Languages, Cultures, Literature, Translation

Sapienza's Quality Assurance System (AQ) is described in detail on the Quality Team's web pages, available at https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/team-qualita.
The web pages describe the ten-year process developed by the University to establish Sapienza's Quality Assurance system, the organisational model adopted, the QA stakeholders (Quality Team, Monitoring Committees, Joint Teacher-Student Committees, Study Programme Quality Committees), the active Working Groups, the main activities developed, and the documentation prepared for the management of Quality Assurance processes and activities in Teaching, Research and the Third Mission.
The web pages also serve as a platform for communication and for making reference data available for review activities, for the drafting of reports by the Joint Teacher-Student Committees and Monitoring Committees, and for the compilation of the SUA-Teaching and SUA-Research forms.
Each degree programme and each department is then free to adapt the Sapienza Quality Assurance Model defined on the Quality Team web pages in the Quality Assurance section of the degree programme/department, adapting it to its own organisational specificities while complying with the models and procedures defined by ANVUR and the Quality Team.
The Degree Programme/Department web pages, together with the SUA-Didattica and SUA-Ricerca forms, are the tools used to communicate how the Quality Assurance System is implemented at the Degree Programme/Department level.
The Degree Programme Quality Assurance Committee is composed of the Programme Chair, additional lecturers, a technical-administrative representative and one or more student representatives. The CGAQ holds regular meetings to review the corrective actions proposed in the Monitoring Reports and Review Reports.
The Degree Programme Quality Committee is actively involved in planning the work related to the evaluation and self-evaluation process of the Degree Programme. Based on the deadlines communicated by the University and the relevant documentary sources, it draws up the following documents annually: Annual Monitoring Report, Dars Opis and, every five years, a Cyclical Review Report, and updates the SUA Report of the Degree Programme. It also constantly monitors student careers in order to avoid delays in the awarding of degrees and dropouts.

The Quality Assurance System (QA) of Sapienza is described at length in the Web Pages of the Quality Team available at https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/team-qualita.
The Web Pages describe the ten-year-long path developed by the University to build the Sapienza Quality Assurance system, the organisational model adopted, the QA actors (Quality Team, Monitoring Committees, Joint Teaching-Student Committees, Study Course Quality Committees), the active Working Groups, the main activities developed, the documentation prepared for the management of Quality Assurance processes and activities in Teaching, Research and Third Mission.
The Web Pages are also the platform for communication and the provision of reference data for the Re-examination activities, for the drafting of reports by the Joint Teaching-Student Committees and the Monitoring Committees, and for the compilation of the SUA-Didactic and SUA-Research sheets.
Each Degree Course and each Department has the faculty to apply the Sapienza Quality Assurance Model defined in the Web Pages of the Quality Team to the Quality Assurance of the Degree Course/Department, borrowing and adapting it to its own organisational specificities while respecting the models and procedures defined by ANVUR and the Quality Team.
Together with the SUA-Didactics and SUA-Research sheets, the CdS/Department Web Pages represent the communication tools for the implementation of the Quality Assurance System at CdS/Department level.

The Course Quality Committee is composed of three course lecturers, one of whom is appointed Head of Course, the Course Teaching Supervisor and a student representative. It holds office for three years and is responsible for the drafting of the Periodic Review Reports and the annual updating of the SUA-AVA Form. It submits the results of its activities to the Degree Course according to the deadlines indicated by the competent bodies of the Faculty and the University.
The Quality Group periodically examines the data provided by the Faculty and the University on the progress of the Degree Course, as well as activating a number of internal checks, mainly linked to the results of the initial admission test, the choice of study plans, the regularity of the careers of students, and any reports received from student representatives and/or those enrolled in the Degree Course.
The Course Quality Committee is actively involved in the planning of work related to the process of evaluation and self-evaluation of the Course of Study. According to the deadlines communicated by the University and on the basis of the documentary sources received, it is in charge of drafting the following documents Annual Monitoring Form, Dars Opis and Cyclical Review Report. It also proceeds with the annual compilation of the SUA CdS Form. It is also constantly applied in the consultation of the parties concerned, in order to optimise the training offer by adapting it to the demands of the world of work, and in the monitoring of the careers of male and female students, in order to counteract the tendency to extend the time it takes to obtain a degree and above all to prevent drop-outs.
 

