From antiquity well beyond the Renaissance, the Italian peninsula was widely considered to be at the center of Western culture. Now, in the 21st century, Italy continues to influence our understanding of the human experience thanks to a tradition of prolific cultural production and intellectual thought.
The first class in Italian at UW-Madison was offered in the 1850s, and Italian language courses became a regular part of UW-Madison curriculum in academic year 1887-88. Italian at UW-Madison remains one of the oldest and most important Italian programs in the world.
UW-Madison students of Italian develop their proficiency in the language while discovering the region’s history, literature, art, architecture and film in one of the largest and most successful Italian programs in the US. Italian faculty are worldly-renowned experts in literature, culture, history, film, and art, from the Middle Ages to the present. A combination of dynamic course offerings, on-campus immersion opportunities, study abroad and a variety of outreach events in Madison make the study of Italian a constantly evolving and enriching experience.
- Placement
- Italian Major
- Italian Certificate
- Honors in Italian
- Study Abroad and Internships
- Outside the Classroom
- Scholarships
- Tutoring and Language Practice
The Department of French & Italian has an informal Italian placement test to find the best fit for students with previous experience in Italian. To get access to the test, please contact Mandi Schoville, Undergraduate Advisor and Program Coordinator.
Retro-Credits
Students enrolled in 102, 182, 203, 204, 311 or 312 are eligible for retro credits. Consult complete retroactive credit policy for more information.
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Course taken
|
Retro Credits
|
|
102
|
4
|
|
203
|
8
|
|
204
|
12
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311, 312
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16
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Note: Italian 201, Italian for Speakers of Other Romance Languages, is an intense, 2 semesters-in-one course designed for students who have had the equivalent of 4 college semesters of another romance language (French, Spanish, Portuguese).
Advanced Placement (AP) Credit Policy
College credit will be awarded to students who receive a 3, 4, or 5 on their AP Italian Exam. More information can be found here.
| Score | Credit Policy | To also earn retro credits, take |
| 3 or 4 | 4 cr. 204 | 311 |
| 5 | 4 cr. 452 | 311 |
The Italian Major Requirements allow students flexibility, especially those pursuing multiple majors, certificates and/or those who have or will study abroad. The new requirements are provided below and can officially be found in the Guide. Students who declare the Italian major in the fall 2025 or later will follow the new requirements. Students who were declared in the Italian major prior to fall 2025 have the option of keeping the pre-existing Italian major requirements or switching to the updated requirements that went into effect in fall 2025. To switch to the new requirements, simple email the Undergraduate Program Manager and Advisor, Mandi Schoville, and state that you would like to “switch to the new Italian major requirements.”
Italian Major Requirements¹
24 totals credits beyond Italian 204 or Italian 205²
Required Courses (9 credits), select three courses from:
- Italian 230
- Italian 311
- Italian 312
- Italian 321
- Italian 322
Elective Courses (15 credits)¹
- Students can choose electives¹ from the master list of Italian courses provided in the Guide.
¹ Only 1 Literature in Translation course can count towards the Italian Major.
² Students must complete the Italian Foundational Courses (101 – 102 – 203 – 204) prior to beginning Italian major courses. This is done by taking the foundational courses or placing into a level beyond 101 and working up to the major courses. Some students might place directly into an Italian major course via the placement test or from AP / transfer credit.
Students can apply 6 to 15 credits from a UW study abroad program towards the Italian Major.
Students should review all the Italian major requirements provided in the Guide prior to declaring, including the Residence and Quality of Work requirements.
How are the NEW Italian Major Requirements different?
Students now have more flexibility with the Italian major. Here are the changes:
- IT 230, IT 311, IT 312, IT 321, and IT 322 are no long all required for the Italian major. Students now select 3 of these 5 courses to complete the required courses for the major.
- Students now complete 15 elective credits instead of 9 credits giving students more freedom to choose preferred courses to complete the Italian major.
- One Literature in Translation course can now count towards the Italian major where it previously was not an option.
Outcomes of the Italian Major
Having completed an undergraduate major in Italian, you will be able to:
Skills
- Demonstrate understanding and ability to analyze literary and non-literary texts in Italian representing a broad spectrum of topics, time periods, and geographical regions
- Express yourself effectively in spoken and written Italian to inform, persuade, and narrate for different audiences of listeners, viewers, or readers
- Express yourself effectively in spoken and written Italian to share information, reactions, and opinions related to a broad spectrum of topics and texts
Knowledge
- Recognize and explain cultural artifacts, practices, and perspectives of the Italian-speaking world including how these cultural elements relate to literary and non-literary texts in Italian
- Demonstrate a good degree of understanding of lexical, grammatical, syntactic, and stylistic features of the Italian language
Dispositions
- Demonstrate awareness of difference and diversity by comparing and contrasting culturally situated beliefs, behaviors, and norms of the Italian-speaking world with your own
- Engage in a sustained fashion with the Italian language, its users, and cultural artifacts in and beyond the classroom, e.g., in your own community, virtual communities, and study abroad
Italian Certificate Requirements¹
15 total credits beyond Italian 204 or Italian 205²
Required Courses (6 credits), select two courses from:
- Italian 230
- Italian 311
- Italian 312
- Italian 321
- Italian 322
Elective Courses (9 credits)¹
- Students can choose electives¹ from the master list of Italian courses provided in the Guide.
