1. Apply to Graduate Admissions, 2240 University Center, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida (32306-1009) for forms and Catalog. 

2. Requirements: Baccalaureate or equivalent, complete and acceptable academic transcripts ("good standing"); GPA (of last two baccalaureate years) of at least 3.00 on a 4-point system, or Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Aptitude score (Verbal and Quantitative) of 1000 or higher; Departmental approval, consisting of the collective appraisal of members of the Italian Division submitted for appropriate action to the Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Foreign nationals must pass the TOEFL English language test with a minimum score of 550; GPA and GRE requirements are not waived for them. 

3. The GRE Examination: Verbal and Quantitative is recommended to applicants for teaching assistantships. They are required of applicants for scholarships or fellowships. To register for the GRE examination, write: Educational Testing Service, 20 Nassau Street, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540 (for FSU students write Evaluation Services, 2240 University Center). A ten percent exemption to GPA or GRE criteria may be granted by the University to the departments. 

4. Students from abroad who received or expect to receive financial aid from Florida State University (fellowship or assistantship) must apply for a US visa as Exchange Visitors (J-1 visa) certified by the "host" department. All foreign nationals must be processed through the International Admissions Office, Florida State University, 2240 University Center, and must apply at least six months prior to the first day of classes of the semester they wish to attend. 

5. After two consecutive semesters of absence, or after having received a degree from the Florida State University, or after having been registered "for examination only" expecting but failing to complete a degree, any student who wishes to resume studies or candidacy or undertake a subsequent graduate program at the Florida State University must apply to the Registrar for readmission and must secure the formal approval of the Department. 

Supplementary Programs: 

Principal supplementary programs offered by the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics include: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Linguistics, Portuguese, Russian, Slavic and Spanish. 
 

Graduate teaching assistantships are available. Graduate assistants pursue their studies on a basis which will normally require about two years to complete the M.A. program. Continuation or renewal of Divisional assistantships depends upon maintaining a satisfactory academic and teaching record as well as upon making satisfactory progress towards completion of the degree sought. 

Graduate University fellowships are available on a competitive basis to a limited number of students (for mor information see the FSU Office of Graduate Studies). Additional financial assistance may be furnished by Work Study assistance. Other forms of financial aid are available through the Financial Aid Office. 

Registration fees must be paid by all except fellows. Out-of-state tuition may be waived for both fellows and teaching assistants. Eligibility for consideration for any grant-in-aid for a given academic year depends first and foremost on admission to graduate status at the Florida State University and second on the qualifications documented in the application for assistantships submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics, Florida State University. Graduate teaching assistantships are subject to federal income tax, whereas University fellowships are not. Florida has no state income tax. Deadline for complete applications for fellowships is February 1 for teaching assistantships, the deadline is February 15. TA appointments usually are made in the Spring for the following academic year beginning in the Fall. 
 
 

General

Graduate credits are normally taken in 5000-level courses or above. 

Full-time enrollment of 12 hours per semester is required. For teaching assistants, this requirement is modified. Teaching assistants usually teach 12 hours (three courses) in two consecutive semesters, 4 hours (1 course) in one semester and 8 hours (2 courses) in the other. 

Students with a teaching assistantship must register each semester they teach for ITA 5940, Teaching Practicum. This registration may be for 0 hours, at no cost, or may be for as many as 6 semester hours per semester. Only 3 hours of this course, however, will count toward the M.A. degree. 

A grade average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) or better must be maintained. 

A graduate student should see that a Major Professor and Supervisory Committee are appointed as soon as possible. Until they are appointed, graduate students are counseled by the Divisional Coordinator, who is the Divisional Representative on the Graduate Program Committee of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. 

Progressive steps toward the completion of the degree requirements are reported by signed Warrants ("Certification of Graduate Exams and Degrees") to the Associate Chair for Graduate Affairs, for Departmental recording and transmittal to appropriate University officials.

The Program

The interdisciplinary graduate program in Italian Studies focuses on the critical study of Italy and its contributions to Western Civilization. The Italian division within the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics offers a unique Master’s degree in Italian Studies that allows students to combine in their individualized programs a wide range of courses from such related areas as Italian language, Italian literature, Art History, Humanities, Classics, Communications, Economics, English, Film, French, Spanish, German, Interior Design, International Affairs, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, History of Text Technologies, and Theater.

