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Department of French and Italian

Department of French & Italian

The Department of French and Italian at Tulane University offers a comprehensive program of study that reflects our commitment to cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approaches. Our Department builds on the historical identity of New Orleans as a center of Francophone and Caribbean culture and as the hub of one of America's oldest Italian communities.

Featured Events

Transnational Maghreb Symposium

Speaker: Paraska Tolan (Ph.D., Suffolk University of Boston)
Title: “Maghreb Noir: The Militant-Artists of North Africa and the Struggle for a Pan-African, Post-Colonial Future”
Monday, April 10, 5 pm, Newcomb Hall 403

Directors and Advisors

Fayҫal Falaky, Department Chair
Jonathan Morton, Director of Graduate Studies
Alexandra Reuber, Director of Undergraduate Studies, French 
Charles Mignot, Director of French Language Program
Annette Sojic, Director of Professional French Program
Michael Syrimis, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Italian
Elena Daniele, Director of Italian Language Program
Sanela Frasch, Executive Secretary

Links

Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
Transnational Maghreb Symposium
Apr 10
5:00 PM
Madan Sara Screening
Apr 12
5:00 PM
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Since the twentieth-century, literary prizes have been proliferating. What role do they play in our consumer culture? How do they indicate aesthetic value? What else do they reward besides aesthetic merit? And how are they connected to celebrity status and bestseller lists? Using a few theoretical books as our framework -- James English's The Economy of Prestige, Sylvie Ducas's La littérature à quel(s) prix? and some of Pierre Bourdieu's texts -- we will study key literary prizes (the Goncourt, the Médicis, the Nobel) as well as the authors and works they were awarded to. We will try to understand the mechanism of the prize, the jury composition, the selection criteria, and the way they construct the "value" of literary works. title refers to both the act of "awarding a prize" and of "valuing" or evaluating a work. In the second Étoiles) offered by digital platforms for creative writing such as Wattpad and Librinova. How have "Prizing" in the course half of the course, we will turn to digital literary prizes (such as the Watty Awards and Prix des digital technologies shaped negotiations of value in the French literary field? (For example, what does it mean to be a Wattpad author who receives a tongue-in-cheek, satirical Watty Award, as opposed to a Nobel winner?). This course will hopefully shed some light on our contemporary prize culture and help us take the "best" writing with a pinch of salt. * Course conducted in French, with some English-language readings #french #liberalarts #frenchanditalian #fall2023 #tulane
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Join us next Friday, March 24 @3pm in NH 403. #frenchanditalian #liberalarts #tulanefrench
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Mark your calendars: NEW ORLEANS, LA – Eva Doumbia’s Autophagies (Self-Eaters) will tour for a two-city engagement, culminating at Ashé Cultural Arts Center’s Powerhouse Stage on March 2-4, 2023. Doumbia’s extensive research into New Orleans’ rich history and traditions of cultural expression through food, connected both to its peoples’ oppression and liberation, has created a timely and tasty performance. Autophagies (Self-Eaters) employs the use of dance, text, video, music, and even a chef cooking live on stage to tell stories about food’s history and migratory pathways, and the people whose lands, cultures, and lives have been exploited along the way. We are what we eat, and even our local food traditions have global implications. Through a socio-political lens, audience members journey with the performers to learn about the history of sugar on Réunion Island, the history of rice cultivation in the south of France, cocoa production in the Ivory Coast, and much more. Autophagies (Self-Eaters) features Eva Doumbia and French actors Olga Mouak and Angélica-Kiyomi Tisseyre, performing alongside Ivorian dancer Bamoussa Diomande, and French musician Lionel Elian. New Orleans native Karen-Kaia Livers will be joining the cast for its American tour. At the conclusion of this “documentary eucharist,” audience members are invited to share the meal prepared on stage by Chef Alexandre Bella Ola, owner of two acclaimed restaurants in France. Autophagies (Self-Eaters) was produced by La Part du Pauvre/Nana Triban. Eva Doumbia founded La Part du Pauvre/Nana Triban in 2000 in Marseille, France. Since September 2019, La Part du Pauvre has been in residence at the Théâtre des Bains Douches in Elbeuf, Normandy, France. Ashé Cultural Art Center’s innovative programming is designed to utilize culture in fostering human development and civic engagement. As ecosystem builders, Ashé delivers programming and direct services that support, leverage, and celebrate the people, places, and philosophies of the African Diaspora.
