Dear Friends,
I hope that this finds you well during these remarkable times. It has been quite a summer, and the FRIT community sends warm and supportive thoughts to all of our friends. The semester began a few weeks ago, and we have more students in our classes than ever before (well, at least since we converted to semesters in 2012). I am so delighted to regularly hear positive stories from our instructors about their experiences in the classroom (whether in person or virtual).
The summer was extraordinary for many reasons, foremost due to widespread racial violence and calls for social justice amidst a global pandemic. The Department of French and Italian is in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter. Our Diversity and Inclusion Committee has worked hard over the last several years, and in particular over the summer, on several initiatives. These include: supporting students of color, supporting international graduate students affected by the present Administration’s visa and immigration policies, and supporting the removal of Christopher Columbus statues throughout Columbus. You can read about the work of our committee in this newsletter.
A common theme the summer issue of FRONTIERE is helping one another and building community. For example, recent Italian Studies Ph.D. Laurenzo De Camilla is featured for their incredible work in being an advocate for LGBTQ youth on social media platforms (they have millions of viewers!) This represents a new career trajectory in social justice that developed from the deep thinking around questions of visual culture and gender and sexuality that took place during graduate school.
Interdisciplinary thinking is at the heart of our department. As discussed in a feature, Postdoctoral Researcher in The Global Mediterranean Harry Kashdan will advance his own collaborative engagement and teaching in migration studies with the help of a Global Arts and Humanities Special Covid-19 Grant to work on the fascinating project “The Quarantine Cookbook: Documenting Migrant Food Networks under COVID-19.” Professor Kashdan and collaborator Professor Philip Gleissner will explore food and foodways with respect to migrants, and the project will result in an edited volume from a diverse authorship (chefs, restaurateurs, artists, local immigrant families) and a companion website which will make for an amazing teaching tool and will include recipes from Harry and Phillip’s own students.
As you will read in this issue, FRIT is pleased to announce two new degree options which should be officially approved shortly, and were designed as our graduates gave us terrific input on the types of degrees they would have loved to pursue. The new interdisciplinary major in French and Francophone Studies is designed for students who would like to take courses in and outside of our department, in French and in English, and have a keen interest in the Francophone world. The new MA/BA in French and Francophone Studies allows students to complete both degrees in five years, and should prepare graduates for a variety of careers and top-notch PhD programs, such as our own. A special thank you to Professor Jennifer Willging who put so much thought and effort into both of these degrees!
As we welcome, or welcome back, our students, we send good wishes to all of our graduates! Please keep us posted on all of the amazing things that you have been up to. This includes Kiki Hou, a spring graduate who double-majored in French and Sociology and is now pursuing a MA degree in Sociology at Sciences Po in Paris. You can read more about Kiki’s trajectory in the newsletter.
We hope that you stay in touch by subscribing to our Friends of FRIT listserv, and following us on Twitter and Facebook where we post regularly on all of our virtual happenings!
I close this message by sharing a short video by FRIT graduate student Aleksandra Suslina on how we might all find balance in today’s world.
Warmly,
Dana Renga
