1. About
  2. About
  3. Governance

Governance

We are governed by FRIT Bylaws (pdf).

The department has established mentoring and tenure guidelines for assistant professors.

Planning & Budget Committee (PBC) AY23:

Todd Reeser (Chair, ex officio); Lina Insana, John Walsh, Leo Mvuezolo (grad rep)

AY22: Todd Reeser (Chair, ex officio); Lina Insana, James Coleman, Caitlin Dahl (grad rep)

AY21: Todd Reeser (Chair, ex officio); Lina Insana, Giuseppina Mecchia, Nawel Cotez (grad rep)

AY20: Todd Reeser (Chair, ex officio); Francesca Savoia; Chloe Hogg, Yacine Chemssi (grad rep)

The FRIT PBC administers the Philip Koch Faculty Research Endowment in the Department of French and Italian.

Inclusive Practices Committee AY23:

Co-chairs: Lorraine Denman and Chloe Hogg. Members: John Walsh, Blake Gutt, Caitlin Dahl, Elsie Campbell, Spencer Fricard, Işın Sezer, Chiara Montera. 

The Inclusive Practices Committee was established in fall 2016 as the FRIT Diversity Committee by then co-chairs Todd Reeser and Lorraine Denman. Our standing committee (as required by our department's bylaws) consists of faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Department of French and Italian. Since its foundation, the committee has worked on various initiatives with the aim to promote equitable practices in our department and our curricula.  

Some examples of our activities and initiatives include:  

  • Revision of all syllabi to include comprehensive diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion statements [See here]  
  • Events with invited guest speakers such as Prof. Kris Knisley (U of Arizona) and Prof. Vera Gheno (Università degli Studi di Firenze) to talk about gender-inclusive language and language pedagogy; a screening of the film Mariannes Noires on Afro-French identity; a three-part series on Black Italian identity and the Black Lives Matter movement in Italy featuring filmmaker Fred Kuwornu, radio producer and podcaster Ngofeen Mputubwele, and rapper Amir Issaa  
  • Departmental discussions on various current issues, such as how to support students during the COVID-19 pandemic  
  • Workshops on pedagogy, teaching inclusively, and professional development for graduate student instructors  
  • Faculty participation on departmental hiring committees  

For more information, please contact Lorraine Denman (denman@pitt.edu).