The Center for Italian Studies was created in 1978 and was the first such center in the United States.

The Center’s mission is

  • to support Penn’s faculty and students in their research and pedagogy, while engaging the latest trends in Italian Studies, including topics of literature, music, theatre, art, film, history, politics, economy, and society;
  • to broaden the impact of Penn-based Italian Studies beyond Penn’s campus;
  • to foster relationships between Penn and the following constituencies: Philadelphia’s Italian-American community, governmental entities representing Italy in the U.S., research centers and cultural organizations promoting Italian issues in the U.S.

Research and teaching areas currently developed by the Center, in collaboration with the Italian Studies Unit of the Department of Romance Languages, include: the tre corone (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio), the Renaissance and early modern periods, book and manuscript studies, performance and media studies, race and migration issues, and Mediterranean studies.

Feel free to explore the Navigation Bar above. Please see here for our current governance and here for our Facebook page with the announcements of future events.

Thank you.

Mauro Calcagno (Director)

CIS Recent Events and Archive