The Italian Literature and Culture program offers an interdisciplinary exploration of Italy’s artistic, literary, and political traditions—from Dante to Ferrante, from medieval epic to global cinema. 

At Northwestern University, alongside two years of proficiency-oriented language training, students explore Italian history, culture, and society from the Middle Ages to the present day. The program offers a six-quarter long language sequence taught by trained experts, and a variety of courses (in English and Italian) exploring Italian culture taught by scholars in Italian studies, comparative literature, cinema and media studies. Recent offerings include courses in medieval and modern Italian literature, Italian cinema in a global perspective, critical theory, visual studies, and fashion studies.

The Italian program also puts special emphasis on Study Abroad programs, including the Bologna Consortial Studies Program, BU Padua Language & Liberal Arts Program, and SU Abroad Florence, as well as programs specifically tailored to students of economics, music, and classics. 

Double-counting note: Weinberg College prohibits double-counting a minor course toward some other major or minor, except where this is explicitly permitted in this catalog. Weinberg College does allow double-counting a minor course toward a general bachelor's degree requirement (i.e. degree requirements other than majors or minors). Other programs or schools may have their own restrictions that supersede this, so check the relevant parts of this catalog for possible limits.

Minor Requirements (6 units)

• No more than 3 Italian courses taught in English (see list under Italian Literature and Culture).
• At least 3 Italian courses at the 300 level.
• At least 1 course at the 300 level must be taught in Italian.

Note:

At least 3 courses need to be taken in the Italian program at Northwestern. Approval of up to 3 credits taken outside the Italian program at Northwestern (where the courses relate to some aspect of Italian culture) is at the discretion of the Program Director, and may either be credits earned on a study abroad program, or credits offered at Northwestern by other departments.

100-level courses do not count toward the minor.