Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
Phone: (405) 325-6181
Email: smh@ou.edu
Website: modlang.ou.edu
Students choose to study Italian for many reasons, but Italy's artistic, cultural, gastronomic, and literary patrimony certainly contribute to making it such a popular course of study. Students who take Italian will be introduced to Italian literature and culture - ranging from the art of the Renaissance to the art of neorealist cinema - from the first day of class.
The course of study brings together traditional pedagogical goals of speaking, reading, and writing the language with a commitment to exploring the rich culture of Italy. Students in the Italian program will not only gain fluency in one of the world's most beautiful languages, but will also learn to see the world through the eyes of a different cultural tradition. OU offers study abroad opportunities in Italy and encourages its students to experience linguistic and cultural immersion by studying abroad.
OU offers both a Major (Bachelor of Arts) and a Minor in Italian. The BA in Italian includes a 36-hour core of required courses, which consists of language skills courses, English-language literature and culture courses, Italian-language literature survey courses, advanced content courses, and the senior Capstone course. The Minor in Italian requires 18-hours of coursework, with a minimum of 12 taken at the upper division level. Students interested in either the Minor or the Major are strongly encouraged to meet with Italian program faculty members.
No prior experience in Italian is necessary to study at OU. However, experience in Latin or another Romance language is helpful.
Faculty members from the Italian program are experts on many aspects of Italian literature and culture, ranging from Dante's Divine Comedy to Italian national unification, and from the medieval novella to twentieth-century travel writing. They have won prestigious university-wide teaching awards as well as research grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, and the Wolfsonian-FIU. Recent students in the Italian program also have won university scholarship or have been named to Phi Beta Kappa.
Faculty in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics are active in publication and research, and present their students with the most current research findings, changing critical perspectives and scholarly debates. Many professors offer students the chance to participate in research through independent study and Honors Research Assistantships. Each spring, MLLL students present papers at the Honors College Undergraduate Research Day.
Visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website to explore the median pay for jobs you can pursue with this degree.
Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
Phone: (405) 325-6181
Email: smh@ou.edu
Website: modlang.ou.edu
