Italian occupies a special position in Australia as a language of high culture and also a language spoken by one of the largest ethnic communities. Italian is also an official language of the European Union and of Switzerland.

Studying Italian gives access to rich European cultural traditions, from the Renaissance to the present, and to the language of great opera, film, architecture, fashion and industrial design.  Critical attention is given to cultural, social and historical aspects of Italy, and also to transcultural studies: Italy outside of Italy and recent migrations to Italy. Students develop language and critiquing skills in fields such as Italian sociolinguistics, cinema, music, gender studies, postcolonial, migration and women’s literature. The development of in-depth cross cultural awareness is thus synchronized with the acquisition of sophisticated language competence which will allow students to study at post / graduate level in Italian universities.

Learning outcomes

Graduates within the Italian Studies Minor will have the knowledge and skills to:

• Critique historical and cultural events related to Italian and its associated cultures and societies in a cross-cultural perspective
• Engage with authentic media such as Italian news, movies or music by analysing and evaluating their content.
• Identify and differentiate aspects and issues of the cultures and societies associated with the Italian language
• Specialise on particular aspects of Italian culture, music, cinema, literature, art, history and society
• Communicate in academic settings and with proficient Italian speakers
• Read, comprehend and infer authors’ meanings in newspapers, magazines, literary and critical texts written in Italian.
• Write texts in Italian in the appropriate genre, with correct grammatical structures and thematic vocabulary relevant to the level of the student.