French and Italian

1. Through their experiential learning in the Department of French and Italian Studies, students become engaged citizens of our interconnected world.
2. Students of French and Italian at Colby explore the diversity of Francophone and Italian-speaking cultures. In addition to preparing them to study abroad, this exploration enables them to serve as intercultural ambassadors. 
3. Together with their professors, students encounter a broad range of disciplines through  collaborative and hands-on learning, thus becoming critical and transformative thinkers.
4. Students participate in labs as well as creative projects and undertake original research that builds community both locally and globally. Topics include environmental studies, food studies, entrepreneurship, visual arts, digital humanities, and beyond.
5. The coursework in French and Italian gives students the opportunity to exercise creativity and innovation through teamwork, multimedia presentations, and independent research. The range of skills they acquire opens pathways beyond the classroom and can inspire new passions and impactful career trajectories

The Department of French and Italian Studies offers three programs designed to engage students in diversity, preparing them to be critically engaged citizens of the world: a language program in French and Italian that fulfills the all-College distribution requirement in foreign language, academic major and minor programs in French and Francophone Studies, and an academic minor program in Italian Studies.

Our increasingly interdisciplinary curriculum, reflected by the addition of “studies” to our department’s name, allows students to develop a sense of the centrality of French and Francophone Studies as well as Italian Studies in the arts, letters and sciences across the centuries. More recently, the department has strengthened its mission to inform students about issues of racial and gender inequality by decolonizing the curriculum and organizing events that address marginalized voices and their contributions to the history of ideas.

In its commitment to the study of world cultures, the Department of French and Italian Studies firmly believes that language is the key that opens many doors. Along with the acquisition of linguistic competence in the target language, which can be significantly bolstered by study abroad and experiential learning, our minors and majors develop skills in critical analysis enabling them to grasp overarching ideas and synthesize them, both orally and in writing. Whereas courses offered in English allow us to build multidisciplinary connections with other departments at the College and draw a more diverse student body to our programs, most of our curriculum is in the target language.

Our programs of study, which engage with many disciplines in developing cultural knowledge among our students, provide them with opportunities to experience civic engagement and exposure to inequality and diversity of identities. In an era of global challenges, environmental, social, economic and beyond, we strive to offer a strong liberal arts foundation that prepares students for advanced study, meaningful careers, and lives of purpose.

• Guy T. Filosof, M.A. ’81, Ph.D., 1969-2001, Professor of French, Emeritus
• Dace Weiss, M.A., 1981-2001, Assistant Professor of French, Emerita
• Jonathan M. Weiss, M.A. ’86, Ph.D., 1972-2008, NEH/Class of 1940 Distinguished Professor of Humanities, French, Emeritus
• Charles A. Ferguson, Ph.D., 1967-1995, Associate Professor of French and Italian, Emeritus
• Arthur D. Greenspan, M.A. ’91, Ph.D. (Columbia, Indiana), 1978-2018, Professor of French and Italian, Emeritus