{"id":2419,"date":"2017-10-28T19:12:23","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T02:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:30:23","slug":"an-unique-chapman-opportunity-the-self-designed-major-in-italian-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/2017\/10\/28\/an-unique-chapman-opportunity-the-self-designed-major-in-italian-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"A Unique Chapman Opportunity: the Self-Designed Major in Italian Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

An article by Elle Berti (English & Italian Studies student)<\/em><\/p>\n

Last May, the Italian program at Chapman University marked an important point in its history by graduating the first two Italian Studies majors at this institution. Since then, the number of students in the program has continued to grow. But, the Italian major isn\u2019t like the typical major in foreign languages \u2013this one\u2019s self-designed.\u00a0The program is also different from other universities\u2019 because at Chapman students select their own classes for the major.<\/p>\n

Before this year, only French and Spanish majors were offered, and just a minor option was available for Italian students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it comes down to the numbers. Most students take French or Spanish in High School, so they probably figure that to be the easiest route to completing their language requirements at Chapman,\u201d said Marco Saglimbeni, a recent graduate in Italian Studies and Biological Sciences.<\/p>\n

Although there are fewer students in the Italian program, there are many classes, Study Abroad opportunities, and educational and social events put on by the Italian Program. The Italian minor requires 21 credits and a self-designed major needs a minimum of 27. Many students surpass the requirement for the minor, but, until fall of 2016, no one had attempted to create an Italian self-designed major.<\/p>\n

Melissa Marino was the first. After studying abroad and taking Italian classes as an undergraduate student, Marino realized in her junior year that she was only six credits shy of the requirement for the major. With the help of Dr. Pacchioni, the Musco Chair in Italian Studies, she submitted her plan to the University, and it was approved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that being the first to design an Italian major laid a framework and gave confidence to those who might be considering declaring an Italian major because it showed them that it very well can \u2013and has\u2013 been done,\u201d Marino said.<\/p>\n

After Marino declared the major, her peer and friend Marco Saglimbeni did the same. The two graduated in May of 2017 as the first students to receive degrees in Italian Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully other students will see what Melissa and I did and realize that the self-designed major is both worth it and a great experience,\u201d added Saglimbeni.<\/p>\n

Since fall of 2016, three more students have declared the self-designed major, and over 40 plan to minor.<\/p>\n

While there has been talk of creating a traditional major in Italian Studies, like that of French and Spanish, Dr. Pacchioni thinks the self-designed approach remains very effective. Because the degree is self-designed, all students must have another major first. Therefore, the Italian major enhances a student\u2019s resume and provides more opportunities within their chosen career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to find an equilibrium between my two majors and work in advertising\/marketing for an Italian company,\u201d said Briana Salatino, a senior double majoring in Public Relations and Advertising and Italian Studies.<\/p>\n

For more information about the Italian Studies program at Chapman and the self-designed major, visit the program’s webpage<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An article by Elle Berti (English & Italian Studies student) Last May, the Italian program at Chapman University marked an important point in its history by graduating the first two Italian Studies majors at this institution. Since then, the number … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-students"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/pacchioni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}