Graduate Programs

General Admissions Information

I’m interested in your PhD program. Can you send me a printed bulletin?

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences no longer publishes a printed graduate bulletin, but all information regarding individual programs may be found at their website:

General Degree Requirements

Information for International Students

Fellowship Information

Admissions Information and Online Application

 

In response to the disruptions wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department of Italian  has elected to pause admissions for its PhD program for fall 2021. This one-year hiatus will allow us to provide our current students with additional support as they navigate the unanticipated needs that have arisen since the pandemic began. We are committed to devoting our full attention and support to our current doctoral students, and to mentoring them closely so that their research may recover as quickly as possible. We understand that this may be disappointing news to those seeking to begin doctoral study in the fall of 2021, but we believe that we have an abiding responsibility to the students whom we have admitted in the past, and whose success must be secured to the best of our capabilities. Prospective PhD applicants are encouraged to apply in 2021 for admission in fall 2022. Our stand-alone Master’s program remains open to new students for the fall of 2021; the application for MA programs will go online on September 20, 2020. We thank you for your understanding, and wish you the best in all your endeavors.  

Admissions:

GSAS admission information

Those who have obtained the M.A. in Italian at Columbia will be considered for admission to the PhD program only upon submission of a separate PhD application.

For the Free-Standing M.A. Degree

The program is designed to permit a well-prepared student to obtain the M.A. degree within one academic year of full-time-study.

Courses: A total of ten one-term courses (two Residence Units): (1) eight graduate literature/culture courses within the department taken for a letter grade, of which at least three must be in the period before 1600 and at least three in the period after 1600; substitutions of courses from other departments must be approved by the DGS; (2) one one-term course from another department for R credit, chosen in consultation with the DGS. (3) one one-term course either within, or external to the Italian Department. This course may be taken for R credit.  Courses taken Pass/Fail are not eligible for degree credit.

Languages: Students must acquire reading ability in a foreign language appropriate to his or her prospective field of specialization, satisfied by passing a written proficiency examination or by completing an approved course (Intermediate II level or higher) with a minimum grade of B-. The choice of languages will be made upon consultation with the DGS or adviser.

M.A. Degree Requirements worksheet

Part-Time study

The M.A. degree may be earned through a program of part-time study. The course and language requirements are the same as for the full-time M.A. degree. All part-time students must complete the M.A. degree requirements within four years. Programs should be planned in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).

Housing & Funding

Housing and funding for M.A. students is limited. Please reference the Graduate School's pages on housing and financial aid.

Career Services

 The Center for Career Services offers many resources to aid you in your career search.

 

Course requirements: A total of ten one-term courses (two Residence Units): (1) eight graduate literature/culture courses within the department taken for a letter grade, of which at least three must be in the period before 1600 and at least three in the period after 1600; substitutions of courses from other departments or from the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) or adviser; (2) one one-term course from another department for R credit, chosen in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) or advisor; (3)  one one-term course either within, or external to the Italian Department. This course may be taken for R credit.

Languages: Students must acquire reading ability in a foreign language appropriate to his or her prospective field of specialization, satisfied by passing a written proficiency examination or by completing an approved course (Intermediate II level or higher) with a minimum grade of B-. The choice of languages will be made upon consultation with the DGS or adviser.

The M.A./M.Phil./Ph.D. program is designed to allow a well-prepared student to earn the M.A. degree within one academic year of full-time study. A student who postpones completing the requirements for the M.A. degree while accumulating Residence Units toward the M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees does so at his or her own risk.

Italian Degree Requirements Overview

Required courses: Students who earned the M.A. degree elsewhere must fulfill the same requirements during their first year of residence as Columbia M.A. candidates. Students holding the M.A. degree in Italian from Columbia take eight one-term courses of which six must be taken within the department and taken for a letter grade. Substitutions of courses from other departments or from the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium must be approved by the DGS or adviser. PEDG GU4000. International Language Pedagogy, the autumn seminar (taken Pass/Fail), is required for students who, in the second year of the program, are beginning the teaching fellowship in the Italian Language Program and are responsible for teaching Elementary Italian to undergraduates. The seminar does not fulfill any other M.Phil. course requirement.

