The year we are leaving behind has tested our skills and determination in countless ways while reaffirming our dedication to our research and teaching missions. More than ever, our courses on French and Italian languages and Francophone and Italian literatures, media, and cultures have offered multifaceted windows on the world thanks to innovative and exciting topics such as “Black Paris,” “Race, Immigration and the Pandemic: French Perspectives,” “Tales in a Time of Plague,” “The Good Mothers: Women in the Mafia and Antimafia,” “Cloak and Dagger,” “Humour and Wit in the Italian Renaissance,” and “New Italian Identities,” to name a few.
Summer 2021
After a most unusual start, Lamontagne settles in as newest professor
Strange. That’s how Jeffrey Lamontagne described what it was like to move to Blomington and begin his position as Assistant Professor of French Linguistics during the pandemic. Never having taught nor taken a course online before, the young scholar from McGill University in Montreal not only had to learn how to teach via Zoom but also dealt with quarantine requirements in his multi-step move from Montreal to Bloomington.
Students explore career options, learn from alumni
Halley Rose Meslin, Vianna Newman Dennis, and Freddie Cheng Shi discussed their career paths with students via Zoom in November, 2020.
“Lean into people and relationships,” advised Vianna Newman Dennis (BA ’15, Italian and Individualized Major) when asked how to look for jobs after graduation. Newman Dennis was one of four BA alumni who spoke at a French and Italian career night November 10, 2020 to over 130 students interested in the Department’s programs. The event, hosted in collaboration with the Walter Center for Career Achievement via Zoom, was moderated by College of Arts and Sciences advisor Peter Giordano.
In memoriam
Edoardo A. Lèbano
Professor Emeritus of Italian Edoardo A. Lèbano, an established scholar and beloved teacher of Italian language, literature, and culture, passed away in Bloomington on November 28, 2020.
Read articleMona T. Houston
Mona Tobin Houston, Associate Professor Emerita of French whose focus was 17th-century theater and translation, passed away in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, on January 15, 2021.
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Keep in touch
We want to hear from you! Share your story, and let us know what’s new in your career and life.
Has your contact information changed? Notify the College of Arts and Sciences’ Director of Alumni Relations Vanessa Cloe.
You can call her at (812) 855-8891, or e-mail her via the link below.
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Summer 2021 - Vol. XXXV
This newsletter is published by the Department of French and Italian of Indiana University-Bloomington to encourage alumni interest in and support for Indiana University. The newsletter is paid for by the Department. For information about our programs, or to donate, please call (812) 855-1952 or visit our alumni page.
Our 2020 newsletter is completely online.
Department of French and Italian
Chair: Oana Panaïté
Editor: Isabel Piedmont-Smith
Designer: Daniel McDeavitt
College of Arts and Sciences
Executive Dean: Rick Van Kooten
Executive Director of Advancement: Travis Paulin
Director of Alumni Relations: Vanessa Cloe
IU Alumni Association
Class Notes Editor: Bill Elliott