Department Leadership

Department Chair - Elena Past.2

Director of Undergraduate Studies - Jennifer Willging.1

Director of Graduate Studies - Jonathan Combs-Schilling.1

French Basic-Language Director - Wynne Wong.240

French Basic-Language Assistant Director - Ryan Gomez.624

Italian Basic-Language Director - April Weintritt.1

Italian Basic-Language Assistant Director - Rosa DiGrottole.1

French Center of Excellence Director - Benjamin Hoffmann.312

Advising and Service Roles

University Senator - Jonathan Combs-Schilling (2025-2028)

Graduate School Fellowship Review Committee: Benjamin Hoffmann (AU25) and Qian Liu.12199 (SP26)

ASC Senator - Jonathan Mullins.429 (2023-2027) / Benjamin Hoffmann.312 (alternate)

ASC Liberal Arts Major Curriculum Committee: Jennifer Willging.1

ASC Promotion and Tenure Committee: Wynne Wong.240

Teaching Schedules - French: Jennifer Willging.1 and Wynne Wong.240 / Italian: Janice Aski.1 and April Weintritt.1

Assessment Coordinator - Adela Lechintan-Siefer.1

Faculty Honors Major Mentors - French: Jennifer Willging.1 / Italian: April Weintritt.1

Faculty Major Mentors - French: Jennifer Willging.1 / Italian: Janice Aski.1

Romance Studies Major Mentors - French (as primary language): Jennifer Willging.1 / Italian (as primary language): Janice Aski.1

ASC College Advisor - Andy Spencer.4 (Emily Carpenter.438 in SU)

Minor Mentors - French: Rebecca Wetzel.215 / Italian: April Weintritt.1

Distance Learning Director - French: Wynne Wong.240 / Italian: April Weintritt.1

Distance Learning Assistant Director - French: Denis Mingallon.2

French Individualized Instruction and Summer DL Coordinator - Denis Mingallon.2

French 1103 Coordinator - Kate Schlosser.73

UG Club Advisors - French: Adela Lechintan-Siefer.1 / Italian: Giuliano Migliori.2

Transfer/Study Abroad Credit Evaluators - French: Kelly Campbell.796 / Italian: Eric Johnson

Italian Government Liaison and Grant Writing - Giuliano Migliori.2

K-12 Event and Engagement Planners - French: Adela Lechintan-Siefer.1 and Kate Schlosser.73 / Italian: Giuliano Migliori.2

Graduate Proficiency Exam Evaluator - Mauro Cazzolla.1

GIS/Minor in Second Language Studies: Wynne Wong.240

French & Italian Graduate Student Association (FIGSA) Leadership (2026-2027)

President - Naya Gyamfi.52

Vice President - Yongnan Zhang.14241

Secretary - Chris Hope.96

Treasurer - Debora Idowu.20

FIGSA Representative to Department meetings - Chris Hope.96

Annual Review, Promotion & Tenure Committee

Wynne Wong.240 - Chair

Jonathan Combs-Schilling.1

Benjamin Hoffmann.312 

Lucille Toth.297, POD

April Weintritt.1

Salary Advisory Committee

Janice Aski.1 - Chair

Maggie Flinn.62

Wynne Wong.240

Associated Faculty Committee

Maggie Flinn.62 - Chair (2025-2027)

Kate Schlosser.73 (2025-2028)

Rosa DiGrottole.1 - Associated Faculty Member

Connie Knoechel.3 (Ex-Officio)

Undergraduate Studies Committee

Jennifer Willging.1 - Chair (2022-2026)
Ryan Joyce.289 shadowing AU26; Chair SP27

Janice Aski.1 - Italian UG Director (2025-2028)

Jonathan Mullins.429 (2026-2027)

Adela Lechintan-Siefer.1 - Assessment and Recruitment (2023-2026)

Jenna Thrash, UG Academic Program Coordinator (Ex-Officio)

TBD - UG Representative

Graduate Studies Committee

Jonathan Combs-Schilling.1 - Chair (2025-2028)

Ryan Joyce.289 (2025-2028)

Qian Liu.12199 (2024-2027)

Rachel Sanabria, Assistant Director of Graduate Studies (Ex-Officio)

Yongnan Zhang - GA Representative

Community and Mentorship Committee

Maggie Flinn.62 - Co-Chair

April Weintritt.1 - Co-Chair

Jonathan Mullins.429

Events and Engagement Committee

Benjamin Hoffmann.312 - Co-Chair for French

Qian Liu.12199 - Co-Chair for Italian

Adela Lechintan-Siefer.1 - French K-12 and community connections

Giuliano Migliori.2 - Italian K-12 and community connections

Kate Schlosser.73 - French K-12 and community connections

Jenna Thrash, UG Academic Program Coordinator (Ex-Officio)

Department Meetings Schedule

Key:

• FD: Full Department, meetings for all members of FRIT
• CF: Core Faculty, meetings for tenure-track faculty and professors of teaching
• DC: Department Council, meetings for tenure-track faculty, professors of teaching, staff, and representatives

AY27 representatives:

• Associated Faculty: Rebecca Wetzel
• Graduate Associates: Chris Hope
• Staff: Jenna Thrash.6

To add the FRIT calendar to your OSU Outlook shared calendars, follow the instructions below or view Microsoft Support.

1. Navigate to your OSU Outlook calendar. Select the three dots next to "shared calendars"
2. Select "Add Shared Calendar"
3. Type in frit@osu.edu or frenital@osu.edu 
4. Click "Open"

Associated Faculty Award

Associated Faculty in The Department of French and Italian who have had a paper accepted at a professional conference, who have a research or professional development project that requires travel, or who have job interviews at the annual MLA Convention may apply for a Departmental Travel Award of up to $1,500. To apply, send a brief letter describing the paper, development opportunity, or project, a copy of the letter of acceptance or invitation, and an estimated budget (travel, lodging, and transportation) to the current department chair. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis throughout the year until the funds have been exhausted. 

Tenure-track (and Teaching) Faculty Travel Funding

Tenure-track faculty in French and Italian may apply for up to $2500 per academic year for research-related travel (conference presentations, archival work, etc.). Please e-mail the department chair a brief description of the conference or project, an acceptance or invitation e-mail if pertinent, and a rough budget. For additional funding of up to $2000 for conferences, research, creative work, etc., see the A&H Small Grants Program.

Department of French and Italian Research Development Support Fund

The fund supports faculty who are facilitating research focused on the literature, history, and linguistic development of France, Italy, and regions of countries where French and Italian are spoken. Examples of such countries include, but are not limited to, Switzerland, Belgium, Sardinia, parts of Africa, certain Caribbean islands, and Quebec. Eligible recipients must have a primary appointment in the Department of French and Italian (“Department”). Recipients may be drawn from all tenured faculty, tenure track faculty, teaching faculty, full-time lectures, and graduate students at the dissertation stage pursuing their work while working in the Department at The Ohio State University (“University”). Visiting faculty are not eligible. Expenditures may be used for, but are not limited to, travel expenses to conferences, as well as travel expenses for purposes of primary data collection and archival research done on site in Italy, France, or other linguistically affiliated countries. 

To apply, a written statement of proposed activities and the amount of funding requested must submitted to the Department Chair. A proposal must include two parts: 1) a description of the activities and how they will lead to eventual publication, and 2) a budget justifying the amount of funds requested.