Video Paris
Stills from short student video essays for Dr. Elisabeth Hodges' project, "Video Paris"
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Chair's Welcome
Jonathan Strauss
Dear Alumni, Students, and Friends:
In Irvin Hall and far across the globe, it has been a busy year for the Department of French & Italian at Miami.  In a minute, I’ll turn the newsletter over to our students and recent graduates, who have contributed articles about their experiences in the last several months.  But before that, I wanted to mention briefly some of what the faculty have accomplished in the last several years.  If you’re in a hurry, you can just skip ahead to the students – but don’t miss the quiz at the end of the letter, where you can test your knowledge of things French & Italian.
This semester we underwent a periodic review of the Department, which included assessments by an internal review team and outside consultants from cognate departments at other universities.  In compiling data for our self-study document in preparation for their visit, I was a little surprised and very pleased by what I discovered.  
Since our last review, in 2008, we have graduated 90 majors, 444 minors, and 24 M.A.’s.  We have directed ten Departmental honors theses.  We have created a combined, five-year BA/MA degree.  Of the eight distinct study-abroad programs that the Department offered, six were created in the last five years.  We have reinvented our program goals by establishing new curricula, student learning outcomes, and a scaffolded program for continued language instruction through the middle and upper levels.  We have experimented with new teaching platforms, creating three new courses taught entirely online.  We have created the French Writing Center, staffed by graduate students, to provide tutoring aid for our undergraduates.  Working with other offices and programs on and off campus, we have built up career support for our students.  To underwrite research among permanent Department faculty, we used an endowed fund to create an annual budget of some $7,000 in competitive awards.  In the past five years, Department faculty, both permanent and visiting, have published a total of ten monographs at major presses, three edited volumes, three co-edited books, 27 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 28 book chapters, 31 reviews, six translations (one monograph, four articles or book chapters, one co-translated essay), and nine creative works.  Department faculty gave 40 invited or keynote lectures and presented over 130 papers at national and international meetings of learned societies, not including lectures in our works-in-progress series or at Miami.  Faculty also won several prestigious fellowships and awards from national sources.
Over the last five years, the number of Italian studies majors has more than tripled.  And of all the institutions that we surveyed in preparing our report, Miami has the strongest record of turning French students into majors.  Like Miami, many universities have foreign language requirements.  The difference seems to be that once students enter our program, we offer something of enough value that they choose to continue on at unique rates.  As a result, we have one of the highest proportions of French and Italian Studies majors in the country.
The Department is widely acclaimed for its strengths in scholarship and teaching.  We are always striving to improve.  And so we ask for your feedback on ways in which we might do that.  Your perspective is crucial.  You are not only our students, our alumni, and our friends.  You are also our most important resource. 
Jonathan Strauss
Professor and Chair

Mayah Haidar in an Italian cooking class
Cooking Class in Florence
Written by Mayah Haidar, Class of 2020, French major and Italian minor
The chef looked like my idea of a stereotypical Italian: short, styled black hair, with a cross earring dangling from his left earlobe, complete with the chef’s apron. He divided the group into four separate counters. One focused on the dessert: panna cotta. The other three focused on the appetizer of capresi salad and the main delicacy: the gnocchi, which is a potato dish, resembling little pasta balls.
One might assume that grand Italian cooking would encompass a thousand various spices, vegetables, and meats. However, it was the opposite. The Italian leader of the students, Daniele Fioretti, expressed the sentiment: “In Tuscany, with the ingredients you go back to the basics. It is not complicated. All the ingredients are fresh.” He smiled when talking about the meals of his native Florence.
After kneading it, the students cut the dough and rolled it into the tiny balls of gnocchi. It was a small miracle that no one dropped anything on the floor. Within an hour, the sous chef guided the now professional cookers to their seat to enjoy their own delicacy. With smiles on their faces, the stuffed students munched down quickly. So now, when any relatives ask if I learned anything about making Italian food while abroad, I can reply with confidence, “Yes!” 
Climbing the Duomo
Carolyn Dinehart on top of the Duomo in Florence, Italy
Written by Carolyn Dinehart, Class of 2018, Italian minor
Since the beginning of our study-abroad program in Florence, we had planned on climbing up the Duomo. The Duomo is an ancient cathedral that lies in the heart of the city; nicknamed “the Dome” because it has the largest brick dome ever constructed crowning the building. 
