Letter from the Chair
The Department of French & Italian at Tulane continues to grow as a vibrant center for intellectual and cultural life on campus and in the wider New Orleans community. This year, our mission has been clear: to rethink the role of language and culture in a globalized world, and to do so through creative, community-centered programming that meets our students where they are and helps them imagine where they can go.
In 2024–25, we launched several new initiatives that reflect this evolving vision. Our French Across the Curriculum program, supported in part by the Albertine Foundation and the French Embassy, is designed to integrate French language study into other academic paths such as Environmental Studies, Public Health, and Political Science. Students also have the opportunity to earn a Diplôme de Français Professionnel, a certification granted by the Paris Chamber of Commerce that affirms their ability to work in professional French-speaking environments. We are especially proud that the department covers the cost of the exam to ensure equitable access.
Beyond the classroom, our department remains a hub of student life and cultural exchange. Weekly gatherings such as Pause-café, Ciné-Club, and Tavola Italiana offer students informal spaces to practice language, connect with faculty, and build lasting friendships. This year, we added department lunches that have quickly become a favorite among majors and minors.
We also hosted an exceptional range of public events this year, over a dozen lectures, performances, and symposia that drew participation from the Tulane community and beyond. Highlights included performances of Portrait de Ludmilla en Nina Simone by Ludmilla Dabo and David Lescot; lectures by Walter Romero (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Jack Nunn (Oxford/Princeton), Doyle Calhoun (Cambridge), Madeline Bedecarré (Davidson), and Elizaveta Strakhov (Marquette); and two remarkable lectures musicales featuring Virginie Poitrasson and Joce Mienniel, as well as Malian musician Cheickné Sissoko.
Our March symposium on Black Internationalism in Translation and the Cartographies of Emancipation, co-sponsored with Tulane Special Collections, brought together renowned scholars from Columbia, Duke, UConn, Carnegie Mellon, and independent publishers like Éditions Ròt-Bò-Krik; and last September, we were honored to host the 2024 Association for French Language Studies (AFLS) Conference, which brought together scholars from around the world for three days of presentations on French language pedagogy, sociolinguistics, and digital humanities. It was a wonderful opportunity to highlight Tulane’s role in international conversations around language and culture.
The department continues to embrace the unique cultural and linguistic landscape of New Orleans. From fieldwork on Louisiana French to new programming in Haitian and Creole Studies, we are strengthening our ties to the city’s Francophone heritage and broadening the global horizons of our students.
Thanks to the commitment of our faculty, staff, and students, and the ongoing interest of our extended community, we’ve had a year full of momentum, collaboration, and new ideas. These efforts reflect not only our academic priorities but also our deep investment in preparing students for meaningful careers and lives after Tulane.
As always, we are grateful for the continued engagement of our alumni, community partners, and friends of the department. Your interest in our work, and the connections you maintain with us, play a quiet but meaningful role in helping our programs thrive.
We look forward to staying in touch and to sharing more with you as the department continues to grow.
Sincerely,
Fayçal Falaky
Graduate Student Spotlight
“A whole new phase of life” is how Grace Riordan describes beginning graduate school in Fall 2024. Now after having completed her first year in the French and Francophone PhD program, she shares her insights on this “challenging but fruitful” year.
Grace, who is from South Carolina, received her BA in French and Francophone Studies from The Catholic University of America in 2023. She chose Tulane’s Department of French and Italian for her doctoral work after meeting with current students and faculty and seeing a strong alignment with her own postcolonial research interests. While this is still a focus area, she is also reflecting more on post-colonial literary criticism, post-structuralist philosophy, and contemporary European identity. Thanks to classes she took this past year – for example, a Cultural Studies course that was more “philosophical and hermeneutical” – she has noticed a real progression in her research interests and ideas.
A gap year after receiving her BA in 2023 has also influenced her focus on cross-cultural experience and social justice. Grace spent 9 months in Houston, working as a case worker serving homeless and immigrant populations in the city. She was also able to put her French to good use while speaking with the many women who came from Central African countries including Cameroun, Ivory Coast, and Mauritania.
After this experience, Grace’s shift back to academic life required patience and trust on her part, since as she notes it is easy to become overwhelmed in the first semester of graduate school. She has benefited from what she calls the “active mentorship” from her professors in the department as well as the Director of Graduate Studies. For her, professors’ office hours are an important tool, a way to “stop in and check in” with professors and make them aware of her academic needs. She also notes that to maintain a healthy balance in her professional and personal life, making friends across different departments has been very helpful. To do so, she attends events organized by Tulane’s Office of Graduate and Professional Studies (OGPS) in order to “instill a mix of school and personal life”.
