Practicing your language skills is an integral part of the Italian curriculum, both for language and cultural development. Students have numerous opportunities to do this, both on campus and abroad.
Italian
The Italian department offer students the opportunity to achieve high competence in written and spoken Italian, in understanding Italian literature and culture, and in applying this knowledge to the study of other disciplines.
Our Department
Our department is a place where students and faculty can create and sustain a community in which all feel welcome and have a sense of belonging; where differences are honored and where each one of us can respectfully engage with and learn from each other. We look forward to welcoming you in our community and to sharing our knowledge, enthusiasm, and passion.
Curriculum
Our courses cover a wide range of topics, from food to family, from cinema to identity, and in all of them, we try to include a diversity of contributors. We aim to present Italy as it is today, listening to new and previously underrepresented groups through their writings and their own voices. Our extracurricular activities, organized by or in collaboration with the Casa Italiana and the Circolo Italiano, are also the place where we want to introduce you to both traditional and innovative cultural Italian experiences. Our guest speakers come from diverse backgrounds, as much as possible, and will share their experiences and knowledge with you in Italian and in English.
The other integral components of Italian at Middlebury are the Italian School (summer immersion program), and the C. V. Starr-Middlebury College School in Italy—junior year or semester—where students can take courses in our magnificent Sede in Florence (in the Renaissance Palazzo Giugni), as well as at the University of Florence. These rich programs encourage students to deepen and broaden their study of Italian literature, cinema, history, art history, political science, and other selected disciplines.