Our entire time in the city, we circled around the iconic building as the anticipation grew and grew, until on a beautiful clear day toward the end of the trip, we finally went up. It was amazing to see everything, everywhere I had gone over the past three weeks so clearly and from a new perspective. I was able to appreciate the view because I knew and loved Florence even before I was able to see it from new heights. Over my three-week stay in Florence, I fell in love with it because it feels like a real place, not a giant tourist attraction. It feels real and feels like you are making a tiny mark on an ancient city.  I am so happy I went on this trip and wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything.
Isabelle Tessier
Growing Up Between Two Languages
Written by Isabelle Tessier, Class of 2018, French minor
Bonjour les lecteurs,
My name is Isabelle Tessier. I am a junior Mechanical Engineering major with minors in Paper Science and French Language and Culture. I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to a Canadian mother and French father. We moved to the U.S. when I was four years old and continued to speak French at home.
For us, it was important to maintain our culture. Phone calls and Skype were two ways I stayed connected with my French relatives. Growing up, all of my classes were in English, and it was not until high school that foreign language courses were offered. Many students believed that I was cheating since I already knew how to speak French, but what they did not realize was that I took the courses to develop my reading and writing skills as well as to learn more about the culture in France and francophone countries.
My love for French is the reason I chose to pursue a minor in French Language and Culture here at Miami. I believe that being able to speak another language allows me to be more connected with the world. Many employers hire graduates who are fluent in multiple languages because it creates strong international connections for the company. If anyone is considering taking foreign language courses or declaring a minor, I highly recommend doing so. Even if the courses may be challenging, having that knowledge will help you in the long run.
Video Paris
Video Paris: Three Seconds a Day
Written by Dr. Elisabeth Hodges, Associate Professor of French
For their final project in French 131 last January, I asked students to create a visual journal of their experience studying abroad in Paris. They were supposed to document two to three seconds of each day of our short stay. Inspired, in part, by the collective film, Paris je t’aime (2007), students were to record what struck them as a way of reflecting upon the importance of place and cultural identity. The results were, in a word, breathtaking.
In our image-saturated world, it’s easy to skim thoughtlessly through photographic feeds of exquisitely curated lives. By asking them to use images to express their thoughts about their experience, what emerged was a collective vision of Paris as seen through their subjective points of view. Their films registered moments of frustration, but also jubilation and discovery as they navigated the modern-day metropolis, but what surprised me even more, was the wonder they brought to each encounter with the traces of the past. In revisiting their video essays a year later, I was struck by the blur, literally, that whirling cameras tracked in short film-essays that revealed both sites of the historical and cultural imagination of Paris but perhaps more importantly, the itinerary of their own self-discoveries.
Daniele Fioretti
Faculty Spotlight: Daniele Fioretti
Written by Cole Dorsey, Class of 2018, Italian minor
Daniele Fioretti earned his second Ph.D. in Italian Studies from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and now, teaches as a lecturer within the Department of French and Italian here at Miami. But, Dr. Fioretti’s rise through academia was most influenced by the city which he long called home: Florence, Italy.
At the University of Florence, Dr. Fioretti earned his first Ph.D. with a dissertation on the representation of industry and factory workers in Italian literature. The dissertation was later published as his first book. 
Now, when Dr. Fioretti returns to Florence, he brings American undergraduates with him for a study-abroad program in which he challenges stereotypes and preconceived notions about Italy and Italians to give his students a first-hand experience of true Italian culture. In the process, he hopes they will call Florence home, as he does.      
Growing up, Dr. Fioretti was part of a blue-collar family in Florence, so the relationship between literature and social/political commitment is personal to him. It is also why he worked on industrial literature and why, in Wisconsin, he focused his research on utopias and dystopias in Italian literature and cinema. In fact, this was the theme of his second dissertation at Madison, which became his second book.
At Miami University his focus has shifted to Italian cinema, especially from a technical/formalistic aspect, and on Italian-American culture. In his free time Dr. Fioretti likes to watch European and American independent art films with his family, and he often finds in these movies ideas for his classes and his research. This love for film is accompanied by a passion for teaching, and Dr. Fioretti enjoys the challenge of teaching both language and cinema courses.  But, as someone who has been a student in both, I can say it is clear he has a love for cinema. 
