(Mathew Magnotta/The Williams Record)
The College’s Italian offerings have been massively influential to my time here. I have taken Italian courses during all three of my semesters and Winter Study. Through these courses, which technically comprise a “program” rather than a department, I have learned more than a language. As an Italian-American, I have connected with my culture, and as a student at the College, I have connected with my peers. In both cases, the connection has been deeper than I could have expected when I registered for Italian 101 in the summer before my first year.
Italian programming fosters more than strictly an academic environment: It is a community built around a shared love of language, culture, food, and stories. I have built some of the most meaningful relationships I have at the College through the unit. Through partaking in our biannual cooking nights and other program- sponsored events, I have felt lucky to belong to such a close-knit community.
So I, along with my peers, was shocked to hear that the College has decided not to hire a new Italian professor, essentially barring students from studying the language here.
We have the students, we have the interest, and we have the momentum. Last year, we expected 60 people to attend the Italian festival, which honored the programming’s storied, 132 year history at the college. In the end, the total came closer to 200. The College’s own strategic plan categorizes Italian as an “emergent field” with increasing student interest and an area in which it should invest. Why, then, would the College eliminate the programming?
Additionally, the College has hired three Italianists in two fields (music and history) over the last two years. The elimination of Italian language courses, however, hinders students from fully interacting with course material in these fields.
I have been in contact with professors and others affiliated with the College who believe it is integral to continue offering Italian. I created a petition to save Italian, which has garnered the signatures of 11 professors and 75 students so far. All of these signatories agree that eliminating Italian would go against the ethos of the premier liberal arts college in the nation.
Following the program’s discontinuation, I asked the administration where to study Italian and was told to take courses at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA). The best and richest liberal arts college will unfairly rely on a public university. Given that our $3.6 billion dollar endowment is nearly 300 times larger than theirs, it is ludicrous that we expect them to take our students into a program the College refuses to fund despite having the money. Additionally, MCLA’s physical distance may disincentivize students from taking Italian, which not only hurts the College’s course offerings in other related fields but also directly impacts students who wish to study away in Italy.
The strategic plan also notes that the College would like to be known more widely for its extensive study away opportunities and increase “language opportunities for students through study away.” Sending students to extraordinary study away programs in Italy without a base knowledge of the language will disadvantage them and hinder their ability to experience the country in a holistic way.
I propose removing the Italian language program from the romance languages department and creating a new Italian studies program. As of now, programs listed under romance languages must be taught in the language to count for major credit. The Italian studies program, by contrast, would allow students to gain a holistic understanding of Italian language, culture, and history. Students majoring in comparative literature, history, classics, and art history could complete a concentration in Italian studies.
This program would not only save Italian language study at the College, but would also, for the first time, allow students to demonstrate interest and complete significant coursework in Italian. Two semesters of the language could be required for the concentration, perhaps along with three other courses. To support the program, the College could hire a professor of Italian for a three-year contract, with the possibility of expanding the program at a later date. Excluding Italian language courses, there are 13 courses the College offers that I believe could be included in the program. Among them are the art history course “Art and Experience in Ancient Rome” and the music course “Protest Song.” Students would have more than enough options to complete their studies.
I originally hoped to obtain a concentration or certificate in Italian when I came to the College. In discussions with the department chair, I was told there were simply not enough courses to offer either. In recent conversations with members of the administration, I was told that languages at the College must have three permanent faculty members to be considered a language program. To that end, Italian is technically a “unit.”
I am not (yet) advocating for an Italian language major. However, eliminating the program because it cannot offer a recognition of coursework is entirely due to a lack of investment on the part of the College, for which students should not be punished. Italian has enrolled more students than other languages that offer majors for years. If anything, the program should be expanded.
If the College truly values its humanities students, its exemplary master’s program in the history of art, study away opportunities, and the curriculum that the world’s leading liberal arts college should provide, it should not terminate Italian. Classes will cease to exist, but so, critically, will a large and diverse community of students and faculty.
Bryan DiFebo-Byrne ’27 is from New York, N.Y.