¹ Only 1 Literature in Translation course can count towards the Italian Certificate.
² Students must complete the Italian Foundational Courses (101 – 102 – 203 – 204) prior to beginning Italian certificate courses. This is done by taking the foundational courses or placing into a level beyond 101 and working up to the certificate courses. Some students might place directly into an Italian certificate course via the placement test or from AP / transfer credit.
Students can apply 3 to 6 credits from a UW study abroad program towards the Italian Certificate.
Students should review all the Italian certificate requirements provided in the Guide prior to declaring, including the Residence and Quality of Work requirements.
How are the NEW Italian Certificate Requirements different?
Students now have more flexibility with the Italian certificate. Here are the changes:
- The main change to the Italian certificate is that IT 230 is now among the list of options for the required courses. Therefore, students select two required courses from the following courses: IT 230, IT 311, IT 312, IT 321, and IT 322.
- Students still need to complete 9 credits of elective courses.
- One Literature in Translation course can still count towards the Italian certificate.
Click here for L&S Undergraduate 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. 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.
ITALIAN 101:
- Attend three screenings at the UW Cineteca OR attend 3 Italian Club events OR attend 3 campus lectures sponsored/approved by the Italian department. Meet with your instructor to present a short summary of the three films / events (who were the characters, what happened, what is your opinion on the films/events) in Italian (a 5 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW in which you present a short summary of the three films / events. You must also write a 3-4-page paper in English in which you describe what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned from the films/events. NB: These extra-curricular events when attended for the honors project will NOT count towards extra credit points.
- Research a topic related to Italian literature, history, art, politics, music, or culture in general (preferably something that we discussed already in class). Meet with your instructor to present your findings in Italian (a 5 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW. Then write a 3-4-page paper in English in which you explain why you chose your topic (what drew you to it?) and what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned in preparing this topic.
ITALIAN 102:
- Attend three screenings at the UW Cineteca OR attend 3 Italian Club events OR attend 3 campus lectures sponsored/approved by the Italian department. Meet with your instructor to present a short summary of the three films / events (who were the characters, what happened, what is your opinion on the films/events) in Italian (a 5 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW in which you present a short summary of the three films / events. You must also write a 2-page paper in Italian in which you describe what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned from the films/events. NB: These extra-curricular events when attended for the honors project will NOT count towards extra credit points.
- Research a topic related to Italian literature, history, art, politics, music, or culture in general (preferably something that we discussed already in class). Meet with your instructor to present your findings in Italian (a 5 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW. Then write a 2-page paper in Italian in which you explain why you chose your topic (what drew you to it?) and what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned in preparing this topic.
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 a deadline for the final product. OR A brief description of the topic of the project, sources to be examined, and deadline for the final product.
Copies of the agreed-upon proposal (which are signed and dated by the student) should be shared electronically with the TA, student, and course chair before work on the project begins.
ITALIAN 203 – 204
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 workload of Italian 203 or Italian 204. 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.
ITALIAN 203:
Attend 4 screenings at the UW Cineteca OR attend 4 total Italian Club events AND/OR campus lectures sponsored/approved by the Italian department. Meet with your instructor to present a short summary of the 4 films / events (who were the characters, what happened, what is your opinion on the films/events) in Italian (a 5-8 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW in which you present a short summary of the three films / events. You must also write a 4-page paper in Italian in which you describe both what you attended and what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned from the films/events. NB: These extra-curricular events when attended for the honors project will NOT count towards extra credit points.
- Research a topic related to Italian literature, history, art, politics, music, or culture in general (preferably something that we discussed already in class). Meet with your instructor to present your findings in Italian (a 5-8 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW. Then write a 4-page paper in Italian in which you explain why you chose your topic (what drew you to it?) and what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned in preparing this topic. NB: This research project cannot be the same topic as the final oral exam project for Italian 203.
ITALIAN 204:
- Attend four screenings at the UW Cineteca or watch 4 Italian films (chosen in consultation with the instructor) and write 4 analytical essays (2 pages each) in Italian based on the movies, with emphasis on cultural content. NB: Screenings at the Cineteca when attended for the honors project will NOT count towards extra credit points.