Dr. Fioretti is currently writing a book chapter on translation in cinema focused on the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. And he hopes to develop a course and possibly write a book on science fiction dystopian movies in Italian and European cinema.
Paris Report: Skating on the Tower
Katie Coverdale skating on top of the Eiffel Tower Katie Coverdale adding a lock to Pont Neuf
Written by Katie Coverdale, Class of 2018, French major
Thinking back on my trip to Paris, trying to choose my favorite moment of the trip ended up being much more difficult than I anticipated. The options were countless: standing in front of the Mona Lisa, drinking Angelina’s hot chocolate, watching a performance at the Moulin Rouge and L’Opera Garnier, shopping along the Champs-Elysées, climbing the steps of Notre Dame, hunting for the best baguette in Montmartre, looking at my reflection in the hall of mirrors at Versailles or morning runs to the jardin de Luxembourg, to name just a few.
One of the more unique moments of the trip was during one of the last days when we were set loose to go visit or re-visit wherever we wanted in the city. A group of us decided to go back to the Eiffel Tower and go up since we hadn’t yet gone up the tower. When we reached the first platform we were more than surprised to see an ice-skating rink.  Naturally, we all got skates because how many people get to say they went ice skating on the Eiffel tower?
Next, we went to meet for our river cruise on the Seine. Before heading out for the cruise I bought a lock and key, which I signed and locked onto Pont Neuf, and then threw the key into the river. We topped the day off with a river cruise at night. With perfect timing we reached the base of the Eiffel Tower just as she began to sparkle. To say it was picturesque is a gross understatement.
The entire trip was filled with these beautiful moments that made me feel like the luckiest person in the world.
MA student Masjeed Masnoon
From Faisalabad to Little France
Written by Masnoon Masjeed, M.A. student in French, 2018

Little France is perhaps the best way to describe the French Graduate Student office in the basement of Irvin Hall. After all, the most commonly spoken language here is French and the most frequent topic of discussion is French culture. This Little France has been a great learning place for me on a personal and professional level. As a Pakistani international student, it is enriching to observe how different cultures interact, engage and communicate with one another here. I get to eavesdrop and participate in the conversion between the two sides of the Atlantic. Politics, history, environment, economics, etiquette, social expectations, and of course linguistics, literature, and pedagogy are all often on the table. I particularly appreciate the opportunity not only to learn the perspectives of others, but as literature students, my colleagues are often aware of the contexts that engender certain discourses. In this sense, I can benefit not only from theoretical and literary accounts that we study in class but also from rich conversations about these issues outside of the classroom environment.  
In particular, this Little France has a diverse cohort of Francophones. This diversity has provided me not only an opportunity to develop a better understanding of the Francophone world but also encouraged me to develop a more global approach towards literature. For instance, as I read Albert Memmi’s classic text, Portrait du colonisé, précédé par Portrait du colonisateur, I noticed that British colonialism, like French colonialism, was a system primarily meant to maintain colonial privileges. These privileges were sustained by a continuous degradation of the Punjabis and their language. As a Punjabi myself, it was important to realize how this deprivation of the mother tongue and degradation of the vernacular literature weakened the capacity of Punjabis to deal with a wide variety of issues including religious intolerance, environmental degradation, and sexism. In this way, I realized that the analysis of post-colonial Francophone scholars can be used to shed light on the post-colonialism phenomenon in Punjab.  
Inspired by my experiences and my research at Miami University, I have decided to pursue my interests in comparative literature and explore the use of western theoretical and literary perspectives to analyse and share Punjabi literature with the rest of the world.
From Miami to Brooklyn: Alumni Report from a Recent French M.A.
Written by Jessie Motts, M.A. in French, 2017

The more I work in film, the more I realize that pursuing a Master’s Degree in French is one of the best things I could have done to prepare myself. To start, the fact that I’ve lived in a different language was a deciding factor in some of the first positions I earned (the first feature set I worked on was bilingual!).
