Italian at Warwick is a thriving, research-focused, and highly collegial department, with an excellent record in research and teaching. The Department enjoys close collaborations within Warwick, including the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance, the Eighteenth Century Centre, the Departments of History, Classics and Ancient History, History of Art, English, French, and German. Outside Warwick, the Department of Italian has established research connections with a number of UK institutes and universities; with institutions in Italy such as the Fondazione Agnelli, Villa I Tatti (Florence) and the Universities of Bologna, Venice Ca’ Foscari, Rome La Sapienza, Siena, and Turin; and with universities in the US and Australia.

The Department of Italian has seven full-time, permanent academic staff. At Graduate level, the Department currently supervises 12 PhD students, a postgraduate research population which is one of the largest in Italian in the UK. With Birmingham University we run a joint MA in Italian Studies, and within Warwick, an MA in Translation, Writing and Cultural Difference in collaboration with the English, French, and German Departments. We also have a strong presence in the MA in the Culture of the European Renaissance, run by Warwick’s Centre for the Study of the Renaissance.

Research Areas

Medieval and Renaissance Intellectual Culture

Research explores the reception of texts (especially Aristotle, Plato, and Dante) and ideas in the period, as well as their relationship with institutions of learning (e.g., universities, academies) and habits of reading (scribal and print culture). Particular genres considered include commentaries and translations, both in Latin and the vernacular. A new AHRC grant centred on the diffusion of Aristotle in the vernacular supports this area of research, which is linked with the Warburg Institute.

• see www.warwick.ac.uk/go/ren/projects/vernaculararistotelianism/ for more information
  

18th- and 19th-century Reading Cultures

This area explores the rise of the novel and the development of reading cultures in this period. Research addresses the work of canonical and more marginal authors of the period and traces the development of ideas and movements such as Romanticism, nationalism, and psychoanalysis, paying attention to routes of intellectual influence across western Europe. Questions related to literacy and the impact of technology on the formation of reading publics are central to this research.

The Literature of Migration and Mobility in 20th-century Italy

Research focuses on narrative texts associated with the movements of population within, out of, and into Italy since unification, particularly, the impact of such representations on models of Italian cultural and literary identity established within the confines of the nation-state. Literature related to different directions and periods of mobility is explored in the theoretical context of postcoloniality, ‘minor’ literature, and polylingualism. A number of inter-institutional collaborations have been established in this area.

Research Degrees

Warwick’s Department of Italian is recognised as one of the strongest in the UK and provides an outstanding research environment. The academic staff cover a broad range of topics in Italian Studies from 1250-present.

The Department of Italian was ranked third nationally overall in RAE 2008, with 60% of its research publications assessed as ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’; in terms purely of the proportion of its research publications awarded these top ratings, it was ranked second nationally. The Department’s research culture is distinctive for its thematic and chronological breadth, ranging from Dante to 21st-century italophone writing.

• More information on Research degrees in the Department of Italian
  

MA by Research (MAR)

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time

Students who already have a considerable base of knowledge, and who have a firm idea of where their interests lie, may choose the MA by Research.

This degree requires no coursework; the main focus is a dissertation of 40,000 words, which will be undertaken under the supervision of an appropriate member of staff. You will be encouraged to undertake relevant research-skills training and, where appropriate, further language study.

• More information on the MA by Research
  

MPhil/PhD

Duration: 3 years full-time, 5 years part-time

This degree requires no coursework; the main focus is a dissertation of 80,000 words, which will be undertaken under the supervision of an appropriate member of staff. You will be encouraged to undertake relevant research-skills training and, where appropriate, further language study. You may apply if you already have (or are finishing) an MA, you wish to pursue further research, and have a clear project in mind, which can be pursued under the direction of a Warwick staff member. Students are initially registered for the MPhil, and upon completion of a successful upgrade are placed on the track for the PhD.

• More information on the MPhil/PhD
  

Taught Master's Degree

MA in Italian Studies, Culture and Communication

Duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Places available: 15

This distinctive course is jointly taught by the Italian departments at the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick. You will have full access to the range of teaching and research expertise offered by a multidisciplinary team of 14 staff members, with particular strengths in medieval/renaissance and modern Italy. You will take four (including two core) modules and complete a dissertation of 12,000 words. Alongside modules in Italian literature and culture from the medieval period to the present, the programme includes research-skills training and practically oriented modules that develop the specific skills needed to teach language effectively. Graduates from the programme have gone on to work in academic research, teaching, journalism, publishing and translation, in the UK and Italy.

• More information on the MA in Italian Studies, Culture and Communication

Download prospectus entry

Prospectus Entry

Related Links:

Department of Italian Homepage

Postgraduate Study in Italian

MA by Research in Italian

Postgraduate Research Study in Italian

Fees and Funding:

Postgraduate Fees

Funding your study

“After completing my BA (French and Italian Studies), I decided to pursue postgraduate research on contemporary film. The Italian Department has an outstanding record for academic research, and provides excellent support and resources for Masters and Doctoral work, so, for me, there was no other choice.”

Dom Holdaway / PhD student / Italian

“Studying within the department of Italian has allowed me to contribute to a department led by research excellence. My supervisors have provided me with the guidance and advice I need to complete each phase of my PhD. The University provides excellent resources such as the Wolfson Research Exchange – a dedicated space within the library with seminar rooms and work areas where researchers across the university can discuss their research projects and network with each other. I have also been able to take advantage of dedicated training events for PhD students which have helped me to hone my research skills and become a better researcher. Warwick is a place where I enjoy being a member of the research community on both a departmental and University-wide level.”

Annunziata Videtta / PhD / Department of Italian Studies