Disclaimer: The sample information on these pages may not reflect the latest course regulations. Authoritative up-to-date information may be found in the Trinity College Dublin Calendar and in current Italian Department handouts and notices.
The Italian Department teaches two four-year degree courses: the Two-Subject Moderatorship course (language and literature) and the European Studies course. In both of these courses we welcome beginners as well as non-beginners.
The Two-Subject Moderatorship in Italian
Italian is combined with one other subject, as part of a four-year degree. If you take "Mod II" in Italian, you take three years of the other subject and four years of Italian; if you opt for "Mod II" in the other subject, you take your final Italian examination ("Mod I") after three years. The intensive language course is designed to help you reach a high level of fluency and accuracy in written and spoken Italian, and offers a mix of grammar, translation, video, audio, computer and conversation classes. In the first three years of literature (core course and options) we cover modern novels, poetry and drama, Dante's Commedia, Boccaccio, Petrarch, Lorenzo de' Medici, Ariosto, Machiavelli, Goldoni, Leopardi and Verga. Options may be taken in topics such as Italian history and society, the theory and practice of translation, women poets of the Renaissance, and advanced language skills. Fourth-year students make a special study of Dante's works, add Manzoni and more Boccaccio, learn more about the varieties of contemporary Italian, and write a substantial dissertation on a topic of their own choice.
European Studies
The four-year European Studies degree combines the study of European history, society, politics and ideas with the study of two languages from the following list: French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish. The Italian course has been devised to combine advanced language skills with coverage of topic areas relevant to modern Italian life and society. Particular attention is paid to listening and speaking skills, so that you can function effectively during the third year of your course, which is spent on the Continent, studying the core areas of European Studies through the foreign language. If you choose Italian as your major language, you will go to the Dipartimento di Studi Politici e Sociali at the university of Pavia, or to the University of Siena. For further information on the degree course, click here. You can write to the Administrator at the Centre for European Studies, Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.
For more detail on TSM courses, please click on the following links:
Sample TSM Junior Freshman (1st year) Handout
To find out more about the European Studies courses, please click on the following links:
Sample European Studies Junior Freshman handout
Page maintained by
Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin
Last updated 25 November 2006
Frequently asked questions
European Studies & TSM Degrees
Sample TSM Senior Freshman (2nd year) Handout
Sample guidelines: writing a Freshman literary essay
Sample guidelines: TSM Sophister essays and dissertations
General student handout for Italian
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