The Italian Program offers an M.A. degree program spanning many aspects of Italian studies including literature, politics and the visual arts. Our graduate course offerings cover all literary periods from the Middle Age to the contemporary. We encourage our graduate students to develop and hone their research skills and we support them in building a solid foundation for their future academic endeavors. They receive cutting-edge pedagogical training that make them better teachers and communicators, and that prepare them for a variety of professional paths.
M.A. students in Italian are encourage to explore other traditions and disciplines. They can enroll in courses offered by other language programs within the modern languages and linguistics department, and they can profit from our interdisciplinary collaborations with departments such as art history, English, classics, history, music and women’s studies.
Students holding a degree from our program have gone on to pursue Ph.D. degrees in Italian (at Harvard, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, among others) or in other disciplines (e.g., communication, law school, medical school, veterinary school). Some work in the fields of translation, import-export, K-12 education, instructional technologies, language instruction coordination, and study abroad programs.
ADMISSIONS
REQUIREMENTS: B.A. in Italian studies or equivalent for admission to the M.A. program; complete and acceptable ("good standing") academic transcripts; GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale; departmental approval, consisting of the collective appraisal of the program faculty. The application is then submitted to the associate chair for graduate studies for appropriate action. Please note that before beginning graduate work in Italian, a student usually has an undergraduate major or minor in Italian studies, but we also consider students from different disciplinary backgrounds. We recommend you contact the department’s graduate coordinator, Wendy Pigott (wpigott@fsu.edu - DIF 362B – (850) 644-8397) and the Italian studies program graduate adviser, professor Silvia Valisa (svalisa@fsu.edu – DIF 309) while you prepare your application.
For general university requirements and for information on how to submit an online application, see graduate admissions.
FINANCIAL AID
When applying for a master’s program in Italian studies, we encourage students to also apply for a teaching assistantship position as a language instructor in the Italian Program. The teaching assistantship comes with a full tuition waiver (covers main university costs) and a stipend (over 9 months) that allows students to self-fund through the two-year program. Every year, several summer teaching positions are also available for instructors.
In addition to teaching assistantships, graduate students in Italian are eligible for a range of scholarships and other awards, many of them supported by the Ada Belle Winthrop-King Memorial Fund. These include initial salary enhancements (up to $1,000 if student applies by the first application deadline, Jan. 15 every year) and research/conference travel funds.
MA DEGREES AND REQUIREMENTS
M.A. in Italian Studies
Requirements for the M.A. in Italian studies include course work and a final written comprehensive examination. A minimum of 32 semester hours in graduate courses (including minor, if any) must be earned and at least 21 of these must be taken for a letter grade.
Required courses include a distribution of coursework across the centuries. Courses are not offered as exam preparation; rather, course work provides the basis for the student to further synthesize and expand their knowledge during exam preparation.
M.A. Comprehensive Examination in Italian Studies
The Italian studies M.A. track concludes with a written M.A. comprehensive examination. The exam takes place in the last weeks of the spring semester (usually early April) and is based on the exam text list the candidate prepares with the members of their exam committee. The student will take three written exams which will cover three main disciplinary areas, established with the committee members. The detailed format for the M.A. comprehensive examination is outlined in the Graduate Studies Handbook.