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Come to NH 403 at 3:30pm tomorrow to listen to Professor Karl Steel’s lecture “On the Limits of Reason and Freedom: On Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy” #frenchanditalian #liberalarts #tulaneuniversity
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Le Forum Économique is this Thursday, January 26 from 10am-5pm in the LBC. Come meet over 30 organizations from France, Quebec, and the United States! DM us for more information. #french #business #nousfoundation #liberalarts #tulane
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Free public Reading starring Doug Spearman and Wendy Miklovic (Neisler) at Tulane Department of Theatre and Dance. E-Babel by Driss Ksikes, Moroccan playwright, novelist and journalist. Mr. Ksikes will be present LIVE and IN PERSON for the talkback after. Come join us for this thoughtful, provocative one-act. Wednesday, December 7, at 730pm. Tulane Department of Theatre and Dance McWilliams Hall Room 104 Lab Theatre Admission is free and there will be refreshments! Live from the Lab 2022-23 is underwritten by CELT and in association with MENA and Department of French and Italian. Associate Producer Lea Bardin, Exec Producer, Amy Chaffee
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French Week day 3! Come and play Three Sided Soccer with our Graduate students 1-2:30pm at the JL Quad outside Newcomb Hall. #frenchweek #tulaneuniversity #frenchanditalian #tulaneliberalarts
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Our first event for French Week is happening now! Come down to the JL Quad outside Newcomb Hall to grab a snack, chat with professors, and play pétanque! #frenchweek #tulaneuniversity #liberalarts #frenchanditalian
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French Week starts next Monday, Nov. 7, with a French & Italian Dept. Open House and Pétanque on the JL Lawn outside Newcomb Hall. See the poster for the rest of the week’s events! We look forward to seeing you all there! #tulane #tulanefrench #schoolofliberalarts
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Please join us today at 2pm, for the screening of the documentary “Latifa, une femme dans la République” (French with English subtitles), followed by a Q&A with Latifa Ibn Ziaten, a French-Moroccan activist whose son was killed by Mohammed Merah during the 2012 terrorist attacks in Toulouse, France. Since the assassination of her son, Latifa Ibn Ziaten has created the association IMAD for youth and for peace, with the aim of promoting laïcité and interreligious dialogue and helping young people in marginalized neighborhoods. The event, sponsored by the Department of French & Italian and the Middle East North Africa program, will be held at Dinwiddie Hall 102.
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On September 23 and 24, 2022, the Department of French and Italian at Tulane and the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute (Queens College, The City University of New York) jointly hosted a symposium titled: “The Italian Immigrant Experience: Between Black and White” in the Lavin Bernick Center at Tulane University. This event was made possible thanks to generous funding by the Calandra Italian-American Institute, the Department of French & Italian, the Center for Scholars and the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane. The Symposium featured nine scholars who have studied the Italian-American and the Black experiences here in New Orleans, as well as in the U.S. at large: Reverend Frank I. Williams (President of the National African American Fellowship), Anthony Tamburri (President of the Calandra Institute at Queens College, CUNY), Fred Gardaphé (Queens College, CUNY), Donna Chirico (York College, CUNY), George de Stefano (Independent Scholar), Mark A. Reid (University of Florida), Jessica Barbata Jackson (Colorado State), John Gennari (University of Vermont) and Joseph Sciorra (Queens College, CUNY). Dean Brian Edwards and Frank Wu, President of Queens College, CUNY, were also present and gave opening remarks. The papers delivered reached across disciplines to span the interest of faculty and students from a wide range of fields (Foreign languages, History, Music, Sociology and African Studies, among other fields). The event was well attended both by members of Tulane as well as the general public and was streamlined via zoom Webinar across the nation. One of the Zoom attendees commented: "Congratulations on a really excellent program. Some of us have been poking around questions on these topics for years, and it’s nice to have so many learned people on the program (and in the audience) to shine some light on important history. Mille grazie."
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To apply, send a CV of no more than two pages and a statement indicating for what purpose and how the award funds would be used to Alexandra Reuber (areuber@tulane.edu) by November 15, 2022.