Writing & StyleStyle guide

Are Seminar Titles Italicized?

Seminar-title treatment depends on both the kind of seminar and the governing style. MLA’s course-material guidance uses roman, unquoted course names for in-person seminars, while Monash’s editorial guide uses single quotation marks for one-off seminar names.

Quick answer

Not as a universal rule. MLA course-material guidance uses no italics or quotation marks for an in-person course seminar name, while Monash uses single quotation marks for one-off seminar titles.

Key details

Core Issuehow to style the name or title of a seminar in edited or academic writing
Registeracademic, institutional, edited, and style-governed writing
RuleMLA guidance for an in-person course lecture or seminar uses the course name without italics or quotation marks, while Monash house style puts one-off seminar names in single quotation marks.

Important caveats

Scope Boundary

A course or recurring seminar name can be treated differently from the title of a one-off seminar event; identify what kind of name you are styling before applying a rule.

Further guidance

Recommendation

Treat seminar-title formatting as context- and style-dependent rather than assuming italics.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. How do I cite course materials? (opens in a new tab)Modern Language Association · MLA guidance for an in-person lecture or seminar: use the course name title-style without italics or quotation marks in the Title element.
  2. Monash editorial guide — Capitalisation (opens in a new tab)Monash University · Monash editorial guidance using single quotation marks for names of special lectures and one-off seminars, showing house-style variation.

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