What’s next for Grace? First up is a trip this summer to Aix-en-Provence, France, to research colonial documents at the Archives nationales d’outre-mer. She will also visit the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris as part of her concentration on the intersection of archival theory and post-structuralist philosophy. She is able to undertake these projects thanks to her award of a Beth Poe Travel Grant from the Department of French and Italian.
Now that she’s completed her first highly successful year in the doctoral program, does she have any advice for new incoming graduate students? She says an important thing she has learned is to patiently await the growth- it will come slowly but surely! One of the hardest things she’s had to manage is her own expectations about her progress. A tip she gives to incoming students (and to herself!) is to be patient and be open to the improvements that will ultimately make the work the best it can be. And outside of the program, she encourages new students to go out and take advantage of everything New Orleans offers, which is another way she herself stays balanced.
Next year, Grace will prepare her Master’s thesis as the first major milestone toward her PhD. Stay tuned as she continues her trajectory in the Department of French and Italian, and her growth as a student and scholar.
French Alumnus Spotlight
“My experience at Tulane was particularly shaped by exceptional mentorship, an interdisciplinary curriculum, and a strong focus on pedagogy.”
Ryan Joyce earned his PhD from the Department of French and Italian three years ago and has continued to strengthen his academic foundation ever since. Here, he shares insights on how embracing a range of opportunities and collaborative initiatives has continued to elevate his career success.
Can you talk a little bit about your upcoming position as Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University?
This position emphasizes a transnational approach to French and Francophone studies, which closely aligns with my research on the Caribbean, the circulation of cultural forms and movements across geopolitical and linguistic borders, decolonization, and what M. Jacqui Alexander describes as the “psychic residues of colonialism.” I look forward to contributing to a creative community that’s reimagining what French and Francophone studies can be.
Since receiving your PhD three years ago, what has been your career track to achieve this position?
Since completing my PhD, I have maintained an active research agenda while engaging in collaborative and community-oriented initiatives, like with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. I’ve continued to build on the work I began at Tulane, including the development of a book manuscript, working on publications, and the expansion of my research through interdisciplinary and institutional partnerships. At Ohio State, I launched a decolonial studies working group, created a gender-inclusive writing guide for the French program, and designed pedagogical workshops to support its implementation. I have also broadened my teaching experience across a range of course sizes and modalities. One of the most interesting and rewarding aspects of this work has been developing courses for cohorts of 100+, sometimes 150+, students—spaces where I am able to introduce non-specialist audiences to topics like comparative colonial histories, language politics, and forms of cultural resistance.
What was the subject of your dissertation? What were/are your general research areas?
My dissertation examined marronage and utopianism in Caribbean literature, focusing on how queer freedom and belonging are imagined and enacted in relation to, and in defiance of, colonial structures. This work laid the foundation for my current research, which engages decolonial theory to explore how empire, epistemology, gender, and race co-constitute forms of knowledge, identity, and power. I am particularly interested in how art and literature provide avenues for epistemic reparation, generating critical inquiry and new expressions of healing and justice.
How did doing your doctoral work at Tulane help propel your career opportunities? Is there any “special edge” or boost it gave you in your job search?
Tulane provided me the freedom to explore my research interests while providing the resources to pursue them. I had the opportunity to study Kreyòl and travel to Haiti, delve into fantastic archives both on and off campus, like the Newcomb College Archives, the Historic New Orleans Collection, and the Louisiana Research Collection, and earn a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies. At Tulane, I also co-founded a queer theory reading group and organized a colloquium series on gender and sexuality. While I’m not certain there is any one specific “special edge” in the job market, the range of opportunities I embraced has given me a strong academic foundation, and possibly a more distinctive and compelling dossier than if I had stuck to a single focus or track.
Why did you originally choose Tulane’s Department of French and Italian for your doctoral work?
I initially chose Tulane because of New Orleans—plain and simple. The city’s deep ties to the Caribbean, its rich archives, its vibrant history of creolization, and the dynamic energy of its cultural scene all drew me in. But what truly sealed the deal was the people. During my application process, faculty and students at Tulane took time to engage with me in thoughtful and generous ways. That kind of care isn’t always common in academia, and it proved to be one of the most impactful aspects of my graduate experience.
How was your experience in the program? What were your favorite aspects?
Graduate school is challenging anywhere, but my experience at Tulane was particularly shaped by exceptional mentorship, an interdisciplinary curriculum, and a strong focus on pedagogy. I especially valued the many workshops, conferences, and networking opportunities that connected me with scholars across fields, which helped me refine my career goals and build a supportive academic community.
The department is once again preparing to welcome a new cohort in the Fall. What would be your advice to them? Any insider tips for making the most of the program?
