Italian Studies


Italian Studies: Introduction

Faculty Affiliation

Arts and Science

Degree Programs

Italian Studies

MA

  • Field:
    • Italian Literature

PhD

  • Fields:
    • Middle Ages and Renaissance;
    • Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries;
    • Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Collaborative Specializations

The following collaborative specializations are available to students in participating degree programs as listed below:

Overview

Graduate students in the Department of Italian Studies come from several parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, and Europe. Faculty members are heavily engaged in teaching and research in their fields. Some of them are associated at the graduate level with the Centre for Comparative Literature, the Centre for Medieval Studies, the McLuhan program, Cinema Studies, and the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies.

Contact and Address

Web: italianstudies.utoronto.ca
Email: italian.grad@utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 978-6472

Department of Italian Studies
University of Toronto
Carr Hall, 2nd floor
100 St. Joseph Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 1J4
Canada


Italian Studies: Graduate Faculty

Full Members

Bancheri, Salvatore - BA, MA, PhD
Brilli, Elisa - MA, PhD
Lettieri, Michael - BA, MA, PhD
Piccardo, Enrica - MA, PhD
Pierno, Franco - BA, MA, PhD (Associate Chair, Graduate)
Robins, William - BA, MPH, PhD
Rupp, Stephen - BA, MA, MPH, MA, PhD
Somigli, Luca - PhD (Chair and Graduate Chair)
Terpstra, Nicholas - BA, MA, PhD
Zambenedetti, Alberto - MA, PhD

Members Emeriti

Eisenbichler, Konrad - BA, MA, PhD
Guardiani, Francesco - MA, PhD
Pietropaolo, Domenico - BSc, MA, PhD

Associate Members

Ingallinella, Laura - BA, MA, MA, PhD
Liberatori, Abril - BA, MA, PhD
Maneri, Marcello - BA, PhD
Morra, Eloisa - BA, MA, PhD
Pesarini, Angelica - BA, MSc, MA, PhD
Polimeni, Giuseppe - BA, PhD
Urbancic, Anne - BA, BEd, MA, PhD
Zinelli, Fabio - MA, PhD


Italian Studies: Italian Studies MA

Master of Arts

Program Description

The MA program offers advanced education in Italian literature and provides training in research techniques.

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Italian Studies' additional admission requirements stated below.

  • Successful completion of 7.0 undergraduate full-course equivalents (FCEs) in Italian, including the following: 3.0 FCEs in Italian literature (students must have at least 0.5 FCE in each of three out of four different periods: medieval, Renaissance, seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, nineteenth to twenty-first centuries) and an appropriate upper-year 1.0 FCE in language.

  • Minimum B+ standing in their University of Toronto 300- and 400-series courses (or in equivalent courses).

  • Two letters of recommendation, preferably from instructors most familiar with the applicant's work.

  • A personal statement of intent.

  • The department will determine whether applicants need to complete prerequisite work in order to qualify for admission. Applicants will be advised accordingly.

Program Requirements

MA Without Thesis
  • Coursework. Students must successfully complete a total of 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:

    • ITA1000H Methodologies for the Teaching and Study of Italian (0.5 FCE)

    • 3.5 graduate FCEs including a mandatory extra-departmental course (0.5 FCE) and up to two other extra-departmental courses (1.0 FCE) chosen in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

  • A student's program of study must be approved by the department.

MA With Thesis Option
  • Coursework. Students must successfully complete a total of 3.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:

    • ITA1000H Methodologies for the Teaching and Study of Italian (0.5 FCE)

    • 2.5 graduate FCEs including a mandatory extra-departmental course (0.5 FCE) and up to two other extra-departmental courses (1.0 FCE) chosen in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

  • MA thesis, subject to approval by the MA thesis supervisor.

  • A student's program of study must be approved by the department.

Program Length

3 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: F/W/S);
15 sessions part-time

Time Limit

3 years full-time;
6 years part-time


Italian Studies: Italian Studies PhD

Doctor of Philosophy

Program Description

The PhD program prepares students for a career in teaching and scholarship. Graduates are expected to have acquired autonomy in conducting research and preparing scholarly publications. They are trained to teach undergraduate courses in all areas of Italian studies and to design and teach graduate courses in their fields of specialization.

The program is designed to provide a broad knowledge of the discipline, specialized knowledge of a single field, and training in all aspects of scholarly research in the discipline.

Applicants may enter the PhD program via one of two routes: (1) following completion of an appropriate MA degree or (2) direct entry after completing a bachelor’s degree.

 

PhD Program

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Italian Studies' additional admission requirements stated below.

  • Successful completion of the University of Toronto MA or its equivalent with an overall average of at least A– in courses. Please note that an A– average does not guarantee admission to the program.

  • Two letters of recommendation, preferably from instructors most familiar with the applicant's work.

  • A personal statement of intent.

  • A statement of research and proposed plan of study.

  • A writing sample.

  • A curriculum vitae (CV) in English.

  • Notes:

    • Applicants with an Italian laurea magistrale/specialistica may apply for admission to the PhD program.

    • Applicants with a degree equivalent to a PhD (for example, an Italian dottorato di ricerca, a PhD, a diploma di perfezionamento, etc.) cannot be accepted to the PhD program.

