Recent News

The Daily, the University's student-run newspaper, recently published an article covering French/Italian 240: Harmonizing Language and Music, taught by Dr. Eun Ju Vivianna Oh. The author, Miya Spry, is a current student of the course and writes about how the performance and activity based course requires students to break free of their comfort zones. Read the article "Don't Stick to the Status Quo (No, no no)" by Miya Spry on… Read more
The Department of French & Italian Studies is offering a variety of exciting classes this Winter! Read below to check out some of our classes and their descriptions! If you have any questions regarding our courses, please reach out to frenital@uw.eduITAL 260 A: Fashion, Nation, and Culture (SSc, A&H) Professor Susan Gaylard | MW 12:30pm… Read more
 Cinema Italian Style returns to SIFF Cinema Uptown November 7-14 to celebrate the best in Italian cinema with a broad selection of 15 films to celebrate its 16th year. Tickets for the festival, a celebration of the best Italian films of the year, are on sale now. “Cinema Italian Style is one of SIFF’s most beloved annual events, and we’re so grateful for the partners and patrons that return… Read more
Professor of French Geoffrey Turnovsky was recently featured in episode 639 of The History of Literature podcast, titled "Immersed in Print". In the episode, host Jacke Wilson and Professor Turnvosky discuss his newest book, Reading Typographically: Immersed in Print in Early Modern France, and the stereotypes and myths centering around the act of reading a print-based book - and what insights they might deliver to readers in an age of digitization.  Reading… Read more
Applications for the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) are now open! Applications are open from October 15th, 2024 to February 28th, 2025.  Run by the French Ministry of Education and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, each year TAPIF places around 1,300 Americans into French public schools to work as English language teaching assistants for 12 hours a week. The seven-month contracts, which can be renewed twice (consecutively or… Read more
Lamia Mezzour-Hodson is an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. She holds a PhD and a Master’s in French and Francophone Studies from the University of California, Davis, a Bachelor’s in Translation & Interpreting from the Universidad de Granada, complemented by a one year Erasmus at Université de Genève. She is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in 20th and 21st century literature and cinema of North Africa and its diasporas. Her work examines the intersection… Read more
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Portrait of Sarah-Kate Moore We recently checked in with alumna and current part-time lecturer Sarah-Kate Moore about her experience in our French MA program. Sarah-Kate Moore earned her MA in French in 2024. Previously, she earned a MFA in Poetry and a PhD in English from the University of Washington.  While an undergraduate at Rollins College, Sarah-Kate took her first French class during her Sophomore year and fell in love with the… Read more
Associate Professor of French Richard Watts, in partnership with local collaborators and the community, has been awarded the 2024-2025 UW EarthLab Innovation Grant for Climate & Social Justice. The team, one of only five selected, has been awarded $80,000 to research and develop new and actionable knowledge on community-driven projects at the intersection of climate change and social justice  Titled Life, In Spite of It All: Water, Wetlands, and Reclamation in a Changing… Read more
We are happy to welcome Acting Assistant Professor of French Matthew Skrzypczyk to the University of Washington and the Department of French & Italian Studies!  Matthew Skrzypczyk specializes in 20th and 21st century French and Francophone literature, film and visual arts. His research addresses questions of world-making, sexuality, hospitality and citizenship in the multi-disciplinary work of Edouard Louis, Maryse Condé, Claire Denis and Josué Azor. Matthew earned his MA (2017)… Read more
This post is part of a periodic series in which we highlight students in French & Italian courses and how language learning relates to their goals. Are you a student in one of our courses? We'd love to hear from you! My name is Gwen, and I'm from Spokane, Washington. I am majoring in Political Science with a concentration in International Security, as well as Global and Regional Studies, focusing on Eastern Europe and former Soviet states… Read more