Studying at the Department of Italian
Italian Studies explore the Italian language and culture comprehensively. The teaching of Italian began at the University of Turku, Faculty of Humanities in 1972. In 1981, the Academic Council of the University of Turku founded the chair of Italian Language and Literature. In the beginning, the department's focus was on teaching the Italian language and culture extensively – later it was extended to other scientific areas as well.
The research in the complex field of Italian studies focuses on the structures, development and pragmatic features of the language as well as on the various manifestations of Italian culture. Social issues and the differences between social structures and conventions, between Finland and Italy, are also central research and interest areas. The aim of the research is to conduct in-depth analyses of linguistic, literary, social and cultural phenomena from different viewpoints. The Department of Italian Studies in Turku is also the only one in Finland offering a course on authorised translation in the language pair Italian to Finnish. This gives the students a unique opportunity to become authorised translators once they have graduated, which entitles them to produce legally binding translations.
Degrees and courses at the Department of Italian Studies
The Department allows the student to take a far wider perspective on the study of Italian compared to what traditional classroom tuition has to offer, with diverse study opportunities and a wide selection of courses. During their studies, students become familiar with the Italian language and translation, as well as Italian culture, literature and history, in order to reach the highest proficiency levels of the CEFRL (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) in written and spoken skills in Italian. The studies in Italian include a 5 year-long programme, starting from the Bachelor’s degree (BA) in Italian, and proceeding to the Master’s degree (MA). The highest level of studies is represented by the Doctoral degree (PhD), part of the Doctoral School Utuling.
During the first three years of studies for the Bachelor’s degree, the students concentrate on developing their written and spoken skills in Italian, gain theoretical knowledge about the language and learn about the Italian culture, literary tradition, society and history.
In the fourth year of the studies, the students begin the Master’s-level studies, where they choose from one of the following specialisation tracks: a) teaching and learning languages, b) multilingual translation studies, or c) the language-expert specialisation track.
The Department of Italian Studies have many partnerships with Italian universities (Trieste, Catania, Firenze, Napoli, Udine, Bologna/Forlì, Padova, etc.) via the Erasmus and Coimbra networks that provide the students with excellent opportunities to complete part of their studies in Italy.
Information about the student admission: https://opintopolku.fi/wp/fi/
Information about individual courses: please check the Study Guide of the Faculty of Humanities
Information about Erasmus+ program: https://www.utu.fi/en/study-at-utu/international_office