The Department of French and Italian had a rich year of programming in 2025. We hosted speakers and experts on a variety of topics in French and Italian language, society, culture, literature, music, theatre, and art.
French Center of Excellence Lecture Series and Nuit des Idées:
On April 1, 2025, the French Center of Excellence and Wexner Center for the Arts co-hosted a series of events dedicated to honoring and exploring French and Francophone culture and language as a part of the global Nuit des Idées celebration. Organized by Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education, the Night of Ideas (La nuit des idées) was a dynamic event happening in cities across the US aimed at fostering dialogue on urgent global issues.
This year’s theme, Common Ground, guided an evening of incisive talks, discussions, and performances hosted by the French Center of Excellence at Ohio State in partnership with the Wexner Center for the Arts. This interdisciplinary gathering of Ohio State scholars and artists included a keynote from Department of History Professor Bart Elmore, and flash talks and Q&As by French and Italian Professors Ryan Joyce and Jonathan Mullins, Comparative Studies Professor Maurice Stevens, Design Professor Fabienne Münch, and Folklore Studies Professor Dorothy Noye.
Also as part of the Nuit des Idées celebration, On Board(hers) performed at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Set within the gallery space, the performance—led by Dr. Lucille Toth, professor in the Department of French and Italian—wove together movement, voice, and testimony to explore themes of migration, memory, and resilience. Drawing on the lived experiences of participants from Iran, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and Venezuela, the piece invited the audience into an embodied archive—where personal gestures became political acts and collective movement gave form to untold stories. This site-specific work is part of a broader artistic and research initiative that amplifies immigrant voices through dance and narrative performance.
Thank you to all students, faculty, and community friends who came together to celebrate and honor French and Francophone culture across the globe and on campus. These events, all of which truly embodied this year's theme of common ground, were an excellent representation of what interdisciplinary learning can do for world communities.
Photo credits: Night of Ideas at the Wexner Center for the Arts, April 1, 2025. Courtesy of the Wexner Center for the Arts. OnBoard(hers) photos credit: Dean Taylor.
Mancini Lectures - Inaugural Series
This year's inaugural Mancini Lecture Series, in honor of the late Professor Albert Mancini, was made possible through a generous gift by the Mancini family. This year's series featured two experiences.
The first experience was a lecture from Dr. Karla Mallette, Professor of Italian (Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures), and Chair and Professor of Mediterranean Studies (Dept. of Middle East Studies) at the University of Michigan, entitled Hang Time: Gambling and Risk in Late Medieval Italy. Professor Mallette's lecture traced the histories of things that travel from one shore of the Mediterranean to another – people, books, ideas, and material objects – how they are transformed in the process, and the transformative cultural impact they have in a new land.
The second experience was a theatre performance and discussion with Giuliana Musso. Entitled Dentro. Una storia vera, se volete, Giuliana Musso's work was about a mother discovering the worst of truths. A father innocent until proven guilty. Waves of doctors, social workers, and other “helpers” who don’t really want to know, furthering the secret’s concealment. Dentro is not documentary theater but an investigation of a current happening; it’s not a work about violence but one exploring the concealment of truth and lost innocence of children.
