Our department sees thousands of students every semester in the introductory language sequence courses. It is our goal to provide every one of these students with the language and cultural skills they seek, and to present them with opportunities to further explore French and Italian culture through advanced coursework, majors, minors, and study abroad programs. To this end, the Undergraduate Studies Committee organized a welcome event, during which students had a chance to get to know faculty in the department, and to learn about undergraduate program requirements and study abroad and internship opportunities.
The event took place on October 8th. Almost 50 students were greeted with a door prize raffle and a welcome from the Department Chair, Professor Dana Renga. After the introduction, students got to know the faculty members in attendance, as each presented their interests, courses, and research. Students were then given an overview of the department’s minors, the French major, the Italian major, the new Italian Studies Major, and the Romance Studies Major. Carla Onorato, the Italian Study Abroad Coordinator, skyped in from Rome, Italy to talk to attendees about Italian study abroad programs, and Professor Patrick Bray talked about study abroad opportunities in French speaking countries.
Before the event was over, the raffle winners were drawn, and students received exciting gifts, including Italian-English dictionaries, books on French philosophers, and Baci chocolates. The best part was yet to come though, as faculty threw on their tennis shoes and joined the bravest students on the South Oval in a great game of soccer!
A huge thank to the members of the Undergraduate Studies Committee, Professors Janice Aski, Patrick Bray, and Benjamin Hoffmann for putting together such a fun and informative event! Ohio State students pursue many incredible educational paths during their time as undergraduates. Studying a foreign language is an exciting path to take, and it can serve as a priceless addition to any other field of study. If you are thinking about double majoring, don’t hesitate to contact us!
As one of her many outreach initiatives, Professor Aski was recently featured on Voices of Excellence. She joined the podcast with a discussion on the importance of intercultural competency and the need to be bilingual in the world today. Listen to the podcast on iTunes or Soundcloud.
Thank you to Violette Le Gall for the wonderful pictures!
