Contacts: Barnaby Nygren, Associate Professor of Fine Arts (Art History); Giuliana Risso-Robberto, Lecturer of Modern Languages and Literatures (Italian)
Office: Maryland Hall, Room 461; College Center, Room W031
Telephone: 410‑617‑2926; 410‑617‑2885
Website: www.loyola.edu/academics/modern-languages/curriculum/minors/italian

The interdisciplinary Minor in Italian Studies improves student understanding of the complexities in contemporary Italy, while also engaging students in an unusually rich intellectual experience. It offers students a unique opportunity to experience first-hand the confluence of cultural and religious forces in the Italian peninsula. It not only speaks to the Jesuit mission to impart knowledge in the classroom, but also allows students who desire to pursue a better understanding of their faith to do so by living in the center of the Catholic tradition in Rome. While inspiring students to understand traditional Italian culture, this program also requires them to understand the cultural and political traditions that consistently extend beyond the peninsula, and even the Mediterranean, to effect cultural and economic exchanges between the Italian peninsula and the rest of the globe.

This program serves undergraduates majoring in a broad range of fields: liberal arts, science, social science, and business. The program follows a curriculum that utilizes current theory and practice, exposes students to cultural diversity, and strongly supports study abroad in the Italian environment to hone those skills. The minor contributes to the specific Loyola learning aims of intellectual excellence, critical understanding, eloquentia perfecta, diversity, aesthetics, and faith and mission.

The program advisor will work with each student to develop a coherent program of study, guide the student, and meet informally at least once a semester to assist the student in course selection and planning.