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French and Italian at The Ohio State University

Graduate Studies

The M.A. Program in Italian

(revised November 2009)

The Master of Arts in Italian has three areas of study:
  1. Medieval and Renaissance Literature
  2. Modern and Contemporary Literature and Film
  3. Language and Linguistics.
Students who are Graduate Teaching Associates are also required to take Italian 801 (Teaching Italian at the College Level). Credit for this course, however, does not count towards fulfillment of the M.A. degree requirements. The Master's Examination in Italian will be based on the courses offered by the Department during each student's residence.
Graduate students interested in writing a Master's thesis must submit an abstract of their project by the end of the second week of spring quarter of their first year of residence. The abstract must be at least 1,000 words long and include an initial bibliography of at least 15 sources to be consulted during the research. Faculty in Italian will consider the proposals and assign an adviser to students whose proposals have been accepted.

M.A. Examinations

The M.A. Examination is given once a year during Spring Quarter and is taken by students in the spring of their second year of the program (in extraordinary circumstances, a student may petition the Graduate Studies Committee to postpone his or her exams). 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 M.A. Examination will have both a written and an oral component. The written portion of the M.A. Examination in Italian consists of three three-hour parts, one for each area of study. All students will write at least one part of the examination in Italian.

Students presenting a thesis will submit the thesis to the M.A. Examination Committee at least ten days before the date when M.A. Examinations are scheduled to begin and will take a one-hour Oral Examination on the thesis in addition to the regular oral examination.

The Oral Examination 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.

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.