefs and emotions of their readers through close study of the primary texts, active in-class discussions, practice in critical interpretation, and individual experiments in the creative composition of spirit narratives. This 3-credit course is taught in English, and no knowledge of Italian is expected.

Focus on silent films, fascism, WWII, Resistance, Neorealism, and reactions against Neorealism. IT 475 Modern Italian Literature and Cinema (3)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. This course will explore the literary, cultural, and historical backdrops behind a variety of films from Fellini's The Road, to one of the greatest spaghetti westerns ever made (Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West), to the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film (Benigni's Life is Beautiful). Selected 19th and 20th-century prose texts also trace such issues as the individual's role in society and the use of the imagination in the representation of history. This course aims to provide students with the fundamental tools to read texts and watch films critically and intelligently while presenting an overview of some major themes of Italian culture. Students will be evaluated on three in-class exams, paper outline, final paper, and participation in class discussions/activities/debates. IT 475 is the first interdisciplinary course taught in English at the IT 400 level. The course helps satisfy the Italian minor requirement. It is also good for students who have taken IT 130 and want to know more about 20th-century Italian lit/film/culture without having to do course work in Italian. IT 475 may also be of particular interest to students of film and media studies, English or comparative literature, religious studies, and history. This course satisfies the Italian minor or bachelor of arts humanities requirements. IT 475 will be offered once a year with 40 seats per offering.

Italian women have often been stereotyped as the "Mamma" or the "Nonna" who cooks, prays, and idolizes her sons. Such images do not accommodate the wide variety of experiences and contributions of Italian women throughout history. This seminar explores texts written by women during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries in Italy, including autobiography, historical novels, short stories, poetry, children's books, and theater. We consider the political and cultural developments in Italy in these centuries with attention to differences among the various geographic regions and an emphasis on issues of special relevance to women and their changing legal status and social roles. As we approach each creative work, we analyze such issues as: the role of form and genre; the author's use of language and rhetoric; the political, philosophical, and theological questions posed by the text; the ways in which the text responds to the established Italian literary canon; and the text's depictions and uses of history. The course is conducted in English.

Italian American Cultural Studies explores the representations and self-representations of Italian Americans that have been produced since the 19th Century in a variety of aesthetic forms. Through analysis of literary and cinematic works, informed by readings in history and sociology, students will refine their critical reading and writing skills while gaining a more informed appreciation of the contributions of Italian Americans to American culture. We consider how gender, sexuality, and class intersect with ethnicity and race in the experience and construction of Italian American identity, and how later generations of Italian Americans remember and represent their heritage. This course fulfills requirements for the major and minor in Italian, and allows students interested in Italian American culture to undertake more in-depth and specialized study than is possible in the 100-level General Education survey offered by the department. Conducted in English.

Students read and discuss Dante's poetic journey through the afterlife realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise in The Divine Comedy. Also featured is his Vita Nuova, the account of Dante's love for Beatrice, which he wrote in his 20s. By the end of this course, successful students will have a critically sophisticated understanding of Dante's two most important literary works and the ability to compare Dante's hierarchical ethical scheme with other ethical paradigms (such as Aristotle's or the American code of justice). Students are invited to practice interpreting texts literally, allegorically, and symbolically; to come to a greater understanding of the demands and rewards of reading a canonical masterpiece of world literature; and to consider the values/morals/responsibilities that shape their lives and ambitions from differing perspectives (religious/spiritual, ethical, legal, cultural). Credits from this course can be used to satisfy a Paterno Fellows Ethics requirement.

Supervised student activities on research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.

Supervised honors student research projects identified on an individual or small-group basis.

Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.

This Multilingual and Intercultural Communication course will showcase the fundamental components of the intersection of language and culture through humanities and social science. The content of this course focuses on linguistic strategies for succeeding in multilingual environments as well as intercultural communication practices for navigating new environments. Students will learn how language and culture inform each other through the examination of cultures within the United States and internationally. Students interested in traveling to Spain and Italy for two weeks in May 2026 should email Lauren Halberstadt, Ph.D. at lyp5028@psu.edu for more information.