Academic requirements and courses are available in the Vassar College Catalogue. The department offers a major and a correlate sequence.

Students of Italian benefit from the small classes and close interaction with faculty which are at the core of Vassar’s pedagogy. Consistent use of Italian in class and during the many extracurricular activities organized by the department, such as trips to the opera, film screenings, card nights, coffee hours, and cooking classes, mimics as close as possible a full immersion experience. Students of all levels meet in the Italian Lounge to work on group projects, have conversations with the language fellow or the academic intern, or simply do their homework in an Italian-speaking environment.

Student Employment Opportunities

The department offers student employment opportunities for research assistants who assist faculty with their research projects and course preparation, and language assistants who conduct language drills for first-year students. Each year, one student with advanced language skills is selected as an academic intern to tutor first- and second-year students in grammar and conversation and help coordinate extra-curricular activities.

Student Projects

Senior projects, which students are required to present in order to be considered for departmental honors, include literary translations from Italian to English, theses on Italian literature and culture, and creative projects. Examples of recent senior projects.