The Steering Committee for the Degree Programme in Languages, Cultures, Literature, Translation (33533) is that of the SEAI Department. Go to the page

The reference Joint Teaching-Student Committee for the Degree Course in Languages, Cultures, Literature and Translation is that of the Faculty of Humanities.
The Commission for Quality Assurance Management maintains constant and fruitful relations with the Faculty's Joint Teachers' and Students' Committee (as well as with the Humanities Monitoring Committee), whose annual reports it analyses, ponders strategies and implements recommendations.

On 9 December 2008, the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy convened numerous organisations representing the world of production, services and professions consistent with the Faculty's educational offering, such as: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Altamoda, Ass. Italia Nostra, Ass. Italiana Insegnanti di Geografia, Casa Ed. Laterza, Centro Informaz. Geocartografiche Aeron., Experimental Phonetics Research Centre, CGIL School, CISL National School, Edizioni d' Storia e Letteratura, Esri Italia, Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers, Italian National Press Federation, Rome Opera House Foundation, IsIAO-Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italian Encyclopaedia Institute, National Museum of Oriental Art, L. Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography, Dante Alighieri Society, Italian Geographical Society, SIAE, Interreligious Round Table, Regional Education Office for Lazio, UIL National School Secretariat. The delegates examined, discussed and finally approved the Faculty's official proposal and specifically the degree course in question.
At the final meeting of the University-level consultation on 19 January 2009, considering the results of the online consultation that preceded it, the organisations involved gave a favourable assessment of the rationalisation of La Sapienza's educational offering, aimed not only at reducing the number of courses but also at diversifying them into classes that are highly attractive and for which there is more than adequate teaching staff. Furthermore, after evaluating the Faculties' Educational Offer in detail, the organisations themselves expressed a favourable opinion on the establishment of the individual courses.
 

The consultations relating to the 2024-2025 academic year, which are also valid for the 2025-2026 academic year, are presented below.

