Italy is probably the most diverse nation in the world. Much of the riches of early Europe material and intellectual came from this country of city-states. Italian Studies is the study of this diversity. Which is pretty much anything the mind can imagine. From politics, law, design, fashion, sports, architecture, farming, war, art, language, religion and more. It can entail pretty much anything within, from, or about Italy. They each bring a certain uniqueness of their own to the country. My experience in the field consist of writings by Dante" and Machiavelli, films, plays, lectures, and some short readings.
My first experience in Italian studies was The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. The Prince, he describes what men really do and shows what human nature is truly like. The definition of politics is: the act of gaining power and keeping it. Political science described by Machiavelli as exactly that. He states in his works that a man should do whatever he can to remain in power and he also describes how to be successful in doing this. Politics today are still influenced by his ideas, but are not openly portrayed because of the blunt nature of his ideas. The Prince is a work that describes how to manage the land and its people. This work also shows how he thinks the ruler should interact with his people. Two very important ideas that he states a leader needs are virtue and fortuna; and how these relate to the king or ruler and what kind of people and situation he is dealing with. I was amazed by the advice he gave hundreds of years ago to the Medici. I also found this advice very appealing to read, because he backed up his theories with proofs from history.
For example, he uses the Roman Empire as a strong ruling force that should be noted. The Romans always looked ahead and never postponed or procrastinated. They knew you could not keep avoiding a war; and that it was better to take care of it now while it is still in your favor.