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French and Italian Languages and Literatures
Department Chair: Dennis Looney
Main Office: 1328 Cathedral of Learning
(412) 624-5220 (phone) (412) 624-6263 (fax)
http://www.pitt.edu/~frit/index.html

Primary Faculty: Professors BLUMENFELD-KOSINSKI (Director, Medieval and Renaissance Studies), RUSSELL; Associate Professors CITTON (Director of Graduate Studies, French), GODT (Teaching Coordinator, Italian), HICKS, LOONEY (Chair), MÉRIZ, SAVOIA (Director of Graduate Studies, Italian), WATTS; Assistant Professor MECCHIA

Affiliated Faculty: Professor LANDY (English); Associate Professor DONATO (Education)

Emeritus Faculty: Professors KOCH, SARGENT-BAUR, SCHWARTZ, ST. AUBYN; Associate Professor ALBERT

The department offers programs leading to the MA degree in French or Italian and to the PhD degree in French. Recent innovations in the curriculum allow students in French to take courses in the following thematic clusters: politics and literature, Romance languages and literatures, literature and the arts, and European studies. See the graduate advisor and/or our Web site for full details on these concentrations. The department offers two certification programs in K-12 foreign language pedagogy in association with the School of Education: a traditional MA in French or Italian with certification to teach foreign languages K-12; and an innovative program in the teaching of language, literature, and culture. In addition, the department participates in various interdisciplinary programs, such as Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Cultural Studies, Women's Studies, and Film Studies, where students may work toward a graduate certificate in conjunction with their degree (see Interdisciplinary Programs in the next section of this bulletin).

  Admission to Graduate Studies
In general, students accepted into the graduate program must meet the following criteria:

• They should have completed an undergraduate major (or equivalent) in the language and literature they propose to study at the graduate level.
  
• They must be able to enroll in courses that are taught entirely in French and/or Italian. This presupposes a high level of skill in speaking, reading, and writing in their major language.
  
• Students applying for the graduate program in French must present scores from the general sections of the Graduate Record Examination.
  
• It is recommended that incoming students have a reading knowledge of a second Romance language or of Latin.

Graduate Student Support
A limited number of teaching assistantships and fellowships are available to qualified students. Students interested in these awards should apply in writing to the department. For information concern_ing the Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowships and Provost's Fellowships in the Humanities, students should contact FAS Graduate Studies, Student Services in 140 Thackeray Hall (see Financial Assistance in the first section of this bulletin).

  Master’s Degree Requirements
The minimal requirements for the degrees established by the Graduate Faculty of the University and by FAS Graduate Studies, as described elsewhere in the bulletin, should be read in conjunction with the specific departmental requirements for these degrees in the following sections.

Master of Arts in French A minimum of eight one-term courses is required, of which at least six must be 2000-level courses.

Candidates for the MA with a major in French must demonstrate the ability to read either a Romance language other than their major one or Latin or German by taking the appropriate department reading exam or by completing with a grade of B or better the second term of a course specifically designed as a reading course (for example, Spanish 0008).

Students must also pass comprehensive examinations and fulfill the following additional requirements:

Seminar Paper: Two faculty members must approve the paper, written in French in a course specifically designed as a seminar.

Literary Theory: Students must take FR 2710 (Introduction to the Study of Literature) or the equivalent and pass it with a grade of B or better.

Language Proficiency in French: Students whose native language is not French may meet this requirement by passing a proficiency examination during the first year of residence.  

NOTE: Students should also consult the department's Graduate Policy Statement for information on comprehensive examinations and other departmental regulations.

Specialization in French Linguistics and LiteratureCourse Work: A minimum of 10 one-term courses is required, of which at least eight must be 2000- level courses. These courses will be distributed in the following manner: 

1. FR 2970 Teaching of French
2. FR 2100 Readings in Old, Middle, and Early Modern French
3. & 4. One course or one directed study in two of the three following areas:
1. Diachronic linguistics (FR 2801 History of the French Language)
2. Synchronic linguistics (FR 1038 Structure of Modern French)
3. Applied linguistics (FR 2972 Foreign Language Education: Theory and Practice or FR 2973 Issues in Teaching/Learning Foreign Language)
5. & 6.Two courses in the Department of Linguistics (The choice of these two courses must be made in consultation with the student’s advisor.)