The parties consulted were duly invited to take part in the consultation and were provided with an attachment containing the following specific points from the revised SUA-CdS form: A4.a (SPECIFIC EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE AND DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME); A4.b1 - Knowledge and understanding; A4.b1 - Ability to apply knowledge and understanding; A2.a - The professional profile to be trained; A2.a - Function in a work context: Main functions of the professional figure and list of skills associated with the function; A2.a - Skills associated with the function in a work context; A2.a - Employment opportunities, A2.b - The course prepares for the profession of (ISTAT code). This appendix also contained a table of the exams required for the training programme and their schedule by year (with a list of languages of study and a general indication of the courses planned for related and supplementary subjects), and a brief summary of the results of the most relevant indicators on 'Careers', 'Satisfaction' and 'Employability', based on Almalaurea and Opis data for the last two years.
Also attached to the above email, they were sent a consultation questionnaire (specifically prepared based on the model provided by the University) to be completed after the meeting and returned dated and signed. The entire process was overseen by the chair, Prof. Gabriele Guerra (from 01/11/2024), in agreement with the outgoing chair of the CdS, Prof. Chiara Bolognese.
The following individuals were selected and consulted:
- The president of the Master's Degree Programme in Literary and Translation Studies (LM37) at Sapienza University of Rome expressed her full satisfaction with the changes introduced to the programme structure. She gave a positive assessment of the tables and text of the draft submitted for evaluation, expressing her appreciation for the proposed increase in credits for language and translation courses, as well as giving an overall positive assessment of the graduates of our degree programme who subsequently enrolled in the Master's Degree Programme in SLLT, emphasising their ability to build on and further improve the good linguistic and intercultural skills acquired during the three-year programme (consultation took place on 12/10/2024, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QRUXtx7XR_x3ux9TWtjTZi_pnnGYDqMx...).
- a representative of the students at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Assembly enrolled in the Degree Programme in Languages, Cultures, Literature and Translation, who expressed satisfaction with the changes being introduced to the regulations to make the distribution of exams clearer, particularly with regard to the inclusion of other literature courses among the related and supplementary courses; However, she stressed the need to proceed in this way for all three years of the course and complained that this possibility is limited to the first year of the course. The representative also pointed out that the 6 CFU for AAF are all grouped together in the third year, making it more difficult to obtain them at the end of the course (a difficulty exacerbated by the fact that there are not many options, for example for working students). Other points to be addressed are the structure of the language courses, which do not provide sufficient guarantees to students regarding the completion of the entire exam; also, the coexistence of very different programmes between similar Language and Literature channels (consultation took place on 21/10/2024, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QRUXtx7XR_x3ux9TWtjTZi_pnnGYDqMx...).
- The editorial manager of the publishing house 'Castelvecchi/LIT' in Rome, affiliated with the AIE (Italian Publishers Association), who considers the name of the degree programme to be entirely appropriate; however, considers that the professional profiles that the CdS aims to train only partially meet the needs of the professional sector in which it operates; furthermore, the professional profiles indicated as possible career opportunities for CdS graduates, namely 'international intermediation expert', 'language services operator' and 'translator' are considered to be of little or no relevance to the corresponding world of work (in particular the first type), corresponding to those of the editorial press office in the case of the second, and directly related to the book market in the case of the third (which, however, should have a greater 'cultural' background in publishing). More specifically, it is emphasised that in order to be an editor, it is necessary to be familiar with the major layout programmes and editorial processes: training should therefore be essentially practical in nature. In this regard, it is proposed to include the role of editor among the functions envisaged, i.e. as the person who contributes to the planning of the editorial programme and who deals directly with authors and texts. Another aspect that is strongly emphasised is the need to have a command of at least three foreign languages, both spoken and written; while in the field of publishing, more practical workshops or lessons are needed to enable students to understand how their cultural background can be put to practical use in editorial work.
In conclusion, it is argued that those wishing to pursue a career as a translator should attend ongoing seminars on both practical and theoretical translation (with regard to editorial training that meets the specific needs of a publishing house), including on the various copyright laws, while those wishing to pursue a career as an editor will need to know how to use a layout programme (e.g. Indesign), know how to proofread, read a text, and do macro- and micro-editing: specialised courses and postgraduate courses that provide practical tools. For those who want to be editors, on the other hand, editorial training is essential in order to understand how to decide on an editorial plan, how to turn a cultural project into reality, how to develop an author policy, etc.
(consulted on 29/10/2024, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QRUXtx7XR_x3ux9TWtjTZi_pnnGYDqMx...).
- A high school teacher, permanent lecturer in German language and culture, coordinator of the foreign languages department at her school and guidance counsellor, also considers the name of the degree programme to be entirely appropriate; she emphasises that, among the professional figures that the degree programme aims to train, translators are the least suited to the needs of the professional sector in which they intend to work; Finally, however, she emphasises that the professionals the programme aims to train could successfully work alongside the school system to facilitate intercultural communication with the increasing number of foreign students attending our schools. This training should specifically offer courses in teaching and in-depth study of Italian as a foreign language.
(consultation took place on 20/10/2024, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QRUXtx7XR_x3ux9TWtjTZi_pnnGYDqMx...).
- The President of the Italian Institute of German Studies, based in Rome, via Calandrelli 25 (the Institute is a research body supervised by the Ministry of University and Research), notes that the course clearly belongs to the broad category of academic language and cultural courses, but the sequence of skills does not make the specificities or distinctive characteristics of the subjects taught clear, resulting in a lack of clarity for those interested; Among the professional profiles proposed, the one least relevant to the corresponding sector is that of 'Operator in linguistic, cultural and publishing services', as well as that of journalist. Finally, the forms and fields of cultural mediation should be better specified in their areas of competence, given the generic nature of the wording.
(consultation on 23/10/2024, https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QRUXtx7XR_x3ux9TWtjTZi_pnnGYDqMx...).

• Annual Monitoring Form (AMF) (PDF)
• Cyclic Review Report (CPR) (PDF)
• Opis Results Analysis Document (Opis-RAD) (PDF)