Department of Italian
Postgraduate Courses (MPhil and PhD)
Research in the Italian Department
The Department offers many possibilities to study all aspects of Italian culture, history, literature, language and linguistics at both MPhil and PhD levels, and warmly welcomes informal inquiries or applications from anyone interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in Italian. At present, the Department offers teaching and research supervision in the following areas:
- Medieval literature, especially Dante and Boccaccio: Dr Webb hmw53@cam.ac.uk, Prof. Kirkpatrick rk22@cam.ac.uk;
- The Renaissance: Literature: Dr Brundin asb17@cam.ac.uk, Prof. Kirkpatrick rk22@cam.ac.uk, Dr Sanson hls37@cam.ac.uk. Art: Dr Brundin asb17@cam.ac.uk, Prof. Kirkpatrick rk22@cam.ac.uk. Women's history and the Questione della lingua: Dr Sanson hls37@cam.ac.uk;
- Women's history and women writers (1500-1900): Dr Sanson hls37@cam.ac.uk;
- The Modern Period: Literature, cultural and intellectual history: Dr Antonello paa25@cam.ac.uk, Prof. Gordon rscg1@cam.ac.uk. Italian cinema: Prof. Gordon rscg1@cam.ac.uk. Philosophy: Dr Antonello paa25@cam.ac.uk;
- Language and linguistics: Dialectology and historical linguistics: Dr Ledgeway anl21@cam.ac.uk. Syntactic theory and comparative Romance linguistics: Dr Ledgeway anl21@cam.ac.uk. The Questione della lingua: Dr Sanson hls37@cam.ac.uk);
The Department also has a number of affiliated lecturers and post-doctoral researchers working in these and other areas. Click here for a full list.
Entry Requirements, Applications and Funding
Formal University entrance requirements, including information on part-time degrees and English-language competence can be found here. Please note the special requirements for MML, at the end of the list towards the bottom of the page.
All formal applications must be made through the Board of Graduate Studies. The Graduate Studies Prospectus is available from the Degree Committee of the Modern Languages Faculty or direct from the Board of Graduate Studies, 4 Mill Lane, Cambridge. Before applying, applicants are strongly encouraged to contact directly one of the members of staff working in their proposed area or, for general inquiries and for those interested in other fields not mentioned above, to contact the Postgraduate Coordinator (Dr Gordon (rscg1@cam.ac.uk)). The Department does not necessarily expect potential applicants to have detailed plans about their proposed area of study, and is more than happy to discuss general inquiries and receive indications of interest. Increasingly, students (and funding authorities) prefer that graduate studies should begin with the MPhil which, after one year, may serve as a qualification for a further two or three years' work towards a PhD. This is the Italian Department's preferred route for those applicants wishing to study for a PhD.
At present, the Department participates in three M.Phil. programmes, offering Italian-specific pathways through the MPhil. in European Culture and Literature, the MPhil. in Linguistics and the MPhil. in Screen Media and Cultures. Applicants for an MPhil may be called for a formal interview, but are in any case more than welcome to come to Cambridge, if they wish, to discuss their plans informally with a member of staff in their area. Applicants for the PhD, who already possess an MPhil, Masters Degree or equivalent, will, wherever possible, be interviewed by members of the Department in the Michaelmas or Lent Term (October to March) of the year in which they wish to begin their graduate studies. This interview will seek to establish not only the suitability of the candidate, but the most appropriate procedure for supervision and library work. Interviews are required for all those applying for funding to the AHRC.
For guidance on the costs of Graduate courses at the University of Cambridge, click here. There are several possible routes to finding funding for MPhil or PhD research in Italian at Cambridge. The Department has recently been successful in being awarded AHRC grants for both MPhil and PhD research for the years 2009 - 2014. Details of how to apply for these and other funding routes can be found here.
Useful links
- Board of Graduate Studies Prospectus
- Faculty Graduate Studies home page
- General information about costs and funding
- Funding your course at MML
- Entry requirements
- How to apply to MML
- Part-time research degrees
See also:
- M.Phil. in Linguistics (Italian)
- M.Phil. in European Literature
- M.Phil. in Screen Media and Cultures
- M.Phil. in Linguistics
- Current Ph.D students
- Graduate Training in MML
- Research Seminars Programme Michaelmas Term 2011-12
- How to proceed from the MPhil to the PhD
