The program emphasizes literary history, textual analysis, and theory of interpretation. Among the specializations of our Italian faculty are medieval and early modern literature, Dante, literature & science, gender studies, women’s writing, history of the book, humanism, translation studies, esoteric and visionary studies, science fiction, psychedelic humanities, cinema and media studies, visual culture, sound studies, and digital culture.
Faculty in Modern Languages & Literatures (MLL), of which Italian is a part, specialize in many other areas, such as Environmental Humanities, modern literary studies, critical theory, and more.
We strongly support interdisciplinary work of all kinds throughout the MLL Department and between Italian and other fields, and students, once completing their first year, may apply to be considered for a Ph.D. through the Interdisciplinary Humanities Studies program, working in Italian and another Department, such as Philosophy, Anthropology, Physics, and more. We encourage applications from students working in two or more languages areas or disciplines.
Graduate Funding
Financial support for JHU graduate students is extensive, with 5 years of full funding that covers tuition, fees, health insurance, and a generous stipend of $52,000, as well as significant yearly support ($2000 a year) for attending conferences and workshops in Italy and around the world, for organizing symposia, inviting speakers, and other activities. A 6th year of funding is also available.
Teaching and Research
Graduate students have the opportunity to teach Italian language courses beginning their 2nd year of the degree, as well as design their own undergraduate content courses. The fourth year is devoted solely to research and writing of the dissertation; many students spend the year in Italy or elsewhere at one of the universities with which we have an established exchange, such as the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, the Università di Venezia, and Oxford University. Graduate students are also part of the editorial team for one of the top journals in the field, Modern Language Notes.
Further Research Opportunities
The many resources for research, collaboration, and funding offered to graduate students in the Humanities at JHU include:
• The Charles Singleton Center for the Study of Premodern Europe
• The Stern Center for the History of the Book in the Renaissance
• The Alexander Grass Humanities Institute
• The Center for Advanced Media Studies
• Special Collections
These academic centers offer research and travel fellowships, international conferences and workshops, master classes, and lecture series. JHU has extraordinary collections of rare books and manuscripts covering all aspects of the history of literary and textual production from the ancient world to the modern era, with particular strength in the print culture of early modern Italy.
JHU students also have free access to the extensive collections of Italian works at the nearby:
• Walters Museum
• Peabody Institute
• Baltimore Museum of Art
Application information
The deadline for applications is January 15, 2026.
For more information, see our homepage and/or contact Professor Arielle Saiber or Professor Meredith Ray.
