Italian
The Italian program at UW provides a comprehensive environment for students to learn the language, to immerse the students in the Italian culture.
Program Overview
Degree availability: Minor
Years offered: 2 years
Contact: Irina Markina-Baum (imarkina@uw.edu)
A brief video introduction to the UW Italian Program
Scholarships
- French/Italian- and Study Abroad- Specific Scholarships
- UW Study Abroad Scholarships
- Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship
- The Going Abroad Scholarship
- National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Annual Scholarship Program
- National Leadership Grants from the Order of the Sons of Italy in America
Study Aboard
Departmental Programs
- Italian/Cinema Studies Rome: Framing Rome
- Italian Studies Perugia: Art & Food in the Green Heart of Italy
Other Study Abroad Programs
- Anthropology Rome The Culture and Politics of Food in Italy
- Architecture in Rome: Roman Palimpsest
- Art and Art History in Rome: Materials Making Meaning
- Art Italy: Studio Art in Rome
- Biobehavioral Health Italy – Wellness in the World: Food, Community, and Well-Being
- Biology Rome: Ecology of the Mediterranean Sea
- CHID Legacies of Empires: Power & Diversity in Rome, Vienna & Budapest
- CIEE Arts, Architecture and Design in Florence, Italy
- CIEE Open Campus
- CIEE Semester in Florence, Italy
- CIEE Semester in Rome, Italy
- CIEE Summer in Florence, Italy
- CIEE Summer in Rome
- Classics Rome: The Ancient Roman City
- Economics Departmental Exchange with University of Bozen-Bolzano (Exchange)
- Engineering Italy: Engineering Fundamentals in the Eternal City
- Foster School Undergraduate Exchange with Bocconi University (Exchange)
- Freshmen Study Abroad Rome: Travel Writing in the Eternal City
- Honors Drama Rome: Staging the City – Rome and the Performance of Power
- Honors Rome: Mediterranean Crossings
- IES Abroad Milan – Business Studies
- IES Abroad Milan – Full-Time Semester Internship
- JSIS/LSJ Rome: Human Rights Task Force/Applied Research
- Landscape Architecture Rome: Speculative Histories & Imagined Futures in the Eternal City
- Law School Departmental Exchange with University of Roma Tre (Exchange)
- LSJ/Pol S Rome: Comparative Legal Cultures and Individual Rights: Italy, US and Europe
- Music Rome: Traditional and Popular Music of Italy
- Public Health Italy: “La Dolce Vita” – Exploring Italy in search of food, history, and the future of sustainable food systems
- Rome in Residence
- Studio Art Rome: Interweavings
- Urban Design & Planning Italy: The Sustainable Landscape – History, Culture, & Agriculture in Tuscany
- UW Tacoma IAS Italy: Under the Italian Sun – Journeys in Italy
Internship
Course Information
Course Catalog
Modern Language Courses
- ITAL 101/102/103: Elementary Italian
- ITAL 201/202/203: Intermediate Italian
Advanced Courses
- ITAL 301: Advanced Italian Language through Contemporary Culture
- ITAL 327: Advanced Conversation
Classical Language Courses
Literature, Culture, and Linguistics Courses
- ITAL 250: Rome
- ITAL 260: Fashion, Nation, and Culture
- ITAL 270: Italian Culture Through Food
- ITAL 302: Italian Cultural Traditions
- ITAL 356: Italian Society in Film and Literature
- ITAL 357: Race in Italy: Inventing Others in the Early Modern World
Summer Intensive Language Courses
- ITAL 111: Accelerated First-Year Italian
- ITAL 134: Intensive First-Year Italian
- ITAL 234: Intensive Second-Year Italian
Foreign Study
- ITAL 199 Foreign Study – Elementary
- ITAL 299: Foreign Study – Intermediate
Having some level of bilingualism and having some mastery of a non-English language was intellectually valuable.
Faculty's Recent Research
Publications
- Dante, dalla giovinezza all’esilio: la Vita Nova e il Convivio
- Navigating Gendered, Racialized, and Migrant Identities: Senegalese Women Artists’ Reflections on Learning Italian in Rome.
- The Senegalese diaspora in Rome: Romanesco and other nonstandard varieties in the face of standard language ideologies.
- Inclusive pedagogies in Italian studies: Using sociolinguistic data to decolonise the curriculum.
- Treasures of the Lilly Library: The Poole 26 Historia Griseldis.
More About Italian
🌍Global
- Spoken by 85+ million people worldwide.
- Official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, and the Vatican.
📚Learning
- Known for its clear pronunciation and close ties to art and culture, making it accessible to learners.
🏛️Culture & Diplomacy
- Italian is a key language of art, music, and history, used in global cultural institutions.
- Widely studied for its influence in opera, design, and the humanities.
✈️Travel & Career
- Useful when traveling in Italy and parts of Europe with strong Italian communities.
- Opens doors to study abroad opportunities, scholarships, and careers in fashion, design, tourism, and the arts.
Discover More with the Italian Department
Open doors to new cultures, careers, and global opportunities.
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Pizza
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Milan Church
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Pisa tower
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Colosseum