One of the leading programs of Italian Studies and Italian Literature nationally, we offer students a large array of courses in Italian language, literature, cinema, and culture. From Dante Alighieri to Roberto Benigni, Catherine of Siena to the women’s philosophical community of Diotima, Giambattista Vico to Giorgio Agamben, Michelangelo Buonarroti to Michelangelo Antonioni, and Leon Battista Alberti to Renzo Piano, our courses reflect the fundamental role Italy played and continues to play in European civilization. Indeed, Italian art, literature, and culture deeply inform contemporary understanding of the humanities in a globalized twentyfirst-century world. Taking advantage of one of the signature collections of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts housed in the Kroch Library as well as the film archives of Cornell Cinema, the Italian program will introduce you both to the wonders of Italian art and culture and help deepen your knowledge of *la bella vita*.
We are also proud members of the Bologna Consortial Studies Program, one of if not the *premier* study abroad programs in the United States. Students selected for the program spend a semester or a year at the University of Bologna, taking classes in Italian and living with Italian students. Many students returning from Bologna go on to major in Italian. In addition we host a weekly “cene italiane,” where students dine with native Italian speakers at one of Cornell’s cafeterias. We also organize trips to Lincoln Center and performances of Italian opera featured there.
If you are interested in a major or minor that will profoundly enrich not only your experience at Cornell but those after, feel free to write Professors Karen Pinkus, Marilyn Migiel, or Timothy Campbell for more information and an appointment.