The Italian major provides students the opportunity to study the rich language, vast history, and intriguing culture of the beautiful country of Italy. The mastery of spoken and written Italian is developed through the study of an evolving artistic tradition: Medieval literature and culture, Renaissance philosophy, modern Italian poetry and prose, contemporary cinema, and new media.

The Italian program at UW–Madison offers students opportunities for growth in the language and for increased cultural fluency through dynamic, in-class learning experiences and multiple extracurricular components such as Piazza Italia (an Italian immersion floor in the Lakeshore residence halls), Caffè Culturale (an Italian conversation group), Italian Club, and Cineteca Italiana (an Italian film club).

The three-year Bachelor's Degree in Digital Humanities for Italian, belonging to the degree class L 10 (Arts), is highly innovative. It focuses on the teaching of Italian language and culture with specific attention to new technologies applied to the humanities. The course is designed for students who want to teach and communicate the Italian culture and language in its various aspects, both synchronic and diachronic, in schools and institutions of all levels in Italy and abroad.

Italian is the language of romance, the Renaissance, art, opera, the formation of the nation state, and human passion. See for yourself—hear for yourself—why it is the language of so many romantics, artists, and thinkers.

Learning a modern language for GCSE is a matter of taking your first steps. You learn rudimentary grammar and vocabulary that enable you to get by but real conversations are still beyond your reach. It is at the sixth-form level that you will deepen your grammatical competence and broaden your vocabulary so that you can converse about and debate real-world issues, and immerse yourself into the culture, literature and arts of the country. Even though we live in an age where it seems English is spoken everywhere and where Google Translate will help you where it is not, there is nothing like the experience and satisfaction of being able to step inside a different way of speaking and seeing the world.

The study programme may be entered by applicants who have completed a four-year secondary school and who possess the health capability to perform activities linked to education. The choice of applicants is done based on their school achievement and the results of the conducted interview.