The study of Italian at Stanford provides students with opportunities to explore the many facets of Italian culture from a literary, historical, philosophical, and more generally interdisciplinary perspective, drawing it into an active dialogue with contemporary global culture. While receiving a strong foundation in the Italian tradition, students are encouraged to contextualize it with coursework from the fields of philosophy, political science, anthropology, film and media studies, art history, history of science, and medical humanities, among others. The program is committed to forming PhD graduates who are capable of teaching Italian literature and culture at all levels, but who are also articulate public intellectuals, able to connect their academic pursuits to real world problems.