Italian Department

The Italian Department also teaches Hungarian, inexplicably. Students can take advantage of the cultural offerings on hand at the Casa Italiana, such as Mussolini's desk.

History

The teaching of Italian at Columbia can be traced back about 200 years. The first professor of Italian literature at Columbia College was Lorenzo Da Ponte, who was the librettist of several Mozart operas before emigrating to the U.S. He got the job through Columbia alumnus Clement Clarke Moore.