Our expertise in literature written in French ranges from medieval French chansons de geste to contemporary African novels. The research interests of our French linguistics faculty vary from language pedagogy to semantics to the history of the language. Our close affiliation with the Creole Institute further broadens our opportunities for linguistic and cultural study. In addition to research, the Department of French and Italian is deeply committed to excellence in teaching. The teaching skills of several of our faculty have been recognized through university-wide teaching awards, and evaluation of teaching by students and faculty peers is taken seriously.
Teacher training is an essential part of our graduate program.
Graduate students who serve as Associate Instructors participate in an initial 10-day training session and in classes and workshops to enhance their teaching skills through the course of their degree program. We are proud of the accomplishments of our Associate Instructors, who are dedicated to teaching our beginning language courses. In addition to our regular program of courses, the Department also sponsors lectures by scholars from North America and abroad, film series, conferences, an annual graduate student colloquium, and social events where French and Italian are spoken. We welcome you to find out more about our programs and offerings through this web site. Thank you for your interest in our Department.