Italian has been taught at the University of Sydney since 1929, and the department of Italian is one of the largest in Australia. Academic staff have expertise in the areas of history, literature, film and culture, including topics such as Renaissance Florence, Italian sociolinguistics, language and migration, Italian medieval drama, and intellectual and philosophical debates in contemporary Italy.

For more information about current research topics, go to this page.

The resources available to staff and students in the University's Fisher Library are the most extensive in Australia, with comprehensive holdings and highest level electronic subscriptions in Italian language and literature as well as history, fine arts and the social sciences.

Departmental research seminars are conducted regularly each semester. Research students present papers at this seminar on their work in progress, or workshop papers they are preparing for publication or for international conferences.

Italian Studies receives generous support from the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, through the Italian Institute of Culture, and from the Cassamarca Foundation.