In order to facilitate such a broad array of possible student interests, the M.A. in Italian Studies provides as a core faculty one of the largest Italian faculties in the Southeast.The Italian faculty’s areas of expertise include the Trecento, Renaissance, Baroque, nineteenth and twentieth century Italian literature, cultural studies, Romanticism, translation theory, Italian-American Studies, comparative literature, feminist studies, nineteenth and twentieth century French literature, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century German history and culture, Italian language pedagogy, and literary theory. The thesis M.A. program requires a minimum of 30 credit hours including thesis credit, and the non-thesis program requires a minimum of 32 credit hours.

Our students are encouraged to present their most outstanding research papers at both regional and national conferences. In recent years our graduates in the Italian Studies program have been accepted for admission to doctoral programs in Romance Languages, Italian, and comparative literature at such institutions as the University of Pennsylvania, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, Indiana University, the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin, Rutgers University, Harvard University, the University of Toronto, and the City University of New York. Other recent graduates of our Italian Studies program have gone directly from our program into language teaching at the college and high school levels.

M.A. Degree

The M.A. Supervisory Committee consists of the student’s Major Professor, one Minor Professor (if any), and two other faculty members from the major field. All of those must hold Master’s Directive Status. 

No M.A. candidate may apply more than 6 semester hours of 4000 level undergraduate courses for graduate credit. If acceptable to the Minor Professor, some courses (no more than 6 semester hours) on the 4000-level in the minor field may be counted toward the M.A. degree. 

Before taking the M.A. Comprehensive Examination, a formal Program of Studies must be prepared by the candidate, for the approval of the Major Professor, Minor Professor (if any), and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. The M.A. in Italian Studies entails an array of selected core courses. This core will include three (3) semester credit hours in Italian Culture and Civilization (ITA 5505), and six (6) semester hours of credit in Italian literature or language courses at the 5000 level or above. This Program of Studies becomes a part of the student’s permanent record. 

Master’s Comprehensive Examination

The Master’s Comprehensive Examination is based on courses taken by the candidate and on the M.A. reading list. In the minor or related field(s), questions will be on course work only. Members of the examining committee will be appointed by the division coordinator. M.A. examination questions are expected to elicit substantive critical essays. Questions will be written within a period of eight hours (normally in two periods of four hours on consecutive days). 

An oral examination, approximately one week after the written portion, is required when the candidate has failed one or more sections of the written examination. 

It is the student’s responsibility to register for degree examinations during the regular registration period. In the semester the student expects to receive the degree, it is also the student’s responsibility to make all necessary arrangements with the Registrar’s Office concerning his/her diploma, fees, degree clearance, etc. 

Types of M.A. Degrees

The M.A. in Italian studies is an interdisciplinary program with core courses in Italian correlated with graduate courses from related area(s) of interest. Related areas might include: Art, Art History, Classics, Communications, Economics, English, Film, History, Humanities, Interior Design, International Affairs, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Religion, Theatre, Urban and Regional Planning. 

Thesis type: to qualify for a Master’s degree under this program, the student must complete a minimum of thirty (30) semester hours of credit including thesis credit. At least eighteen (18) of these hours must be taken on a letter grade basis. The student must submit an acceptable thesis, for which not less than three (3) nor more than six (6) semester hours of credit will be received. 

A prospectus of the thesis must be approved by the Supervisory Committee in advance of beginning the thesis itself. The thesis must be submitted in four copies to the Supervisory Committee at least two weeks before the Oral Defense of the thesis, which must be no less than two weeks prior to the date the candidate expects to receive the degree. 

After the thesis is approved and signed, two copies must be filed with the FSU (Strozier) Library, one with the Major Professor, and one with the Graduate Program Office of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. 

Course type: To qualify for a Master’s degree under this program, the student must complete a minimum of thirty-two (32) semester hours of course work. At least twenty-one (21) of these hours must be taken on a letter-grade basis. 

ITALIAN FACULTY

Dr. Raymond R. Fleming - Harvard, 1976: 
Italian Trecento; European Romanticism; Afro-American Studies 

Dr. William Leparulo - Dottore in Materie Letterarie, Italy, 1960: 
Modern Italian literature 

Dr Reinier Leushuis - Princeton:
16th-century French and Italian literature

Dr. Mark Pietralunga - UC-Berkeley, 1983: 
20th century Italian novel 
Divisional Coordinator

Dr. Irene Zanini-Cordi - UC-Berkeley, 2004:
Narrative Theory, Gender Theory
Renaissance and contemporary Italian literature and culture