it’s in the south not the northeast but I would recommend Emory University. Wonderful Liberal Arts education and a wonderful research institution. beautiful campus really near a city like Tufts. I’ve visited both and Emory has a much better community than Tufts actually. (they are rated #1 for student quality of life)
@slothbaby I was actually looking at Emory today and it seems beautiful… location is not ideal, but if they’re need blind then it might be worth the travel from NY to Atlanta
Tufts, William and Mary, Rochester, and Wake Forest are all mid-size national research universities in the regions you are looking at. They all have absolutely top-notch academics and are strong in your areas of interest (just don’t know about Italian at all 4 of them, but Wake has its own facility in Venice, and W&M has Italian). Washington University in St. Louis is a similar Midwest school. They do have their own cultures, so look at that. Good luck!
(Yes, Emory too)
I’d check out Wesleyan, another NESCAC. Heck, look at all the NESCAC and AUU schools (many of the schools in those two conferences have been mentioned).