Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the web pages of the Department of French and Italian at Indiana University, Bloomington. Our faculty and staff are committed to teaching and research in fields related to French and Italian language, literature, and culture, and we are pleased that your interests led you to visit our web site.

The interests of our award-winning faculty can be divided into three basic areas: French and francophone literature and culture (12 faculty); French linguistics (5 faculty); and Italian literature and culture (5 faculty). Within each of these three divisions there exists a broad range of specialization. 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 Italian, our teacher/scholars cover each of the major areas of Italian literature, from Dante's Divine Comedy to contemporary poetry and film.

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 9-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, graduate student colloquia, 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. Please feel free to contact us for further information.

Sincerely,

Sonya Stephens
Chair and Professor of French
Department of French and Italian