Languages: Students must acquire reading ability in an additional foreign language appropriate to his or her prospective field of specialization, satisfied by passing a written proficiency examination or by completing an approved course (Intermediate II level or higher) with a minimum grade of B-. The choice of languages will be made upon consultation with the DGS or adviser.


Teaching requirement: Participation in the instructional activities of the department for two years. As a rule, in the second, and third years of study, students gain exposure to teaching through participation in the language program. Students who are interested in broadening their teaching apprenticeships are eligible to teach in the Core Program once they have received the M.Phil. Students may only apply to be a preceptor if they have or expect to have the M.Phil. by the May prior to being appointed as a preceptor, and if they are not past their sixth year of registration during the first year of the preceptorship. Students may not hold instructional appointments after year seven.

Examinations: On completion of all course work and at least two Residence Units beyond the M.A. degree, and satisfaction of the language requirement, the candidate takes the pre-oral and oral qualifying examinations on Italian literature.

The M. Phil. Exam in the Italian Department is intended to help students make the transition from a general acquaintance with Italian literature and culture, as acquired through course work and independent reading, to the definition of some specific research interests, which may include the preliminary idea of what will ultimately become the dissertation.

The revised general Reading List of the Italian Department may serve students as an auxiliary and optional tool for the identification of the above-mentioned interests. Each student will prepare three individual reading lists pertaining to three different fields. One field will have a broadly conceptual and methodological dimension; the other two will be chronologically complementary, meaning that if two of the three fields fall before 1600 the third will fall after 1600 and vice versa. The M. Phil. Proposal, then, contains the titles of the three fields and a bibliography for each one. The bibliography is a specialized reading list of primary and secondary texts; the secondary texts reflect the critical methodologies that the candidate has found particularly important.  The bibliographies are intended to be the platform for a discussion of the ideas that have proved most significant in shaping the critical voice of the candidate.

Three faculty members chosen by the student will oversee the whole exam. For the pre-oral part, each professor will provide the student with two questions, of which the student will choose one. The student will then write three take-home papers, with a minimum length of five pages each, all three to be written over the course of ten days. The oral part of the exam, covering all three fields, will be taken at a date between two and six weeks from the successful completion of the pre-oral.

Upon passing the oral examination successfully and having completed six Residence Units in the Graduate School (including any advanced standing) the candidate is certified for the award of the M.Phil. degree.  In accordance with GSAS regulations all work for the M.Phil. degree must be completed within four years (unless the student received two Residence Units of advanced standing, in which case all degree requirements must be completed within three years).

Italian Requirements Overview

Candidacy for the Ph.D. degree is contingent on the fulfillment of all M.Phil. requirements and approval of the proposed dissertation.

Required courses: Students, if they have not done so prior to completion of the M.Phil. degree, should register for one of the following courses: ITAL GR9102. Research in Late Medieval and Renaissance Literature or ITAL GR9103. Research in Modern and Contemporary Literature. Students register for this course, which may be taken for R credit, during the semester when they prepare the dissertation proposal (prospectus) under the supervision of a potential sponsor.

Dissertation: No later than three months after successful completion of the M.Phil. degree, the student submits the dissertation prospectus (no more than ten pages, plus annotated bibliography), to be approved at a colloquium by a committee of three faculty members including the sponsor and second reader from the department. The dissertation is to be prepared, defended, and deposited according to the regulations of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Italian Degree Requirement Overview
 

A comprehensive program of financial aid, including fellowships and appointments in teaching, is available to Ph.D. students. After the first year, all Ph.D. students admitted to the program receive annually the prevailing stipend and appropriate tuition and health fees through the fifth year, provided that they remain in good academic standing. If students receive a year of advanced standing they are entitled to four years of fellowship funding. Students holding fellowships are expected to follow the Graduate School regulations on financial aid, to maintain a high standard of academic excellence in all courses and to complete all departmental requirements on schedule.

Fellowship Timeline

The Dissertation Office provides advanced doctoral candidates with dissertation guidelines and forms including the application to defend the dissertation and the final deposit and award of the Ph.D. degree