Program Requirements

  • Coursework. Students normally complete a total of 4.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:

    • 3.5 graduate FCEs including a mandatory extra-departmental course (0.5 FCE) and up to two other extra-departmental courses (1.0 FCE) chosen in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

    • ITA1000H Methodologies for the Teaching and Study of Italian (0.5 FCE);

  • Language requirements. Students must show evidence of written and oral command of Italian; and, not later than the beginning of Year 3 of PhD registration, must have demonstrated a reading knowledge of Latin and one other language approved by the department.

  • Program progress. All students must maintain a minimum A– average in order to remain in the program.

  • Upon completion of all course requirements, and not later than Year 2 of the PhD program, students will complete the series of written and oral qualifying examinations.

  • Thesis and a Doctoral Final Oral Examination on the thesis. Permission to write the thesis in Italian (subject to final approval by the School of Graduate Studies) may be granted to students who first pass a supervised essay-type English examination to demonstrate proficiency in writing correct and idiomatic English prose.

Program Length

4 years

Time Limit

6 years

 

PhD Program (Direct-Entry)

Minimum Admission Requirements

  • Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Italian Studies' additional admission requirements stated below.

  • Exceptional students may be admitted directly to the PhD program from the BA with a minimum A– average. Such applicants will apply to the MA program, but indicate in a separate letter to the Graduate Coordinator that they wish to be considered for direct admission to the PhD program.

  • Two letters of recommendation, preferably from instructors most familiar with the applicant's work.

  • A personal statement of intent.

  • A statement of research and proposed plan of study.

  • A writing sample.

  • A curriculum vitae (CV) in English.

  • Notes:

    • Applicants with an Italian laurea magistrale/specialistica may apply for admission to the PhD program.

    • Applicants with a degree equivalent to a PhD (for example, an Italian dottorato di ricerca, a PhD, a diploma di perfezionamento, etc.) cannot be accepted to the PhD program.

Program Requirements

  • Coursework. Students normally complete a total of 8.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:

    • 7.5 graduate FCEs, including a mandatory extra-departmental course (0.5 FCE) and up to two other extra-departmental courses (1.0 FCE) chosen in consultation with the Graduate Coordinator.

    • ITA1000H Methodologies for the Teaching and Study of Italian (0.5 FCE);

  • Language requirements. Students must show evidence of written and oral command of Italian; and, not later than the beginning of Year 3 of PhD registration, must have demonstrated a reading knowledge of Latin and one other language approved by the department.

  • Program progress. All students must maintain a minimum A– average in order to remain in the program.

  • Upon completion of all course requirements, and not later than Year 2 of the PhD program, students will complete the series of written and oral qualifying examinations.

  • Thesis and a Doctoral Final Oral Examination on the thesis. Permission to write the thesis in Italian (subject to final approval by the School of Graduate Studies) may be granted to students who first pass a supervised essay-type English examination to demonstrate proficiency in writing correct and idiomatic English prose.

Program Length

5 years

Time Limit

7 years


Italian Studies: Italian Studies MA, PhD Courses

Not all courses are offered every year. Please consult the department regarding course availability.

Course Code Course Title
ITA1000H
Methodologies for the Teaching and Study of Italian (Credit/No Credit)
ITA1001Y
Colloquia and Professional Development (Credit/No Credit)
ITA1025H Old Italian
ITA1029H History of Italian Religious Language
ITA1030H Italian Lexicography: History and Methodologies
ITA1031H
History of Italian Language in North America
ITA1165H Introduction to Italian Philology
ITA1177H
The Italian Questione della Lingua
ITA1200H
Dante
ITA1202H
Dante as a Reader of Augustine's City of God: Augustinian Textual Communities at the Beginning of the 14th Century
ITA1203H
Boccaccio
ITA1235H Topics in Italian Studies
ITA1330H
Petrarch and Petrarchism
ITA1520H
Renaissance Humanism
ITA1535H
Topics in Italian Literature
ITA1540H
Renaissance Italian Theatre
ITA1550H
Sixteenth-Century Florence
ITA1553H Renaissance Crossroads: Tales of Exchange in Pre-modern Italy
ITA1555H Literature and Society in Renaissance Italy
ITA1591H
Baroque Poetics and Poetry
ITA1597H
The Commedia dell'Arte
ITA1601H
Vico
ITA1605H
Theories of the Stage and Dramatic Criticism
ITA1610H
Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Theatre
ITA1645H
Post-Tridentine Religious Drama
ITA1705H
Pirandello
ITA1710H
Aspects of Modern Italian Poetry
ITA1735H
Topics in Italian Studies I
ITA1736H
Topics in Italian Studies II
ITA1737H
Topics in Italian Studies
ITA1755H
Italian Modernism
ITA1760H
Futurism
ITA1810H
Studies in Italian Literature and Film
ITA1820H The Mediterranean Noir: A Transnational Approach
ITA1830H Editing 900: Leonardo Sciascia, his World, his Archive
ITA1815H
Issues in Italian Film Historiography
ITA2010Y Directed Research in Italian Linguistics
ITA2051H Lecture Series Research 1