Bachelor of Arts—French (Requirements - PDF)
The French major introduces students to France’s remarkable literary and cultural heritage, from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Classical Age to Enlightenment philosophy, the rise of modernist and postmodern aesthetics, and contemporary writings about post-colonial cultures and identities. Third year courses in advanced grammar, creative writing, and linguistics help students to improve their linguistic competence and communicative skills. In addition to advanced courses on French and Francophone literatures, the department also offers courses concerned with law, science, political economy, philosophy, popular culture, and art history. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the many opportunities available for study in France. The Education Abroad Program runs centers in Paris, Bordeaux, and Lyon, which feature the ability to study in French universities while earning UCSB transferable credits in summer, semester, and year-long programs. Students who major in French benefit from all the advantages of a liberal arts education and are equipped to pursue careers in media, law, international commerce and finance, education, government service, travel and tourism, and communications. It is important to keep in mind that many professional careers require training beyond the undergraduate level, and students with such interests should discuss their plans with an advisor as early as possible.
Bachelor of Arts—Italian Studies (Requirements - PDF)
The Italian Studies major is interdisciplinary. Perspectives from a broad spectrum of fields such as history, literature, sociology, art history, music, gender and ethnic studies, film studies, translation studies, and philosophy allow each student to explore the extraordinary resonances of Italian culture in a global context. The major includes electives from Art History, Film Studies, French, Geography, History, Music, and Comparative Literature, in addition to the core curriculum in Italian. The requirements for the major may be filled in a variety of ways and with a greater or lesser degree of specialization, depending upon the individual student’s preferences and background. Students in this major who plan to enroll subsequently in graduate programs should consult an advisor.
Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the Education Abroad Program in Italy. UCEAP offers summer programs in Florence, Rome, and Procida. Semester and quarter programs are available in Rome, Florence, Milan, and Bologna, and year-long programs in Bologna and Milan. All sites offer courses taught in English and if you have two years of university-level Italian you can take courses taught in Italian at the University of Bologna and Bocconi University in Milan. Students may satisfy up to one-half of the requirements for the major while studying abroad for a year in Italy, or two-fifths of the requirements for the minor. All prospective UCEAP participants should review credit and unit limitations for their proposed work in Italy, in advance, with the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Students who complete the major in Italian Studies may enter a variety of careers and graduate programs including media, law, international commerce and finance, education, government service, travel and tourism, and communications. It is important to keep in mind that many of these professional careers require training beyond the undergraduate level, and students with such interests should discuss their plans with an advisor as early as possible.
Bachelor of Arts--Italian Studies, Transnational Emphasis (Requirements - PDF)
This new emphasis in the Italian Studies major institutionalizes a transnational perspective on the formation of cultures and identities that has come to maturity in our age of global interconnectedness.Voluntary and forced mobilities alike challenge the stability of state boundaries and the rootedness of national identities to such a degree that they dispel long-held illusions about the naturalness, self-containment, and stability of nation states. Transnationalism can be defined as a point of view that, on the one hand, conceives nations as imagined communities that are constantly in the making, and, on the other hand, sees the construction of national identities as involving not only citizens, but also non-citizen subjects: colonial subjects, tourists, immigrants, émigrés as well as people creating or consuming national images abroad. If this is the case with all nations, Italy is quite possibly the first transnational nation ante litteram and arguably remains the most active laboratory of transnationalism today. Our new major offers a wide-ranging transnational perspective on the discursive formation and development ofItalian culture, identity and Italian-ness from multiple perspectives. It involves different historical agents, from international leisure mobility (tourism), to settler colonialism, diaspora colonialism, as well as new immigrant communities, and, of course, Italy’s long-lasting interaction with the MediterraneanSea and basin. Offered as a stand-alone major for anyone interested in a career in international affairs, this emphasis is designed as a complementary major for any student in the social sciences interested in global phenomena.
Minor—French (Requirements - PDF)
Minor—Italian (Requirements - PDF)