- Research a topic related to Italian literature, history, art, politics, music, or culture in general (preferably something that we discussed already in class). Meet with your instructor to present your findings in Italian (a 5-8 minute one-on-one oral presentation) OR record a video to share with your classmates on Learn@UW. Then write a 6-page paper in Italian in which you explain why you chose your topic (what drew you to it?), your overall findings, and what new or surprising information regarding Italian life/culture you learned in preparing this topic. NB: This research project cannot be the same topic as the final oral exam project for Italian 204.
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 a deadline for the final product. OR A brief description of the topic of the project, sources to be examined, and deadline for the final product.
Copies of the agreed-upon proposal (which are signed and dated by the student) should be shared electronically with the TA, student, and course chair before work on the project begins.
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
UW in Bologna
Fully immerse yourself in the Italian culture, improve your language skills, and spend your academic year or semester engaged in courses with Italian students at the University, and other BCSP participants in consortium classes.
This program is ideal if you’re looking for an academically rich study abroad experience with an introduction to Italian language. In Florence, the renowned history of Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, the Medici, and Botticelli will become part of your daily experience.
Umbra Institute Italian Language and Culture
On this program, you will be intentionally immersed in an Italian language and culture experience.
This program will help you navigate new educational systems, observe Italian perspectives on academic disciplines and daily life, and deepen cross cultural understanding through site visits and educational tours.
This experience will help you strengthen your language skills, and allow you to discover a distinctly American learning experience while being enriched by Rome and the international faculty and student population.
Experience Milan through the Italian Today track of this IES program.
INTERNSHIPS
Explore Internships Abroad.
Italian Club
An avenue to expand interest, knowledge, and enjoyment of Italy and Italian culture. See FRIT calendar for meeting dates. Contact Loren Eadie for more information.
Italian Ambassadors
Ambassadors are students who want to be more involved with the department’s Italian community. They assist in promotion of events, do classrooms presentations about courses or events, and are top notch representatives of our Italian program. Contact Loren Eadie for more information.
Cineteca Italiana
Weekly Italian film screenings with English subtitles are held in the fall and spring semesters. The event is free and open to anyone who would like to attend. Information will be posted on the FRIT calendar.
Cena Italiana
Every April, the Italian Club and Ambassadors gather to create a delicious Italian meal for la Cena Italiana. Tickets are sold for this event and is open to all while seats last. Information will be posted on the FRIT calendar.
Italian Language Foundation
In 2008, The Italian Language Foundation, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, was founded to support and promote Italian language education in the United States. Memberships to join are free to students and allow access to membership benefits. Each semester they offer Fellowships to students enrolled in a college Italian language class. Students are not required to declare a certificate or major in Italian to qualify. Fellowships offer $1,000 per semester and renewable for up to 3 years. To learn more about Fellowship eligibility requirements, please see the website: https://italianlanguagefoundation.org/web/join-ilf/students/.
Italian Workmen’s Club Scholarship
The Italian Workmen’s Club (IWC) is a men’s club of Italian heritage. The IWC has been in existence since 1912 and was started by Italian immigrants living in the Regent Street area of Madison. The IWC’s mission is to preserve and promote the history, culture, language and traditions of Italians and Italian Americans and to express appreciation for and support the understanding of their impact in Madison.
The IWC will award one $2,000 scholarship and one $1,000 scholarship to a student of Italian spending at least a semester studying abroad in Italy. Preference will be given to:
- Students pursuing a Major in Italian or a Certificate in Italian at the UW-Madison (any student who has declared the Italian Major or the Italian Certificate by November 2025).
- Students planning their first study-abroad experience in Italy.
- Students with at least a 3.0 GPA.
- All students are encouraged to apply.
Deadline: November 7, 2025
Application:
Applicants need to submit a letter (2 pages maximum) providing information about themselves, their Italian heritage (if applicable), their goals for studying abroad in Italy, their academic interests and future career plans. Send the letter by email, with subject line “IWC Scholarship Application,” as an attachment to Mr. Joe Tripalin at jptripalin@gmail.com.
Recipient Obligation:
The successful recipient will be notified in December 2025 and will receive their scholarships from the IWC to help offset study abroad expenses. At the end of the semester abroad, the successful recipient agrees to an in-person update for the IWC members and to send a one-two page final report about their study experience in Italy to IWC by email (jptripalin@gmail.com).
Language Connect
…is a new student organization designed to bring together students from diverse backgrounds to practice and improve their language skills through regular meetups.
Each member of Language Connect will be paired or grouped based on the languages they speak and want to learn. Meetings will be held in a relaxed setting to chat, support each other’s learning, and build friendships across cultures.
Sign up to be a tutee here, or volunteer to be a tutor here!
Reach out to Fiona Freeman if you have questions: ffreeman@wisc.edu
Italian Tutors
The Department provides a list of Italian tutors & translators as a service to students and our community. We unfortunately cannot offer any particular references other than the names and information provided on this list. The Department of French & Italian assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions in the content of the Italian tutors & translators page, the quality of work, or any eventual financial arrangements or transactions made by/with persons.