Italian MA (Hons)

In the first two years of your degree (known as sub-honours) you will take the required modules in Italian along with modules in at least one additional subject.

1st Year

Two different types of modules are offered in first year: introductory Italian modules for beginners in Italian, and more advanced language and literature courses for those with more experience speaking Italian.

Students who are beginners in Italian are required to take the following compulsory modules in their first year:

• Introduction to Italian Language: concentrates on grammar and usage through reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• Italian Language (Elementary): builds on the Introduction to Italian Language module by increasing the student’s knowledge of, and ability to use, Italian.

Students who have an SQA Higher or a GCE A-level in Italian are required to take the following compulsory modules in first year:

• Italian Language Intermediate 1 and 2: the core language module each semester provides a thorough and structured revision of grammar and a consolidation of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills through formal grammar classes and practical oral language classes.
• Italian Geographies: aims to give students some sense of the complexity of modern Italy through the study of particular cultural phenomena which have played an important role in national identity formation.
• Italian Histories: give students a sense of the complexity of Italy's past through the study of literary texts from different historical periods considered in their different contexts.

Second year modules are the same for all students regardless of any prior knowledge of Italian. Students are required to take the following compulsory modules in their second year:

• Second Level Italian: develops the language skills acquired in first year Italian modules and enables students to achieve an intermediate level in reading, writing, listening and speaking in Italian. Students are introduced to a selection of central Italian texts from a range of time periods (for example, Dante and Primo Levi).
• Second Level Italian (Advanced): offers an intermediate language course for students who have passed the first semester module. It is designed to further consolidate students’ knowledge of Italian grammar and vocabulary, refine language skills and develop communication skills. Students will study a selection of central Italian texts and media from a range of time periods (for example, Machiavelli and 20th-century film).

If you take Italian in your third and fourth years, in addition to the compulsory language modules you will choose from a variety of advanced options which incorporate literary, historical and cultural studies into language learning. Modules at Honours level include (but are not limited to):

• Authority and Subversion in the Italian Renaissance
• Black Italians
• Dante Alighieri
• Fascism and Film
• Migration and Transculturality in New Italian Narrative
• Venice.

In fourth year, students have the option of undertaking a dissertation of up to either 5,000 words or 10,000 words in length, written in English, on a topic of their choice. This independent project enables you to develop key research skills which are desired by both prospective employers and by graduate schools offering postgraduate degrees.