(Clicca qui per la versione italiana.)

Welcome to the website for the Department of Italian Studies, in the College of Letters and Science, University of California, Berkeley. The Department’s illustrious history dates back to the 1920s and its faculty, permanent and visiting, present and past, includes some of the most distinguished scholars and representatives of Italy, its language, literature, history, and culture. The Department is widely acknowledged to be one of the leaders and innovators in our field in North America and internationally. While the Department still has strong roots in its traditional mission of teaching and promoting the language and literature of Italy, it has broadened its scope to include multiple disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives and to view the country, its language, and its peoples in regional, national, European, Mediterranean, and even global contexts, from the Middle Ages and Renaissance down to the present day. With a core faculty of six, plus eight affiliated professors with primary appointments in other departments, numerous visitors (including the distinguished Chair of Italian Culture and the Ringrose Lecturer) as well as skilled lecturers and teaching assistants, Italian Studies serves a thriving PhD program, an interdisciplinary major and minor, and a range of general education courses taught in English. We offer courses open not only to UC and other college and university students, but also to interested members of the public, whether advanced high school students or returning adults. We annually sponsor and co-sponsor a range of events, some on specialized academic topics, others of more general interest, most open to the public, including lectures, conferences, film screenings, among others. We sponsor and support study abroad programs in Italy during the regular academic year and in the summer.

Detailed information on the Department, its faculty and students, academic programs, events, as well as links to other organizations and resources concerned with things Italian, is available throughout this website. Questions may be addressed, by email or phone, to the appropriate administrative staff person or faculty officer, or may be sent to issa@berkeley.edu. N.B. administrative staff members do not read or speak Italian, so any communications to them should be made in English. Queries in the Italian language should be addressed to the department chair.