Our department is nationally and internationally recognized for the success of its language programs, the breadth and depth of its offerings, and the scholarship of its faculty. We prepare students in French and Italian with courses ranging from beginning language study to doctoral seminars. We take pride in our well-organized, wide-ranging program and in the committed and collegial tone fostered by instructors and staff.

We offer undergraduate degrees in both French and Italian, including majors and minors, along with a certificate in Global French. We award advanced degrees in French/Francophone Studies, French Linguistics, and Italian Studies. We also offer a master’s degree in French Instruction.

The expertise of our 22 faculty members covers the spectrum of French and Italian language, literature, culture, and pedagogy. In addition to language study that incorporates online resources, we offer multiple perspectives in courses covering a broad range of topics: from French dialectology to francophone media studies and from medieval manuscripts to the Mafia in Italian film. Our students consider how French-language films were used to support colonialism in West Africa, or they read medieval Italian literature in digital editions. We look at how contemporary European issues such as immigration and religious diversity are portrayed in comic books and the media. Our areas of study have fluid boundaries, and our faculty work closely with colleagues in other programs to arrive at new syntheses of knowledge and insightful ways of looking at—and participating in—the world.

Our department offers a vibrant cocurricular program through our French Club and Circolo Italiano, where activities range from concerts to cooking to sports. Our undergraduate programs are enriched through overseas study programs in Aix-en-Provence, Rennes, Paris, Florence, and Bologna. Graduates of our program have found success in fields as diverse as law, diplomacy, business, education, and tourism.