Dec 03, 2024  
USC Catalogue 2016-2017 
    
USC Catalogue 2016-2017 [ARCHIVED CATALOGUE]

French and Italian


Return to: USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences  

The Department of French and Italian offers majors and minors in French and Francophone Studies and in Italian. The study of French or Italian involves the mastery of the languages and their literary and cultural expressions in fiction and non-fiction, dramatic, cinematic and poetic texts, as well as the study of social and political institutions in their relationship to cultural production.

The department offers a variety of classes in French and Italian, as well as some courses with readings and discussion in English to satisfy diverse needs. Topics range broadly from the study of a single author or literary genre to current events, cinema and new media, gender and postcolonial studies, and literary criticism.

Courses are kept small to allow for maximum interaction between students and professors. Students in both French and Italian work closely with their advisers to develop an appropriate course of study. This often involves study abroad. The department runs summer programs in Dijon, France and Rome, Italy; students also attend semester- or year-long programs in Paris and Florence or Rome.

Taper Hall of Humanities 155
(213) 740-3700
FAX: (213) 746-7297
Email: french@dornsife.usc.edu
dornsife.usc.edu/fren-ital

Chair: Sherry Velasco, PhD

Faculty

Marion Frances Chevalier Professor of French and Professor of French and Italian and Comparative Literature: Peggy Kamuf, PhD*

Professors: Margaret F. Rosenthal, PhD*; Vanessa Schwartz, PhD (History)

Associate Professors: Edwin Hill, PhD; Natania Meeker, PhD; Panivong Norindr, PhD; Antonia Szabari, PhD

Assistant Professors: Gian-Maria Annovi, PhD; Olivia Harrison, PhD

Professor of the Practice of French: Alain Borer, PhD

Professor (Teaching) of Italian: Francesca Italiano, PhD

Professor (Teaching) of French: Béatrice Mousli Bennett, PhD, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques

Associate Professors (Teaching) of French: Antonio Idini, PhD; Colin Keaveney, PhD; Julie Nack Ngue, PhD

Assistant Professors (Teaching) of Italian: Alessio A. Filippi, PhD; James Fortney, PhD; Francesca Leardini, PhD; Guilan Siassi, PhD

Master Lecturers of French: Nathalie C. Burle, EdD; Julia Chamberlin, MPhil; Atiyeh Doreen Showrai, MA

Lecturer: Jessica Kanoski, PhD

Emeritus Professors: Marie-Florine Bruneau, PhD; Albert Sonnenfeld, PhD, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques

Emeritus Associate Professor: Arthur E. Babcock, PhD

Emerita Associate Professor (Teaching) of French: Carol A. Hofmann, PhD

Associated Faculty

Professors: Elinor Accampo, PhD (History); Joseph Dane, PhD (English); Eunice Howe, PhD (Art History)

Associate Professor: David Rollo, PhD (English)

*Recipient of university-wide or school teaching award.

Undergraduate Degrees

Advisement

All French and Italian department majors should consult with the department student adviser and with our faculty adviser for French and Italian. Students should seek an appointment early in each semester so that an advisement file may be established for each student.

Honors Program - French

The BA in French with Honors is available to students who have an overall GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of at least 3.5 in courses counted for major credit. To complete the honors program the student must complete three 400-level courses and write an honors thesis of 25–30 pages in French in one of the 400-level courses. The topic of the thesis must be agreed upon with the instructor.

French Honors Society: Pi Delta Phi

Qualifications

Undergraduate students must have completed one semester of upper-division French with a minimum GPA of 3.0 in French and overall. Graduate students must be candidates for advanced degrees in French.

Sequence

A placement test is required of all students resuming French after high school courses in French.

Honors Program - Italian

The BA in Italian with Honors is available to students who have an overall GPA of 3.0 and a GPA of at least 3.5 in courses counted for major credit. To complete the honors program the student must complete three 400-level courses and write an honors thesis of 25–30 pages in Italian in one of the 400-level courses. The topic of the thesis must be agreed upon with the instructor.

Italian Honors Society: Gamma Kappa Alpha

Qualifications

Undergraduate students must have completed one semester of upper division Italian with a minimum GPA of 3.0 in Italian and overall.

Sequence

A placement test is required of all students resuming Italian after high school courses in Italian.

Graduate Programs

The MA and PhD degrees in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture (French and Francophone Studies) are offered through the Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture  program.

Programs

Bachelor’s Degree

Minor

Courses

French

Italian