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Italian Studies Home

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Benvenuti!! Welcome to the Italian Studies section of the Department of Romance, German, Russian Languages and Literatures at California State University, Long Beach, home of the George L. Graziadio Center for Italian Studies!

The Italian Bachelor of Arts Program exists thanks to an agreement between the Italian American community of Southern California and California State University, Long Beach. Their combined efforts led to the establishment of the program itself as well as the Center for Italian Studies, named in honor of Mr. George Graziadio. The founding gift made by George and Reva Graziadio speaks to their desire to foster Italian Studies in Southern California. Since 2001 the Center has promoted the diffusion of Italian language, culture, and civilization through a variety of cultural events (lectures, conferences, film screenings, etc.) related to Italian and Italian American Studies. Additionally, the Center offers scholarships for study abroad in Italy. The Center’s events offer students and the community the opportunity to experience Italian and Italian American culture through programs that are held in collaboration with Italian and Italian American institutions and organizations in Southern California.

Italian is one of the largest growing languages to be taught in high schools, colleges and universities in The United States. The growing popularity of Italian is a result of Italy’s status on the world stage: from its historic past, contributions to humanity and innovations that have and continue to inspire the world. Italy combines the best of tradition and innovation in ways that have made Italy a leader in the arts, humanities, and fashion, but also industrial design and manufacture.  Italy’s increasing globalized market makes the knowledge of Italian language and culture an invaluable asset.

WHY STUDY ITALIAN?

  • Italy is one of the top five economies in the world, and many employers are seeking people who speak both Italian and English. An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy, including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, Citibank, and Price Waterhouse Coopers. Many Italian firms have offices in the U.S., of which many are in California according to the website of the Italian-American Chamber of Commerce

 

  • Knowing Italian is greatly beneficial in several career fields. Italy is a world leader in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, furniture design, machine tool manufacturing, robotics, electromechanical machinery, shipbuilding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment.

 

  • Italy's cultural importance spans from antiquity through the present, of which the Roman period and the Renaissance are perhaps the two most influential moments.

 

  • According to UNESCO, over 60% of the world's art treasures are found in Italy. Some of the most famous Western artists, from Giotto to Michelangelo, were Italian. Knowledge of Italian is vital to understand the contexts of this art.

 

  • Italian literature boasts some of the world's most famous writers and thinkers, from Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch and Machiavelli, to Verga, Svevo, Pirandello, and Gramsci, to name a few.

 

  • Since Roman times, Italy has exported its literature and culture to other parts of Europe and beyond, in the areas of Latin literature, Romanitas, humanism, opera, film, science, political thought, fashion, design, and cuisine. Knowing Italian allows you to understand, appreciate, and analyze this treasury of human expression.

 

  • Italy has the cultures, landscapes, and histories to fill a lifetime of investigation. Knowing Italian places you in a position to explore Italy's past and present from the most fulfilling vantage point.

We are proud to be the only university in The State of California to offer a Single-Subject Credential in Teaching of Italian as well as Minor and Bachelor of Arts degree programs in Italian Studies.  Our partnership with the local Italian and Italian American Communities has resulted in the creation of the George L. Graziadio Center of Italian Studies. Together, they promote the diffusion of Italian language, culture and civilization through a variety of academic and cultural events featuring prominent scholars and authors in the fields of Italian and Italian American Studies.

Our goal is to assist students in the attainment of linguistic and socio-cultural competencies in Italian language, literature and culture in order to communicate effectively to speakers of Italian. We strongly encourage our students to study abroad through the CSU Study Center in Florence, Italy or through the direct exchange with Ca’ Foscari, the University of Venice, or  on their own at universities in Italy such as those in Perugia and Siena, among many others.

Italian Studies cultivates interdisciplinary teaching and learning methods in order to ensure the broadest possible application across the many fields that incorporate and Italian component. Our students are trained for jobs in the academic and non-academic worlds alike. We offer a full range of courses in Italian language, literature, and culture, from elementary language classes to graduate courses. In the following pages, you will find information about our undergraduate programs, our faculty and their areas of expertise, events such as lectures and cultural exchanges, as well as our extra-curricular student organization, Club Italia.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Useful Links

Why Study Italian
CSULB Catalog
Teaching Credential
Learn more about Italian here

Program Director and
Undergraduate Advisor

Dr. Clorinda Donato
clorinda.donato@csulb.edu