Our alumni have found success in many different careers, traveled to countries across the globe, and built upon their language skills and the strong foundation of an Indiana University liberal arts education. Many have now distinguished themselves in a variety of professions. Alumna Nesli Basgoz, M.D. (BA in French and Biology) was recently in the news for her work in identifying one of the first monkeypox cases in the US during the 2022 outbreak.
Alumni News
Recent BA graduates have gone on to careers in a wide variety of fields including medicine, museums, social services, and government service. Dalton Hartwick (BA ’20, French and Molecular Life Sciences) went on to medical school after completing his undergraduate work at IU, and Cindy Lee (BA ’21, French and Chemistry) also started medical training in the SUNY College of Optometry in New York. Frankie Siracusano completed her BA in Italian with honors in May 2021, plus a major in psychology, and was accepted to law school. She hopes to continue to use her Italian language skills in the legal profession.
Hunter Pace (BA ’20, French and Environmental & Sustainability Studies) took a year off of academic work to pursue WWOOFfing in the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms movement in summer 2020, while Forrest Gatrell (BA ’20, French and Political Science) was accepted into the Peace Corps with a placement in Benin, West Africa. Many of our BA graduates also pursue graduate degrees in various fields, such as Victoria Myhand (BA ’20, Italian and History), who is an MA student in history at the University of Nottingham (England).
Graduate alumni
Our M.A. and Ph.D. students have continued to successful careers as well. Our M.A. graduates have obtained jobs in business, education, and diplomacy, among other fields.
You’ll find Indiana University Ph.D. graduates in French and Italian on the faculty at a variety of institutions, ranging from small colleges like Dartmouth to large universities like the University of Washington. Some of our graduates have served in academic leadership positions, such as Caroline Fache (Ph.D., French Literature ’07, now at Davidson College), Mary Vogl (Ph.D., French Literature ’98, now at Colorado State), and Jolene Vos-Camy (Ph.D., French Literature ’00, now at Calvin University).
Other graduates have found fascinating work as researchers or administrators, such as Carlotta Paltrinieri (Ph.D., Italian ’18), who was assistant director of the Medici Archive Project in Florence and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome and a Senior Researcher within the UK’s Towards a National Collection program. Claire Renaud (Ph.D., French Linguistics ’10) was a project lead at The Precisionists, a company focused on creating jobs for people with disabilities, and now serves as a curriculum designer at the University of Maryland Global Campus.
Alumni support
To maintain the superior quality of our educational programs we depend on the support of our alumni and friends. Without your generosity, we would be unable to provide the unique opportunities which make the Department of French and Italian at Indiana University one of the most vibrant in the country.
We love to hear from our alumni because many of you pursue exciting endeavors after graduating from Indiana University. Let us know what you’re up to!
Very important to my experience in France were the conversations held over coffee in the morning or over ratatouille and Côte de Rhône in the evening. I understood more about my identity as an American, as a millennial, and as an individual. I was able to piece together the wisdom and savoir-faire of the old world with my American spirit, to pursue my projects today.
Robert Coatsworth, B.A. French and Spanish 2015
The College of Arts