Since 1987 the first and second year of Italian language have been offered regularly, along with advanced courses on Dante (read in the original), Renaissance literature and modern Italian culture and cinema. There has also been consistently strong interest in Dante in translation at Kenyon, with Professor Shutt's very popular course enrolling from 70 to 115 students annually.

Italian has been a permanent part of the college curriculum with a tenure track position on the faculty since 1993. In 1998, Irene Baldoni came from Milan for the year as a Native Assistant to support language instruction. In 2002, Serena Colasanti, the Teaching Fellow (from Rome), taught second year Italian and helped teach first year. In 2003, Eleonora Redaelli, the Teaching Fellow (from Milan), taught second year Italian. In 2004, the College added a second partial position in Italian (shared with French), hiring James Mitchell, a specialist in Romance linguistics.

The KILM Apprentice Teachers in Italian have been vital to the growth of Italian: their energy and enthusiasm have inspired students to continue with Italian and often to study in Italy. Two 1992 alumnae (Italian ATs), Elisabeth Lamberti and Sara Switzer, returned to Italy following graduation and obtained a "laurea" from the University of Pavia. In 2003 two students majored in Italian, Rose Miller Sims and Madeline Podnar, also Italian ATs.