Teaching
Students will be exposed to a variety of teaching methodologies through coursework, mentoring and workshops, and will gain teaching experience by serving in different roles in our undergraduate program.
Opportunity to teach in the Rome Program
Each Autumn, one graduate student is selected to serve as Graduate Assistant in the University of Chicago’s Program in Rome (from late September to mid-December). The Graduate Assistant teaches one Italian language class as well as receiving valuable coordinating experience. Compensation includes: transportation to and from Rome, accommodations, stipend, and per diem.
International Exchanges and Interdisciplinary Engagement
In addition to the primary field in Italian Studies, all of our PhD students create an individual course of study in a secondary field, which can be in a second romance literature or in another discipline. By defining their own path of study while acquiring a rigorous grounding in their chosen fields, students develop the skills and versatility necessary to adapt and succeed in an evolving profession.
The University of Chicago’s graduate workshops are a hallmark of graduate study at this University. These workshops provide opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange among students and faculty across the University. PhD students participate in and coordinate these forums for sustained interdisciplinary exchange among students and faculty.
Fulbright Chair in Italian Studies
Each Spring we enrich our course offerings by hosting a professor affiliated with an Italian University, selected through the Fulbright program. Previous Fulbright visiting professors include Roberto Antonelli (università La Sapienza), Massimo Fusillo (università dell’Aquila), Margherita Ganeri (università della Calabria), Claudio Giunta (università di Trento), Guido Mazzoni (università di Siena), Serena Sapegno (università La Sapienza), Gianni Celati, and Carlo Ginzburg.
Research Resources
- University of Chicago hosts the OVI (Opera del Vocabolario Italiano) a textual database containing 1960 vernacular texts (22.3 million words, 456,000 unique forms) the majority of which are dated prior to 1375. The OVI together with its French counterpart, ARTFL, make the University of Chicago one of the premier centers for Digital Humanities. A longstanding collaboration with the Accademia della Crusca and Notre Dame University, the OVI offers a select number of research assistantships for students wishing to develop skills in the area of digital humanities.
- The Italian Women Writers project (IWW) is a long-term research endeavor to preserve and provide access to an extensive corpus of literature written by Italian women authors. It currently includes authors from the 13th century until 1945. Graduate students regularly serve as assistants for the database.
- The University of Chicago Library. One of the largest research libraries in North America, with 12.6 million volumes in print and electronic form, the Library holds a vast collection of French and Francophone printed materials, manuscripts, rare books, journal holdings, databases and microfilm sets, and provides extensive support for developing personal research skills.
Mentorship and Professional Development
Each year the Italian graduate students produce in close collaboration with a faculty member a volume of an edited texts, translations, or original essays, published in the Susan and Donald Mazzoni series with Longo Editore. This year-long collaborative seminar provides students with a scholarly skill set that goes well beyond what can be learned in the classroom: firsthand experience in preparing a work for publication.