Students will take the MA examination on a day scheduled by the MA adviser. If holding a graduate appointment as a GTA, GRA, or GAA, they are required by contract to enroll in at least nine hours of graduate credit. Note: students not under contract need only register for a minimum of three hours of graduate credit in their examination quarter.
The MA examinations will have both a written and an oral component. The written portion of the MA Examination in Italian consists of three three-hour parts, one for each area of study, for students who do not present a thesis. The examination for those who do present a thesis will have two parts instead of three, and will cover the two areas not treated in the thesis. All students will write at least one part of the MA examination in Italian.
Students presenting a thesis will submit the thesis to the MA Examination Committee at least ten days before the date when MA exams are scheduled to begin and will take a one-hour oral examination on the thesis in addition to the regular oral examination.
Oral examinations for all students will last one hour. During this final part of the examination, students will be examined on the results of their written exams. All members of the M.A. Examination committee will be present during the entire oral portion. Only the M.A. Examination Committee members are to be present for discussion of the student's performance and the decision about the outcome.
At the conclusion of the M.A. examination and in the absence of the student, the faculty committee conducting the examination will determine if the student has satisfactorily passed the M.A. examination. In the case of a negative decision, the Graduate School will be notified.
All other regulations pertaining to the Master’s degree will be those of the Graduate School (for more information, see the Graduate School’s Web page.