The department depends on donations from alumnae/i and friends to enable us to enhance the learning experiences of our students. Learn how to support students of French and Italian.
Endowed Funds
The Philip Koch Faculty Research Endowment in the Department of French and Italian
This Endowment was established in loving memory of Philip Koch, a long-time faculty member in the Department; the Department’s first Chair; and a distinguished scholar of the European Enlightenment.
The Maria S. and Herbert G. Constant Scholarship Fund
Maria Constant, friend and benefactor of the department, passed away in her home on September 5, 2008 at the age of 84. A memorial service in her honor was held on Saturday, December 6 in the Cathedral of Learning's Babcock Room. If you would like to make a donation in memory of Maria Constant to either the Herbert G. Constant Fund or to the Dante Alighieri Society Resource Fund, you may do so by credit card through our departmental donation website or by check made payable to the University of Pittsburgh and mailed to Department of French and Italian, Cathedral of Learning 1328, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.
The Dante Alighieri Society Resource Fund
The Dante Alighieri Society Resource Fund is an endowment to provide financial assistance for the travel or foreign study tuition expenses of students in the Italian program. Donors wishing to support study abroad in Italy should consider directing their gifts to this fund at the time of donation.
The Nicholas C. Tucci Fund
The Nicholas C. Tucci Fund is an endowed account to sponsor an annual lecture on a topic of Italian culture.
Antoni Kosinski and Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski Endowed Research Fund in French Studies
Endowment income shall be used to provide support for undergraduate or graduate student(s), participating in research, in the French Program of the Department of French and Italian for education-related expenses exclusive of tuition and room and board. Expenses may include, but are not limited to, travel costs, stipends, and associate materials.
We are eager to create study abroad endowments for the French program in our department. Gifts that are not earmarked for specific endowments are applied to our general Development Fund.
Janice M. Holder Endowed French Study Abroad Fund
Income to be used for undergraduate French majors enrolled in FRIT and studying or doing an internship in France.
Other Funds
In Memoriam
We in French & Italian mourn the passing of our former colleague and chair, Phil Watts, who taught 20th c. French literature and film at Pitt from 1992 until 2006. A campus memorial service was held on Friday, October 4 at 2pm and a memorial fund (selection of fund is on second page of online form) has been established in his honor. This fund supports students in French studies and a biannual lecture "The Watts Lecture." In 2018, Richard Watts (Washington) was the inaugural speaker. In 2020, the lecture celebrated the 70th anniversary of the publication of Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex with two lectures by Manon Garcia (Harvard). In 2022, Yves Citton delivered the lecture. In 2023, Prof. Thangam Ravindranathan (Brown University) is our invited speaker.