How long can my response be here? Honestly, a whole book could be written with tips for incoming graduate students, andsome have, in fact! But to keep it brief: embrace New Orleans. The city is a living archive, and its communities, libraries, and cultural spaces can and will enrich your work in ways the classroom simply can’t. Step outside the Tulane bubble and get involved with local organizations, explore the archives and house museums, learn some Creole if you can, and, of course, enjoy the food (obviously). Remember that research doesn’t have to exist in a vacuum. Your time here is an opportunity to build something meaningful both academically and personally. And: advocate for yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Italian Program Updates and Honors
In Fall 2024, the Italian program offered a new 3000-level course, Rome Eternal City and Capital of Italy, an expanded version of a class that Prof. Nicosia had taught in the four-week summer program in Rome. In its first on-campus offering, the course attracted an especially passionate group of students completing the major. Delving into the city’s historical, cultural, and political significance – from its legendary origins to its modern-day vibrancy – they explored its evolution through art, architecture, literature, cinema, and journalism. The large range of topics included Imperial heritage, the Risorgimento, the Fascist era, Rome between Church and State, the Rome of the “economic miracle,” migration across the Mediterranean, integration, and more. Also, if these students missed the opportunity to walk through the streets of Rome, Prof. Nicosia’s idea to enrich the course with a VR simulation offered a compelling alternative!
In both Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, students of beginner- to advanced-level Italian classes continued to engage in a long-standing language exchange program with students of high schools ITC Calvi and ITC Einaudi-Gramsci in Padua, Italy.
Dominic Gennaro (Reveal Email Address) has been nominated the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) on-Campus Student Representative for the Italian-American Club of Tulane University. Contact him to be included in the Club’s activities for the next year! For more info: Reveal Email Address
Mable Windham has been awarded a CELT Faculty-Mentored Undergraduate Research Grant to work at the Italian Oral Histories Research Project in Summer 2025 under the supervision of prof. Elena Daniele. This is a collaborative project through the American Italian Cultural Center, the Tulane Department of French and Italian, the American Italian Research Library at the Jefferson Parish Library, and Tulane’s Howard-Tilton Library.
The winner of this year’s Italian Government Prize is Laura Malagrino, who has completed three majors – Art History, Classical Studies, and Italian – in all of which she excelled. The faculty recognized Laura’s accomplishments, including her advanced writing and research skills, effective collaboration in team projects, and strong intellectual foundation, all of which enhanced the quality of our courses. This fall, Laura will begin her MA in Classical Archeology at Oxford University. We extend our warmest wishes for a successful career!
Center Stage Event: Black Internationalism in French Translation
On April 3, 2025, in partnership with the Tulane University Libraries, the Department of French and Italian held a symposium on Black Internationalism in French Translation and the Cartographies of Emancipation.
After opening remarks by Brian T. Edwards, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts, participants engaged in a series of panels throughout the afternoon. The first session focused on the stakes of independent publishing and featured Jean-Baptiste Naudy, editor at Editions Ròt-Bò-Krik, as well as representatives from Tulane University Special Collections. During the discussion moderated by Chelsea Stieber of the French Department, topics focused on the origins of the press, its inspirations from both William Morris and French Guiana, its mission, its authors, and the broader independent publishing sphere in France. Objects from the university’s Special Collections were also presented, including a collection of independent presses from New Orleans.
The second session titled “Banjo, Tricontinental Drift(er)” featured Brent Hayes Edwards from Columbia University, Jean-Baptiste Naudy, and Grégory Pierrot from the University of Connecticut at Stamford and was also moderated by Chelsea Stieber. Taking the new French translation-in-progress of Claude McKay’s Banjo (1929) as a jumping-off point for a broader conversation about translation, Edwards’s useful and oft-mentioned notion of décalage was central to the discussion. As part of their work on the retranslation of Banjo, Naudy and Pierrot also explored prosthetic props; gaps in time and space; and time, timelines and timeliness in the work of translation.
The third and final session, titled “Translation Time and Space Machine”, featured Brent Hayes Edwards, Annette Joseph-Gabriel from Duke University, Jean-Baptiste Naudy, and Mame-Fatout Niang from Carnegie Mellon University, with moderation by Grégory Pierrot. This lively roundtable featured a wide-ranging discussion on Black internationalism in (French) translation and the cartographies of emancipation. Panelists addressed topics including Brent Hayes Edwards’s The Practice of the Diaspora (2003) 20 years on, and in French translation; the translation of works by Edwards, Annette Joseph-Gabriel, and others in Ròt-Bò-Krik’s catalog, and what this means for Black Studies, Diaspora Studies, and studies of the Black International in France and the French-speaking world; and elements of music and conjunction in Edwards’s assertion that “the cartography of decolonialism must be contrapuntal”.
