ITAL: B.A. in Business Italian

While Italian has long been acknowledged as an important language for college students in the study of the humanities (literature, music, art, history, architecture, theatre etc.), it has also become increasingly useful in planning careers in business, government, technology and other professions relating to Italy's influential role in today's global economy. Current data available from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) show that Italian has become a major language of study in the United States. Italy is one of the top five economies in the world and is a leading member of the G8 Group of the wealthiest Western democracies. An estimated 7,500 American firms do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. companies (including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, City Bank and Price Waterhouse) have offices in Italy. These Italy- based multinationals typically and increasingly demand a multilingual and multicultural expertise of their candidates for employment. Italy is a world leader not only in the culinary arts, interior design, furniture production, fashion, graphic design, but also in machine tool manufacturing, with advanced technologies in robotics, electro-mechanical machinery, shipbuiliding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment. Many of these renowned firms have offices in the United States. Moreover, these fields in which the Italians have traditionally excelled have throughout the decades favored a flourishing business of commercial brokerage connected with import-export transactions. Besides these traditional fields of Italo-American business exchange, new opportunities arise, as Italy's economy changes: state-owned companies are becoming privatized, opening up the Italian market to American companies and professionals in aerospace, transportation, insurance, finance, shipping, telecommunications, banking and other commerce. With the Italian market opening, American companies like AT & T and franchising retailers such as Midas, Blockbuster, etc. are establishing ties with Italian companies in the areas of cable TV, international cellular telephone systems, the Internet and more, and will need employees who speak Italian and English. The Business Option has recently been added to the Italian major (approved by Senate PCC, May 14, 2002) to provide students who are planning new careers in business, government, technology and other professions with a better opportunity to become more marketable in today's global economy

To earn a B.A. in Business Italian, students are required to complete all CORE, College of Arts and Humanities, and Department of French and Italian requirements. The College of Arts and Humanities has a dual advising system which means that you need to meet regularly with an advisor in the Office of Student Affairs (ARHU advisor) regarding your CORE and ARHU College requirements and with your departmental advisor for your major requirements. For more information about individual courses listed in the plan, you can consult the Course Catalog.

Please note: These sample templates presume that a student is full time and entered the major during the freshman year. All part-time students and students who have changed their major into the college, should consult with their advisors to determine how to develop an individualized plan.

For college advising, please contact: Office of Student Affairs
1120 Francis Scott Key Hall
301-405-2108

For departmental advising, please contact: Department of French and Italian
Advisor: Dr. Giuseppe Falvo - gfalvo@umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-4031
Office: 3103 Jimenez hall

What can I do with my major?

Download an editable (RTF) or plain text version of this plan.

You should also download and print the ARHU Advising Worksheet (MS Word format) before meeting with your advisor.

Year 1

Semester 1

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • CORE (e.g. HA)
  • ENGL 101 (A/H/U/S or X)
  • UNIV 100 or 101
  • CORE (e.g. SH or SB)
  • ITAL 102,103 or 121

Semester 2

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • CORE (e.g. Lab - LL or PL)
  • CORE (e.g. SH or second SB)
  • MATH 110/111/113/115/140/220/STAT 100
  • ITAL 203 or ITAL 122 (also CORE HO)
  • Supporting Area (1xx-2xx)
First year benchmark (or 30 credits):
  • CORE: Fundamental English and Math requirements
  • MAJOR: ITAL 122 or 203

Year 2

Semester 3

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • CORE Diversity
  • CORE (e.g. Non Lab – LS/PS/MS)
  • CORE (e.g. SH or second SB)
  • ITAL 204
  • ITAL 211

Semester 4

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • CORE (e.g. Non Lab – LS/PS)
  • CORE (e.g. HL)
  • ITAL 301
  • ITAL 311
  • Supporting Area (1xx -2xx)
Second year benchmark (or 60 credits):
  • CORE: 7 of 9 Distributive Studies courses;
  • ARHU: At least 50% of the foreign language sequence completed.
  • MAJOR: ITAL204, 211, 301, & 311

Year 3

Semester 5

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • Professional Writing (ENGL 391/392/393/394/395)
  • Elective (1xx-4xx)
  • ITAL 302
  • ITAL 306
  • Supporting Area (1xx-2xx)

Semester 6

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • CORE Advanced Studies (#1)
  • Elective (1xx-4xx)
  • ITAL 406
  • ITAL 432
  • Supporting Area (3xx - 4xx)
Third year benchmark (or 90 credits):
  • CORE: Distributive Studies Completed.
  • ARHU: Intermediate level language requirement, 24 of the required 45 upper level credits (~50%). (Upper level courses needed to fulfill major requirements as well as upper level CORE requirements are included in the 45 upper level requirement).
  • MAJOR: 5 courses in major

Year 4

Semester 7

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • CORE Advanced Studies (#2)
  • Elective (1xx-4xx)
  • ITAL 4xx
  • ITAL 4xx
  • Supporting Area (3xx - 4xx)

Semester 8

CORE/ARHU Requirements and Electives
Major Requirements
  • Elective (1xx-4xx)
  • Elective (3xx-4xx)
  • ITAL 4xx
  • ITAL 4xx
  • ITAL Elective (1xx-4xx)