About the Department of Italian
At all levels, students are taught by experts in their field. We have a strong
research
tradition, with all the permanent members of the department actively engaged in
research covering a wide range of specialisms.
Outstanding Performance in RAE 2008. Click the link for more details:
RAE 2008 results.
The department gained a 5* (top) rating in the
2001 Research Assessment Exercise.
Click here for a
complete list of papers available at the Italian Department.
A staff-student
liaison committee meets regularly to discuss matters of
common interest, while events organised by the Italian
Society provide more informal opportunities for interaction
and discussion. The department has links with the
British
Institute of Florence, which organises Italian language courses at all levels from
Beginner to Advanced.
Aims of the Department
The principal aims of the Italian Department are:
A. to teach the Italian language to the highest level of oral and written competence;
B. to
promote the study of Italian philology and linguistics, literature, and cultural history.
We lay great stress on the connection between the study of a language and the
study of history and the arts. Many of the great traditions in European
literature, music, painting, sculpture and thought have their origins in Italy.
Many of the problems which affect our society today are dramatically illustrated
in recent Italian history. Linguistic diversity in Italy constitutes a permanent challenge.
Our purpose is to develop a critical understanding of Italian culture in the broadest
sense of the term.
Throughout our teaching we lay great emphasis on the skills of close reading,
whether the 'text' in question is a poem, a painting or an advertisement,
and whether the exercise takes place in a translation class, a seminar given
over to linguistic analysis, or a supervision devoted to film. From
the second year we seek particularly to develop an awareness of history
and theory (through papers significantly titled 'Structures and Varieties of Italian',
'Texts and Contexts', 'Critical Readings'), providing you with the analytical
techniques you will be able to apply in the six 'scheduled' (i.e. non language)
papers which our Department offers in Part II. These Part II papers fulfil our
second aim by covering the internal and external history of the Italian language and
four great periods of Italian literature and culture (1220-1321, 1321-1500, 1500-1600 and 1800
to the present day) - not to mention the Special Subject in 'Italian Cinema: The Realities of History'.
But the first aim is not forgotten. Among your Part II examinations - if
you stay with us after spending your third year in Italy - you will take an advanced Oral,
make a Translation in both directions, and write a general Essay in Italian, focusing on
the subjects you will have studied in your final year.
Students entering the course may wish to know that the long-term prospects for
Italianists seem to be very good. Teaching, law, banking, industry and national
journalism have been regular points of arrival for our recent graduates, while Ph.D. students
have moved as smoothly into merchant banking and management consultancy as into academic life.
The Department of Italian is happy to answer any questions
that current or prospective staff and students may have. Please
contact
us via e-mail, telephone or letter, or drop in to see us at the
Sidgwick Site.
