News

French Nationality Room celebrates 80th anniversary

FRIT joins the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the French Nationality Room with a lecture by Dr. Anna Rosensweig

Gun Violence and Its Histories workshop website

Congrats to Prof. Reeser: Associate Dean Appointment

Professor Todd Reeser has been appointed Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. He will work with a slate of new associate deans and new Dean Adam Leibovich. Congrats!

Italian Laboratorio Teatrale wins Giuseppe Velli Prize awarded by the American Bocaccio Association

The Italian Program is excited to announce that the students of the Spring 2023 Laboratorio Teatrale (Allie DeRubeis, Chris Mathews, Briana McMahon, Dallas Mercurio, Rafael Romero Lauro, Daniel Turillo) have been awarded the Giuseppe Velli Prize by the American Boccaccio Association for Best Creative Work inspired by Boccaccio with their original play "Aspettando Chichibio," directed by Professors Alberto Iozzia and Chiara Montera. Congratulazioni!

Congrats to our PhDs

We are proud to congratulate our recent PhDs on their academic positions:

Maxime Bey-Rozet, PhD in French/Film, will be beginning a job as assistant professor at the University of California Irvine. 

Don Joseph will be beginning a post-doc at the University of Missouri, Columbia. 

Caitlin Dahl will be beginning a position as a visiting lecturer in French at Pitt. 

Congrats to Prof. Coleman: Honorable Mention

Congratulations to Prof.

Recipients of FLAS Fellowships for 2023-2024 through the European Studies Center (UCIS)

Congratulations to Italian majors Chris Matthews and Dallas Mercurio, and Italian minor Megan Debski, recipients of FLAS Fellowships for 2023-2024 through the European Studies Center (UCIS). These awards will help Chris, Dallas, and Megan continue their language studies in Italian, as well as additional languages such as Arabic. Brav* tutt*!

NEW FALL COURSES: Feminist Africa, Italian Souths

Prof. Astou Fall Gueye

“We should all be feminists,” claimed Nigerian writer and feminist activist Chimamanda Adichie.

Statement in support of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse students, faculty, and staff

We stand in love and solidarity with our trans, non-binary and gender diverse students, staff and faculty, who are a vital part of our department and of the University. We condemn anti-trans hate mongering and bigotry. We are shamed and angered that Pitt will be the venue for upcoming anti-trans events and we call on the University of Pittsburgh to oppose this amplification of anti-trans hate speech and to assure a safe, non-hostile and harassment-free work and learning environment for us all. 

Summer Love: Take ‘French Kiss’ this Summer

Teaching Award: Prof. Giuseppina Mecchia

Congratulations to Prof. Giuseppina Mecchia who has won the Dietrich School Bellet Teaching Excellence Award. This is the top award for teaching in the School and is a major achievement that requires excellent teaching, mentoring, and curricular innovation over a long period of time. Along with a 10,000$ cash prize, Prof. Mecchia will receive the actual award at an April ceremony. Bravo!!

Article Prize: Prof. Chloe Hogg

The Society for Early Modern French Studies has awarded the Parish Prize for the best article in Early Modern French Studies to Prof. Chloe Hogg. The prize is named in honor of the late Richard Parish, and is awarded by a sub-committee of the SEMFS Executive Committee. Her winning article is 'The Work of Fans: A Fête galante at Anet'.

Congrats, Dr. Hogg!

New volume on gender + affect from Prof. Todd Reeser

A major volume of 45 essays on gender and affect, edited by department chair Prof. Todd Reeser, has just been published by Routledge.

Among the contributors are a 8 Pitt faculty and PhD students [including Prof. Gisueppina Mecchia in French]. The volume includes scholars from a variety of disciplines writing on a variety of topics in a variety of career stages. Essays treat feminism, queerness, transgender, masculinity, and more.    

Advising Prize: Prof. Brett Wells

Professor and French Advisor Brett Wells has won the Ampco-Pittsburgh Advising Prize in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Brett has been for over a decade an outstanding advisor for French students, taking great care of our students.As one of the student nominators, a former French major, wrote in their nomination letter: “When I received word of this prize, I could not think of one single advisor at the University who is more deserving.

Grad Conference CFP: “Staging Care & Well-Being”

Call For Papers: Staging Care & Well-Being 

University of Pittsburgh Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference May 12, 2023 

Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Boum Make (Georgetown University)

“For us, the human body defines, by natural right, the space of origin and of distribution of disease: a space whose lines, volumes, surfaces, and routes are laid down, in accordance with a now familiar geometry, by the anatomical atlas.”  Michel Foucault, The Birth of the Clinic.