Italian

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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.

Degrees Offered

Students graduate with a Concentration in Italian within the World Languages and Cultures BA. Students can also minor in Italian, which 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.

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Italian at OU

Why Study Italian at OU?

Italy is the cradle of Western civilization and is home to the largest number of World Heritage Sites globally, according to UNESCO.
Students choose to study Italian for many reasons, but Italy’s artistic, cultural, 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 from the first day of class.
Studying Italian is ideal for those who have an interest in literature, art history, fashion, design, business, music, food studies, archaeology, and history.
OU is the only university in the state to offer both a major and minor in Italian.
Learn Italian and land a job with an Italian corporation in Florence, Rome, Venice, and beyond!

Career Opportunities

History & art history
Diplomacy
Nonprofit work
Music
Food studies
Fashion

Courses Offered

ITAL 1115. Beginning Italian I
- An elementary course in understanding, speaking, reading and writing Italian. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
ITAL 1225. Beginning Italian II
- Prerequisite: 1115. Fundamentals of Italian continued. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.
ITAL 2113. Intermediate Italian
- Prerequisite: 1115. Fundamentals of Italian continued. Laboratory. This course does not count for major credit in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Linguistics.
ITAL 2223. Intermediate Italian Continued
- Prerequisite: 2113. Emphasizes advanced reading skills and mastery of grammar. Emphasis on sophisticated vocabulary and understanding of grammatical structures. Literary and cultural texts discussed in oral and essay form.
ITAL 3073. Italian Conversation & Culture
- Prerequisite: ITAL 2223. Intensive practice in speaking Italian on topics of everyday life.
ITAL 3423. In Altre Parole: Writing in Italian
- Prerequisite: ITAL 2223. The inculcation of proper writing habits, at an advanced level, toward the achievement of idiomatic Italian.
ITAL 3553. Authors and Ideas: From Dante to our Time
- Prerequisite: ITAL 2223 or permission. Survey of Italian literature from the Middle Ages to the present day through major works of literature and the visual arts--invoking names such as Dante, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Galileo and Calvino.
ITAL 3663. Italian Cinema, Theater and Media.3 Credit Hours
- Prerequisite: ITAL 2223 or permission. This course will focus on theater, cinema and television, often reading literary works alongside their cinematic or TV adaptations. It offers an interdisciplinary look at Italian cultural history from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day.
ITAL 4513. Topics in Medieval and Renaissance Italian Literature and Culture
- Prerequisite: 3073 or 3423. May be repeated with change of content; Maximum credit nine hours. This course will focus on a particular author, genre, or theme from the origins of Italian literature (1225) through 1550. Students will read primary texts in ;the original language with an emphasis on understanding the texts through close textual analysis.
ITAL 4563. Topics in Modern Italian Literature and Culture
- Prerequisite: 3073 or 3423. May be repeated with change of content; maximum credit nine hours. This course will focus on an author, genre, or theme present in contemporary Italian literature (1700-Present). Students will read primary sources in the original language with an emphasis on understanding the text through close textual analysis.
ITAL 4993. Capstone: Special Topics in Italian
- Prerequisite: ITAL 3073, ITAL 3423, and one of the following: ITAL 3553 or ITAL 3663 or ITAL 4513 or ITAL 4563. Capstone course. Requires undergraduate Italian majors to synthesize their knowledge of Italian contributions to world civilization. They will be required, as part of this enterprise, to demonstrate their mastery of the four basic skills involved in learning a foreign language: reading, writing, speaking, and understanding.
MLLL 3303. The World of Dante
- Prerequisite: Junior standing and English 1213. In this course students will engage in a close reading of a fundamental text in the western literary tradition: Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The course will also consider one of Dante's minor works, the Vita Nuova, as well as the modern critical readings of Dante's writing and thought. In lectures, special attention will be paid to the historical, political, literary and intellectual context of Dante's poetry and thought. Students will also be asked to contribute to the classroom atmosphere by responding to questions and participating in discussions.
MLLL 3313. Introduction to Italian Literature and Culture
- Prerequisite: English 1213 or EXPO 1213. Interdisciplinary approach to literature, culture, and history of the Italian peninsula, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Through major works of literature, political science, the visual arts, music, and cinema, students will set Italy's variegated literary and cultural expressions in their social and historical contexts.
MLLL 3373. Italian Cinema
- Prerequisite: junior standing and English 1213. The aim of this course is to develop interpretive skills relevant to the study of Italian cinema by examining some of its most significant films. More specifically, we will analyze the ways in which Italian society is portrayed and typified in Italian cinema. We will cover the major film movements and periods, from "cinema muto" to Neorealism, from "commedia all`Italiana" to the Italian horror genre and to the most recent works made by contemporary directors.