All About Honors and variable credit courses
(Click here for L&S Undergraduate Catalogue information about Honors – General)
Taking a class for Honors
Student can choose to register for the course for honors credit. Students taking a course for honors should contact their instructor or professor as soon as possible at the very beginning of the semester to begin organizing the honors curriculum for the semester.
Students in the L&S Honors Program do not need permission to take a class for honors. Please note that students in the L&S Honors Program must take a minimum number of credits in designated honors sections. More information available here.
Graduating with Honors in the Major
To graduate with honors, a major in Italian must register with the department advisor as an honors candidate and must complete the junior-senior honors curriculum with a GPA of at least 3.5 in the major. Students must also have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 in all courses taken at UW–Madison at the time of graduation.
Italian 101 – 102
A student who wants to do the Honors option will meet with the instructor to discuss projects and activities to do in addition to the normal 101-102 homework and activities.
The student must do one research project and participate in additional activities related to Italian language and culture. For 101, the research project will normally be a paper, in English, of approximately 10-12 pages, focused on a topic of the students’ interest, on consultation with the instructor. For 102, the paper will be in Italian, normally 6-8 pages in length. Students may propose alternatives to a paper (e.g., a video presentation).
Possible activities may include but are not limited to
- Regular attendance at Caffè culturale.
- Watching movies provided by Cineteca or otherwise available in Italian.
- Other events involving Italian language and culture
Each student will write up an individual contract with the TA stating the following:
Specific descriptions of the activities the student will participate in, and means of reporting the activity to the instructor (e.g. a brief resume of each movie).
A brief description of the topic of the project, sources to be examined, and deadline for the final product.
The contract must be printed and signed, and a signed copy given to the Course Chair, before work on the honors project begins.
Italian 203 – 204
Students interested in taking either Italian 203 or Italian 204 for honors need to discuss additional projects and activities, besides the regular workload of the course, with the instructor. Students need to write down the terms of the agreement in a sort of contract that will be given to the instructor as well as to the Course Chair before the beginning of the project.
Students must do one written research project (a 6-8 page paper in Italian) and engage in additional activities, which include: regular attendance of the Caffe Culturale; regular attendance of the Cineteca Italiana; other events involving Italian language and culture. Students will write a one-page report in Italian on each activity.
Italian 311 and above
Curriculum for honors level work in courses at the 311 level and above will vary depending on the instructor.
To Graduate with Honors, students must:
– Register as an honors candidate with a department honors advisor
– Take 16 honors credits beyond 204. Honors credit is generally available in all courses
– Complete the junior-senior honors curriculum in the department with a Major GPA of at least 3.5
– Have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 in all courses taken at UW-Madison at the time of graduation
– Complete a Senior Honors Thesis of 6 credits (Italian 681 and 682) or substitute two semesters of
literature (6 credits) at the 600 level