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ITALIC is an arts-minded, residence-based academic program for first year students.

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Students who participate in this yearlong academic program are part of a tightly knit arts community that lives together in Stern Hall’s Burbank House, a university theme house dedicated to the arts. All lectures, sections, workshops and guest talks take place in a cluster of specially-designed on-site seminar and arts practice rooms dedicated to Burbank residents. Conversations often carry on from class to the dining room and back to the dorm late at night, where they morph into jam sessions or collaborative projects in the art studio. 

In class and on field trips, ITALIC students study the history and theory of art across the disciplines with faculty from the departments of Art & Art History, Music, English, and Theater & Performance Studies.

italic students

ITALIC asks you to ponder and examine:

  • What is art? What is it for? What does it do?
  • How have people questioned the value of art?
  • How do works of art challenge us, socially and personally?
  • What challenges can we put to art?
  • What artworks matter most to you?

ITALIC Quick Facts

  • Residence: Burbank
  • Size: 45 students
  • Commitment: 3 quarters, 11 units

Requirements Fulfilled

  • COLLEGE (Civic, Liberal, and Global Education) in ITALIC 91 and ITALIC 93
  • PWR 1 in ITALIC 95W
  • WAYS AII (Aesthetic & Interpretive Inquiry) in ITALIC 91
  • WAYS AII or CE (Creative Expression) in ITALIC 93
  • WAYS CE (optional) in ITALIC 92

 

Quarterly Structure for 2023-24

  • Autumn: 4 units, ITALIC 91
    • 50 minutes of lecture, 2x per week
    • 50 minutes of discussion section, 2x per week
  • Winter: 4 units, ITALIC PWR
    • 110 minutes of class, 2x per week
  • Spring: 3 units, ITALIC 93
    • 50 minutes of lecture, 2x per week
    • 50 minutes of discussion section, 1x per week

ITALIC students pass on their love of art

ITALIC Overview: Faculty Director Karla Oeler and other members of the community discuss the ITALIC experience.