Degree Requirements

Graduate handbook information is updated and maintained by each program. Graduate handbooks are available within each program's office and online at https://utexas.box.com/v/UTAustinGraduateHandbooks. Please contact the program with concerns or questions.

Master of Arts

The master’s degree program in Italian studies requires that the candidate have a bachelor’s degree with a major in Italian or demonstrate equivalent knowledge. A Master of Arts (MA) degree in Italian studies may be awarded on the way to the PhD provided that the student fulfills the requirements described below.

The MA requires 36 semester hours of coursework, which may include one three-hour upper-division undergraduate course approved by the graduate advisor. Students must take at least 24 semester hours of graduate coursework in Italian literature, cinema, and culture offered by the Italian graduate faculty of the Department of French and Italian and six to nine graduate-level semester hours in a supporting subject or subjects in another program, department, or college. Italian Studies students must take C L 380F , French 381M , or another graduate course on literary theory, critical methodology, or historical linguistics approved by the graduate advisor. Students must also demonstrate reading competence in one foreign language other than Italian by earning a grade of at least B in a reading course approved by the graduate advisor, in a second-year college language course, or on an examination approved by the graduate advisor.

Doctor of Philosophy

Although the doctoral degree is not awarded on the basis of a specific number of courses or semester hours of credit, doctoral students complete an additional six courses (or 18 semester hours) beyond the MA degree. With the approval of the graduate advisor, one of these courses may be an undergraduate course that satisfies the requirement for proficiency in a foreign language other than Italian.

When the student has completed all or almost all of their coursework—generally by the fall semester of year three for those who enter with a B.A. or the spring semester of year two for those who enter with an M.A.—students begin preparing for their Qualifying Exam. 

At the start of the semester in which the Qualifying Exam will be taken, the student must identify an Exam Committee Chair and establish an Exam Committee. Students complete the Qualifying Exam by submitting two research papers based on questions proposed and approved by members of the Qualifying Exam Committee. One paper will be related to a broader field of study; the other paper will be dedicated to a secondary or supporting topic.

After successfully completing the Qualifying Exam, students will present a written dissertation Prospectus to their Supervising Committee before applying for candidacy. The Supervising Committee is comprised of faculty members who will serve on the future Dissertation Committee. Once in candidacy, students will write a dissertation that makes a substantial contribution to existing scholarship in the field. The dissertation must have an oral defense, which the Dissertation Committee is responsible for approving.

Graduate Studies Committee

The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) in the spring 2025 semester.

Miroslava Benes Douglas G Biow Paola Bonifazio Daniela Bini Carter John R Clarke Penelope J Davies Andrew F Dell'Antonio Rebecca Ruth Falkoff Alberto A Martinez

Valerie McGuire Madeline McMahon Luisa Nardini Guy P Raffa Cinzia Russi Circe Sturm Rabun M Taylor Maurizio Viroli Hannah Chapelle Wojciehowski