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Digital Humanities for Italian

versione digitale delle mani di Dio e di Adamo rappresentate da Michelangelo

The three-year Digital Humanities for Italian, belonging to the degree class L 10 (Arts), is highly innovative. It focuses on the teaching of Italian language and culture with specific attention to new technologies applied to the humanities. The course is designed for students who want to teach and communicate the Italian culture and language in its various aspects, both synchronic and diachronic, in schools and institutions of all levels in Italy and abroad.

Presentazione del corso del prof. Antonio Allegra

It aims to provide graduates with a solid base of knowledge of Italian language and culture, through the teaching of Linguistics and History of Language, Contemporary History, Literature, Philology, Latin, Art, History of Cinema and Music. This knowledge forms the foundation on which to build theoretical and practical skills for the teaching of Italian as a second language, supported by subjects such as Glottodidactics, Linguistic and intercultural skills for the teaching of Italian L2, Italian language for foreigners.

Computer and digital skills have become indispensable in the study and teaching of Italian. Graduates will also have the chance to gain thorough training in this field, which is the most innovative aspect of the course and refers to disciplines such as Digital Geography, Digital Publishing, Information Architecture and User Experience Design, Professional and Web Writing, Computer Science for the Humanities, Digital Didactics and data-driven learning.

The study of a foreign language (English, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic or Japanese) and a rich and varied range of laboratory activities offer additional tools and skills, which translate theoretical knowledge into practical and operational skills in an international context.

The course of study includes the acquisition of a part of the training credits in the specific scientific-disciplinary fields required for access to the qualification class for teaching Italian to foreigners in Italian public schools (class A-23, Italian language for foreign language learners). The rest of the credits, for those who want to continue in the same field of studies, can be acquired with the ITAS Master's Degree, specifically designed for this type of training.

Educational goals
  • develop a solid basic, methodological and historical training in linguistic, philological and literary studies, with specific reference to the in-depth knowledge of history, structure, the dimensions of synchronic and diachronic variation, and the uses of the Italian language
  • provide a basic knowledge of the Latin language, its structure and its evolution over time
  • master at least one additional language other than Italian (English, Spanish, or non-European languages such as Arabic, Chinese or Japanese)
  • provide essential knowledge in the artistic, historical and geographical fields, with specific reference to Italy's position in the panorama of European history and culture
  • acquire basic skills in the field of glottodidactics and the teaching of Italian as a non-native language, and in the scientific-disciplinary fields of Italian culture
  • be able to convey its contents to students with different levels of proficiency
  • have knowledge of digital tools applied to the humanities and the teaching of Italian, enabling the communication, promotion and teaching of Italian culture and the Italian language in a way that is adapted to the needs of the present day

Professional opportunities

The degree course naturally follows on to a master's degree, first and foremost in the LM-14 (Modern Philology) class, which represents the continuation and completion of the three-year course in Digital Humanities, or to other courses in the humanities and social sciences, such as LM-19 (Information and publishing systems), LM-39 (Linguistics), LM-43 (Methodologies for the humanities), LM-93 (Theories and methodologies of e-learning and media education). However, graduates of the three-year degree in Digital Humanities will already be able to work in the following areas:

  • teaching Italian language and culture to foreigners, in private bodies or associations and non-profit organisations in Italy, educational institutions and universities abroad, or in Italian diplomatic offices
  • consultancy in institutions involved in promoting the Italian language and culture
  • linguistic-cultural mediation in public and private schools in Italy and abroad
  • linguistic-cultural mediation within public bodies
  • professional writing for the web, in companies operating in the field of web services (ability to organise content for the web)
  • editorial work in the field of traditional and multimedia publishing
  • journalism, especially in the cultural field, intended for various channels including online (professional writing for the web, multimedia skills)
  • software development and localisation companies (computer and language skills, usability, information architecture)
  • companies operating in the language industry (corporate and computational linguistics, text encoding)
  • cultural heritage (creation and management of archives, digital libraries, virtual museums, information retrieval)
  • training institutions (e-learning, application of information and communication technologies to learning processes)
  • universities (e-learning, education management)
  • companies: internal and external communication (professional writing; web content organisation skills), staff training (e-learning)
  • public authorities: internal and external communication (professional writing; web content organisation skills), staff training (e-learning)