Undergraduate 2013

A place to inspire you / An approach to challenge you


Italian

Key facts
Start year: 2013
Location: Canterbury
Award/s: BA (Hons)
Type: Full-time and part-time
Options: Year abroad

With Italy continually proving herself as a cornerstone in culture, art and history across Europe, you cannot help but be inspired to learn the language. By learning Italian, you give yourself a tool to explore this cultural richness and to open your eyes to its Roman heritage, the Renaissance, modern architecture, fashion and car design. It is a hugely popular language spoken not only in its home country, but also by over 15 million people in Switzerland, North America and Australia.

Italian was one of the first language departments created at Kent and we are proud to offer a course of study which gives you the opportunity to learn Italian to a high standard and gain real insight into Italian culture, literature and society. The course covers topics such as the history of Italian literature, 19th and 20th-century Italian fiction, Fascism, neorealist and post-neorealist cinema, modernism, gender studies and women writers. You can study Italian at Kent whether you have an A level or GCSE in Italian, or as a beginner. You can study either full-time or part-time.

The majority of the Italian teaching staff are native speakers and there are usually a number of exchange students within the department, so you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the language. This is supplemented by excellent technical facilities, including three satellite TV channels, videos, DVDs and computer-assisted language learning.

Modules

Stage 1

Core modules
  • Learning Italian 1 (Beginners) or
  • Learning Italian 3C (Post A level)
  • Writing Italy Through the Centuries
  • History of Italian Cinema: The Legacy of Neo-realism

Plus required modules for your other joint honours subject.

Stage 2/3

Core modules
  • Learning Italian 2 (Intermediate) or Learning Italian 4 (Advanced 1)
  • Learning Italian 5 (Advanced 2)
Options

You can choose from the following modules:

  • Art and Architecture of the Renaissance
  • Catching the Tide: Cultural Renewal in 20th-Century Italy
  • Dogs, Devils and Demons: Images of Hell in Virgil and Dante
  • Italian Cinema and Literature
  • Italian Dissertation
  • Italian Extended Essay
  • Italian Landscapes of Poetry: Nature, Eroticism and Poetics
  • Italian Short Story
  • Learning Italian through Literature
  • Midnight in the Century: Fascism in Film and Literature
  • Women Writers of the 20th Century.

Plus required modules for your other joint honours subject.

Year abroad

You normally spend the year abroad (if Italian is your only modern language subject) at one of our exchange universities in Italy – Bologna, Parma, Pavia or Salerno. Alternatively, you can opt to work as an English language assistant in an Italian school.

Teaching and assessment

Teaching is by lectures and seminars. We have extensive technical facilities, including three satellite TV channels, video and DVDs and computer-assisted language learning.

Depending on the modules you select, assessment throughout all stages of the course varies from 100% coursework (extended essays or dissertation), to a combination of examination and coursework, in the ratio 50:50, 60:40, 70:30 or 80:20.

Entry requirements

Not sure? How about...
  • Cultural Studies
  • European Studies
  • French
  • Hispanic Studies

    • Offer levels

    Single honours: ABB at A level, IB Diploma 33 points inc 4 at HL or 5 at SL in a modern European language other than English or IB Diploma 16 points at HL in a modern European language other than English.

    Joint honours: ABB-BBB at A level, IB Diploma 33 points inc 4 at HL or 5 at SL in a modern European language other than English or IB Diploma 15 points at HL in a modern European language other than English.

    Required subjects

    Italian from beginner's level: GCSE modern European language (other than English) grade B.

    Italian from advanced level: A level Italian grade B.

    Careers

    The ability to speak another European language is a key asset in the global employment market, and many employers view a graduate with overseas study experience as more employable.

    Recent graduates have gone into teaching, translating and interpreting, marketing, journalism and publishing, working abroad.

    For more information on the services Kent provides to improve your employment prospects, go to www.kent.ac.uk/employability

    Further information

    Subject leaflet (pdf)

    School:

    Enquiries:

    T: +44 (0)1227 827272

    E: information@kent.ac.uk

    Publishing Office - © University of Kent

    The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NZ, T: +44 (0)1227 764000

    Last Updated: 08/11/2011