But it goes past language – I feel increasingly confident to take on more involved producing roles because of the more nuanced challenges I experienced during the program, challenges like managing time and stress and learning to trust your instincts and voice. Much of a shoot’s success comes down to effective communication, which means knowing the personalities you’re working with and understanding the right questions to ask. Those are skills that teaching a foreign language and studying the humanities put to the test every day: “How do you communicate the same idea with different words?” becomes “How do you create the same audiovisual impression with three fewer camera setups, no lavalier mics and waning daylight?” It’s the same conversation, just adjusted for different speakers and listeners.
To date, I’ve worked mostly on the production side of projects (analyzing budgets, managing logistics, sourcing food, shelter, transportation, picture vehicles, locations, and more), and my experiences have put this wild idea in my head that I would like to start my own media collective. I feel very grateful to have the support and knowledge I gained from the French Master’s Program to carry along with me, because I feel all the more prepared for the next steps as a result.
Nicoletta Pazzaglia
Made in Italy: A New Study Abroad Concept in Business and Italian Debuts in Summer 2018
An interview with Visiting Asst. Professor of Italian Dr. Nicoletta Pazzaglia, conducted by Nicolette Utsinger, Class of 1989, B.A. in German; Administrative Assistant, Dept. of French & Italian
You have a new study abroad program for this winter J-Term. What is it called, and how did you come up with the idea?
It is called “Made in Italy” and focuses on the “Three F's” of Italian industry: Fashion, Food, and Furniture. Last Spring, at a Conference in Baltimore, I attended a panel on “Made in Italy.” I found it fascinating and soon envisioned having a high enrollment course on “Made in Italy” here at Miami. Over the summer, I developed the idea into a study-abroad program and finalized the workshops and business visits with Lingua Ideale, an educational support company in Urbino. 
What do you think will be the benefits from partnering with the Farmer School of Business?
The main benefit is to draw attention to the potential of learning Italian outside Departments of languages and literatures. One of the key components of “Made in Italy” is students’ participation in business internships in Italian companies such as Capigiani University Ice cream factory (Bologna), Olivia Monteforte leather factory (Pesaro), and a cooking course at Mulino ancient mill (Urbania). Through these workshops, students integrate language and culture studies with experiential learning, acquiring the skills and the basic vocabulary to manufacturing things the Italian way.  “Made in Italy” shows that studying Italian can have a significant impact on students’ future careers.  
How do you see this program evolving over the next five years?
For Summer 2019, I have already developed it into a second version called “Fashion made in Italy” in collaboration with the Fashion Department at Miami University.  Students in this program will focus on the Italian design system, including experiential learning through workshops organized by IED (Istituto Europeo di Design), one of the top design schools in Europe.  In addition to classroom time, students will learn about designing and manufacturing in Italy through the exploration of museums and Italian fashion design houses.  We will also visit young Italian designers’ studios, while working with automotive design research and drawing, food/color design, trend scouting and research, and moulage fabric handling. In the future, I see the promise of “Made in Italy” for combining language and literature departments with programs designed for students in the humanities, social sciences, and professional schools.  Considering that Italy is one of the primary destinations of U.S. students abroad, it would be amazing to have a Miami campus in Italy where many other departments could participate: from art history, fine arts and music to food studies, fashion, business and geology.
What learning outcomes do you want for the students?
The goal of the program is to enable students to understand the concept of “Made in Italy” through a combination of readings, classroom discussion, individual/group assignments, and business visits. The course also aims at familiarizing students with basic Italian language for real life situations, including basic vocabulary and professional Italian expressions. Apart from classroom teaching and experiential learning, the course also has the ambition to assist students in understanding how cultures differ worldwide. During the three weeks in Italy students will deepen their understanding of cultural differences and develop strategies to adapt to a new culture.  Many of the requirements of the course, from blog writing, to video projects and students’ presentations along with business internships, will require learners to interact directly with locals.  In this way, students will also gain a basic understanding of concepts related to individual differences and diversity and will get a better sense of themselves and their own identity.
Is there anything else you would like to add about "Made in Italy"?
