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French & Italian

Welcome to French and Italian!

 

A message to our students:

We are thrilled to welcome you to our highly acclaimed courses!  There, as you gain familiarity with the French or Italian language, you will discover worlds new and old, encounter novel ideas, and journey through an exceptionally diverse social and cultural landscape rich in literature, media, visual and performing arts, fashion and design, gastronomy, social and political thought, and economic vitality. All of our classes are highly interactive, and the pandemic has only further solidified the renowned teaching effectiveness of our faculty by challenging us to incorporate new technologies and media into our pedagogy, and stay connected to our students in new ways. Whether you are a beginner taking Italian or French for the first time, or a more experienced student interested in our advanced language, film, or literature courses, we are prepared to enthrall you and to enhance your Northwestern experience with superlative instruction, unforgettable content, and incomparable opportunities to build relationships with professors and fellow students alike. 
 

News & Events

On Wednesday, May 15 and Thursday, May 16, the Department of French and Italian welcomed internationally renowned Italian political theorist, essayist, and journalist Ida Dominijanni. With co-host Professor Cesare Casarino (University of Minnesota), Ida Dominijanni held a workshop, Psychoanalysis and Italian Feminism and a keynote lecture, Wounded Patriarchy: Women's Freedom in Times of War

Many thanks to the Alumnae of Northwestern University for their generous support of these events.

We are pleased to announce that Professor Cynthia Nazarian has been recognized by the Office of the Provost and honored with the University Teaching Award. Professor Nazarian will receive the Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence.

Congratulations Professor Nazarian!

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On Friday, May 10, the graduate students of the Department of French and Italian invited Professor Damon Young (UC Berkeley) to give two events in the department. Professor Young held a workshop, Selfie/Portrait and an afternoon lecture, The Phatic Self

This past May, Professor Massimiliano Delfino published a collection of poetry, L'Apocalisse Nuda with the Italian press Marietti1820. 

The verses of Apocalisse nuda recount the contemporary sunset of Humanity. An end that did not bring with itself any further meaning, nor the promise of a new beginning. In a present characterized by increasing wars and totalitarianisms, imminent environmental disasters, incomplete processes of decolonization, degradation of work towards precarity and exploitation, and, above all, by the digitalization and virtualization of the human experience, the book proposes a path of emancipation from the present.

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On May 7, the Department of French and Italian welcomed Professor Simona Forti (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) for the final installment in this year's departmental lecture series. Professor Forti held an afternoon lecture entitled Everyone is Talking About Totalitarianism Again: What Mean Can It Have Today?

This  past March, Professor Paola Nasti published her long-awaited book on the Bible and intertextuality in Dante, I morsi della carità. Dante a la «Bibbia» with Giorgio Pozzi Editore. 

The essays collected in Professor Nasti's new book propose an organic journey into Dante Alighieri's biblical and religious culture to reflect on some of the central issues of the poet's work and thought which revolve around the concept of charity as a manifestation of the divine: the practice of Christ-mimicry and holiness, salvation, soteriology and ecclesiology, prophecy, knowledge, biblical interpretation and above all the charisma of poetry. 

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Fall Quarter Courses

 

See here for the full selection of our upcoming fall quarter classes in the Department of French & Italian!

Events

 
Nov
15
2024
Table française à Crowe Hall

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Evanston

The Department of French and Italian is holding several BYOL (bring your own lunch) French Table events in Crowe Hall on Fridays each q...

Nov
18
2024
Weekly French Table — La table française

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Evanston

Join us on Mondays from 12:00-1:00pm on the mezzanine of Allison Dining Hall and practice your French language skills with other studen...

Nov
25
2024
Weekly French Table — La table française

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM, Evanston

Join us on Mondays from 12:00-1:00pm on the mezzanine of Allison Dining Hall and practice your French language skills with other studen...

All Events

News

 
The Department of French and Italian launches L'Atelier Théâtre

Beginning in fall quarter of 2023, Professor Viot-Southard will be leading a French theatre and performance workshop on Monday afternoons at 3:00pm.

Daniela Pozzi Pavan awarded the CLI Excellence in Teaching Award

Every year, the Council in Language Instruction bestows this honor on a member of the language teaching track faculty who has distinguished themselves by their contributions to and accomplishment in pedagogy both inside and outside the classroom. Congratulazioni, Daniela!

All News