A closing reception during which panelists and participants were able to further the conversation followed the sessions.
Major Department Initiatives: French Across the Curriculum
by Fayçal Falaky, Chair of French & Italian Department, Director of Middle East & North African Studies Program, Associate Professor of French & Italian
Tulane’s Department of French & Italian is pioneering an educational transformation with its “French Across the Curriculum” initiative. This program, branded by the slogan “make your other major go global,” integrates French language proficiency into a variety of academic disciplines, transcending traditional boundaries and infusing new vigor into humanities education. As the chair of the department, I am proud to lead this effort, which not only elevates the role of French in our liberal arts curriculum but also prepares our students for the diverse challenges of a globalized professional environment.
Thanks to generous support through a grant from the French Embassy in the United States and the Albertine Foundation, we are poised to expand our offerings significantly. The funding will enable us to develop additional interdisciplinary courses that continue to blend French with other fields such as psychology, law, and environmental studies. We will also be able to subsidize the costs of the Diplôme de Français Professionnel (DFP) exams. The Diplômes are professional French-language certifications that assess the ability to use French in real-world business and professional situations, providing students with credentials that are recognized globally.
Another exciting development enabled by this grant is the creation of a K-12 outreach program. This initiative will establish connections with local French immersion schools to foster early language acquisition and promote continuous language learning through to the university level.
These initiatives represent just the beginning of what we hope will be a growing trend across American universities to appreciate and use the French language as a tool for professional and personal development. By integrating French language study with substantive academic inquiry across disciplines, we will set a transformative example for the future of language education in the United States.
“We are committed to developing a new generation of students who are as linguistically skilled as they are culturally and globally aware.”
Beth Poe Grant Recipient: Muna Beierlein
Before graduating with double majors on the pre-med track in Spring 2024, Muna Beierlein was the recipient of a Beth Poe Travel Fund grant for study in France. The grant helped her pursue something that she felt passionate about without the fear of a financial burden. Here she shares more on this life-changing experience.
Where exactly was your study abroad?
My study abroad took place in Cherbourg, France. It was for a month in June, and I went there after getting in touch with their local Red Cross unit about being a temporary volunteer with them.
What was your major at Tulane and what are your next career steps?
I majored in Neuroscience and French on the pre-med track, graduating in Spring of 2024. I spent a year afterwards assisting a physician at his clinic in New Orleans. Now, I'm going to spend my last few months off in Morocco and Germany with my family before starting medical school in July. I look forward to being able to practice medicine someday without geographical limitations.
How did studying abroad help you get closer to these objectives?
This experience abroad opened my eyes to the reality that many immigrant groups face worldwide. Even though I was working with their food bank team, there were many things I learned that translate to medicine. During times of high stress for the refugees seeking resources and the volunteers who are not provided enough to satisfy everyone, it was important for me to assess priorities and make sure everything has a purpose before it was distributed. As a future physician, I need to be able to find appropriate middle grounds that would minimize the maldistribution of care. This means distributing treatments more fitting for a specific population, learning how to assess priorities, and attacking root causes of issues. Being able to practice how to merge professionalism with empathy and communicate clearly (whether the families spoke French, English, or another language) are also very important skills in medicine.
How did the Beth Poe Grant help make your study abroad a reality?
The Beth Poe Grant allowed me to pursue something I felt passionate about without the fear of a financial burden. At this stage of my life, I would not have been able to do this otherwise.
What was your favorite moment or memory from your study abroad experience?
My favorite memories are from when I would go on rides with two other volunteers, who were retired women, in a truck through the outskirts of Cherbourg. We would do our weekly roundups picking up crates of produce from local grocery stores and dairy products from a small factory. I would have amazing conversations with them during the long drives, and I felt like I was able to see small details of what a humble life in Cherbourg looks like that I otherwise wouldn't stop to notice as a regular tourist.
Would you recommend this experience to future students?
Absolutely. What makes this study abroad experience unique is it throws you out of your comfort zone. You're not surrounded by members of your institution or other peers you know. You're forced to get acquainted with locals, to familiarize yourself with your surroundings, and to absorb an entirely new environment. You learn invaluable life skills on top of gaining a new level of expertise in the French language.
How was your overall experience in the Department of French and Italian?
The French Department at Tulane provided me with the opportunity to have personal connections with my professors and classmates not only due to the small class sizes, but also the overall teaching style valuing dialogue and more student-led courses. I have felt that every professor I've taken has genuinely wanted me to succeed, and the way in which they extend themselves to accommodate different learning styles or personal circumstances is remarkable.