As Rinaldo Gianola writes, “Made in Italy is not a mental category, but blood, sweat and tears.”  Italy is famous for the excellence of its products in terms of quality, elegance, taste, style and creativity, but that reputation stems from a long history of hard work, leadership, and motivation.  Since the boom of Italian industries in the 1960s, “Made in Italy” has also became a social and cultural phenomenon that has shaped both Italian identity and way Italy is perceived by others.  “Made in Italy” is living proof of how language, culture, fine arts, craft making, manufacturing, and business can coexist in the same reality.  I believe that today we have a pressing need to combine Italian language and culture studies with experiential learning and to teach students how learning Italian can advance them toward – and help shape – their career goals.  The program has an immediate practical value, but it also helps students imagine their careers in larger ways.
The Streets of Dijon
Dijon, France Students in Dijon, France Rooftops of Dijon, France
Written by Liz Butler, Class of 2019, French major
Studying in Dijon was an amazing experience. Since it’s situated in the Burgundy region of France, Dijon is perfect for weekend traveling.
One weekend, I visited the birthplace of Victor Hugo in Besançon, a city with an ancient citadel overlooking it. The citadel is now a zoo, and visiting it is one of my favorite memories of the trip. It was so odd to see wild animals in a place filled with so much history, but it made the experience all the more fascinating. I visited other cities like Paris, and Geneva, Switzerland, seeing so much more than I expected to be able to. All of these destinations were wonderful, but my favorite part of the summer was simply wandering around Dijon with the friends I’d made.
We explored the city, finding everything from adorable bookstores and amazing architecture to the best strawberry and vanilla Italian ice cream (which I still miss and hope to taste again!). Another favorite memory of wandering was when we had a scavenger hunt around the city for class, and although it poured rain half of the time, it was the most fun I’ve ever had for a class. On my last day in Dijon, I found a market full of beautiful old books, set up in the street. It’s a city full of surprises and no matter how many times you wander the same street, I’m sure there will always be something new to discover.
Students in Urbino, Italy
Snapshot of Urbino
Written by Claire Garrahan, Class of 2018, Italian minor
Studying abroad in Urbino, Italy gave me a lot of opportunities I would not have had if I’d stayed at Miami. I met people that I would not have met with opinions different from my own. I learned to travel alone, as part of a large group, and with a few close friends.
The most important thing I gained from this program were the unforgettable experiences I had while immersing myself in the culture and language of Italy.
Test Your Knowledge!
Test your knowledge – or do some research. The first ten people to answer all three answers correctly in either language will win undying honor and some Department of French & Italian swag. Send answers to Nicolette Utsinger.
FRENCH:
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  1. This romantic novelist, dramatist, and poet was one of the first major French authors to write about his travels to the middle east. Troubled by bouts of insanity, which he described in mystical religious terms, he penned one of the most probing self-studies of madness in European literature. It was still in draft form when he committed suicide in January 1855 in the rue de la Vieille Lanterne in Paris. That gritty neighborhood was razed to make way for the opulent Théatre de la Ville, and the site of his death is now buried almost directly underneath the prompter’s box at the front of the stage. This image by Gustave Doré imagines the author’s last moments. Who was he?
  2. Born into a family of ropemakers in Renaissance Lyon, this poet also distinguished herself as a horseback rider and archer. Like many of her contemporaries, she wrote sonnets in the style of Petrarch. Erasmus’s 1511 In Praise of Folly inspired her to compose a prose dialogue between the figures of madness and love. She also condemned the misogyny that characterized Jean de Meung’s ending to the Roman de la rose. Who was she?
  3. This historian, novelist and film director spent her youth in a French colony. She published her first novel in 1957 in France, at the age of 21. She taught history, French and francophone literature, and cinema at university in her home country after it gained independence from France through a long and bitter war. She eventually moved to the United States to teach at Louisiana State University and then at New York University. She was the first person from the northern part of her home continent to be elected to the French Academy.
ITALIAN:
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  1. What is the name of the bridge in this photo and in what city is it located?
  2. Because of his military valor and his role in the movements of national unification in Latin America, President Abraham Lincoln offered him the command of the Union's army. He was born in a city that is currently not Italian but he is a national hero. Here he is depicted in his last moments. Who was he?
  3. Born in Bologna in 1922, he grew up in Casarsa, Friuli. He was a very eclectic intellectual: he started writing poems in Friulian dialect, but later moved to Rome, became a famous (but controversial) novelist and filmmaker. He adapted for the screen masterpieces by Giovanni Boccaccio and Geoffrey Chaucer. He was brutally murdered in Ostia in 1975.
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