2021-2022 College of Liberal Arts
French and Italian
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French
About the Program
French is the first or second language in more than forty countries and is spoken by 125 million people around the world. Becoming proficient in French increases students’ chance to communicate in a non-English speaking country. In fact, the mastery of this language has become increasingly valuable for employment in international law, finance, trade, banking, and communications as well as for graduate studies in the humanities and social sciences.
The French department at Drew seeks to provide students with all levels of proficiency in the French language. Conducted entirely in French, our language courses make extensive use of an array of multimedia tools that foster intensive student participation. For non-French speakers interested in French studies, we also offer several courses in English. French course work, extracurricular activities and study abroad not only enhance language competence but also link the study of the language with students’ other areas of interest. After a language sequence in our Department, students may take courses that provide global perspectives, and that train them for literary and cultural studies or for the understanding of visual and performing arts, based on their other academic focus. The French curriculum integrates the study of literature’s, cultures, and societies of contemporary France, Francophone Africa, and the Caribbean with innovative pedagogues that make the best use of current technologies and multimedia. Our instructors are either native speakers or have lived and studied in French-speaking countries for extended periods.
The learning objectives of the French major are:
- to reach an advanced oral and written linguistic competency in French (as defined by ACTFL standards)
- to enhance cultural and intercultural literacy
- to be able to articulate a well-supported argument, to compile a bibliography, and to analyze primary and secondary sources drawn from literary texts, newspapers, audiovisual materials (including film, radio, advertising, television, and the Internet), as well as academic materials relevant to topics researched
- to be critical, and to be aware, at a level adequate to undergraduate studies and conforming to the principles of a Liberal Arts Education, of ongoing debates, questions, and issues related to the French and Francophone world
Faculty
- Chair of French & Italian: Marie-Pascale Pieretti
- Professor and Coordinator of French: Marie-Pascale Pieretti
- Associate Professor: Muriel Placet-Kouassi
- Adjunct Instructor: Steffi Britt
- Adjunct Instructor: John McFaul
- Professor Emerita: Deborah Hess
Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations
A student receiving a score of 4 or 5 on the French examination is exempt from FREN 201 and is considered to have fulfilled the College’s general education language requirement. AP credits in French do not apply to the language-in-context general education requirement.
Off-Campus Programs
Intensive French Summer Program in Paris, France
The program offers 8 credits on language and culture courses. Students not only get to enjoy the cultural vibrancy of the City of Lights, but they also have full immersion in the language through classroom courses and workshops at the Alliance Francoise, a home stay with Parisian residents, and daily encounters with French students and other native speakers throughtout the program. This program helps students seeking to satisfy their language requirement and those who plan to complete a French minor or major as all credits brought back from Paris will count towards these requirements. Information available with the Coordinator of French Program.
Semester in France
Students interested in spending a semester a France should select, with help of the Department, one of the programs approved from the Study Abroad list.
Italian
About the Program
Italian is the fourth most studied non-native language in the world, and about 90 million people world-wide speak it as their first or second language. Knowledge of Italian has become increasingly valuable for employment in international law, finance, trade, banking, art, music, fashion and communications as well as for graduate studies in the humanities and social sciences. The Italian Faculty at Drew is committed to providing a rich and stimulating curriculum through the latest pedagogical and multimedia tools. Our courses (language, literature, culture, and cinema) are taught entirely in Italian. We also offer courses in English on all aspects of Italian culture. A minor in Italian or a major in Italian Studies combine well with all aspects of a Liberal Arts Education, and will give students the possibility to fully appreciate the richness of Italian culture, theatre, music, literature, cinema, and art (A UNESCO study placed 70% of the art of the world in Italy). After a minor in Italian, most students will reach an Intermediate High oral and written competency as defined by ACTFL standards. After a major, most students will reach an Advanced Low oral and written competency as defined by ACTFL standards.
Faculty
- Professor and Director of the Italian Program: Emanuele Occhipinti
- Professor Emeritus: Paolo Cucchi
Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations
A student receiving a score of 4 or 5 on the Italian Placement Test is exempt from ITAL 201 and is considered to have fulfilled the College’s general education language requirement.
Off-Campus Programs
Italian Language, Art, Culture and Community Based Learning Summer Program in Orvieto and Florence, Italy
The program offers up to 8 credits in language and culture courses in Orvieto and Florence, two of the most beautiful towns in the world with a unique environment and a vibrant cultural life that is ideal for learning the Italian language and its culture. The courses will help not only students who plan to minor in Italian, but also students who are interested in the culture and life style of Italy with a Community-Based Learning component, or just want to start or complete the language and the General Education requirements.
Tasting Food and Culture in Italy’s Cilento region
The program offers up to 4 credits in the Cilento area one of the birthplaces of Western Civilization, in particular the Magna Graecia territory in Southern Italy. The Cilento, home of the Cilento National Park, Vallo di Diano e Alburni, which has been recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is in the Campania region of Italy. The program will use, as a starting point, the memoirs of Arthur John Strutt. During the spring of 1838, accompanied by his friend and poet William Jackson, Strutt embarked on a journey from Rome to Palermo on foot, passing through the regions of Lazio, Campania, Calabria and Sicily. Drew students, like modern- day John Strutt’s, will repeat parts of his itinerary with a full immersion in the literary, historic, philosophical, archaeological, enogastronomical and naturalistic specialties of the Cilento area. This area is also the home of the “Philosophy of Being”, a fundamental element of western thought.
Semester in Italy
Students interested in spending a semester in Italy should select, with the help of the Department, one of the programs approved for the Study-Abroad List.
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