 Literature

7. FR 2710 Introduction to the Study of Literature
8. 9 & 10. Three courses or seminars in French literature taken in different periods

NOTE: Students must have taken LING 1950 (Introduction to Linguistics) or the equivalent before the end of their first year in the program, but this course does not count toward the completion of the MA.  

Other Requirements: Candidates for this degree must also pass comprehensive examinations and fulfill the following additional requirements:

1. Seminar Paper: This paper, written in French, in a course specifically designated as a seminar (for literature) or directed study (for linguistics), must be approved by two faculty members.
   
2. Proficiency in written French: Students whose native language is not French will meet this requirement by passing an examination during the first weeks of their residence.
   
3. Second language: Students must demonstrate a basic knowledge of Latin, defined as one year of college-level instruction or the equivalent. It is recommended that this requirement be fulfilled during, or prior to, the term in which the candidate chooses to take FR 2801.

Examinations: Candidates are required to take a written examination composed of the following four two-hour sections:

1. & 2. One examination in two of the following areas: diachronic linguistics, synchronic linguistics, applied linguistics
3. One cross-century examination in French literature
4. One examination on one period of French literature to be chosen by the candidate

Reading lists may be obtained from the departmental office. 

Master of Arts in Italian
A minimum of eight one-term courses is required. These courses will include ITAL 2801 (History of the Italian Language), 2710 (Introduction to the Study of Literature) or the equivalent, and at least six other 2000-level courses. MA candidates must also pass the comprehensive examinations and fulfill the following additional requirements:

Seminar Paper: Two faculty members must approve this paper, written in Italian. 

Reading Requirement: Candidates for the MA with a major in Italian must demonstrate the ability to read either a Romance language other than their major one or Latin or German by passing a reading exam prepared by the appropriate department or by completing with a grade of B or better the second term of a course specifically designed as a reading course (for example, Spanish 0008).

Language Proficiency: Entering students in Italian must demonstrate oral and written proficiency in the Italian language unless they have the laurea from an Italian university. 

Doctoral Degree Requirements
Before students may be considered for admission to candidacy for the PhD in French they must complete successfully a minimum of eight 2000-level courses (24 credits) beyond the MA. The course work must include:

1. One course in French linguistics. FR 2801 (History of the French Language) is strongly recommended.
   
2. FR 2100 (Readings in Old, Middle, and Early Modern French) if this course or an equivalent has not been taken at the MA level; the requirement may also be met by taking and passing the final examination for the course.
   
3. Three seminars in which the student writes seminar papers. One seminar paper must be written in English and at least one of the other two papers must be in French. See Graduate Policy Statement for a definition of "seminar."
   
4. Four other courses. Some of these will typically, with the advisor's consent, be taken in other departments.

Admission to Candidacy
The courses that candidates take represent only part of their total preparation for the PhD. Before admission to formal candidacy for the degree, they must meet the following requirements. 

Preliminary Evaluation: In accordance with graduate school policy, students in a PhD program must undergo a preliminary evaluation by the end of the first year of full residence. The purpose of this evaluation is to identify those students who may be expected to complete a doctoral program successfully, and also to identify deficiencies in the students' preparation. To satisfy this requirement, graduate students in French will meet with the graduate advisor during the second term of residence for an evaluation of the record of performance in the first term on the basis of grades and reports from the students' instructors.

Reading Requirement: Candidates for the PhD in French must give evidence of ability to read German or Latin or a Romance language other than their major language and one additional language to be chosen according to the candidates' interests and needs and in consultation with their advisors. Oral Examination: Candidates for the PhD must present an oral explication de texte before a faculty committee. 

Comprehensive Examinations: Candidates will pass comprehensive examinations as described in the departmental Graduate Policy Statement.  

Upon successful completion of these requirements, each student must present to the prospective doctoral committee a brief prospectus describing the subject on which the candidate proposes to write the doctoral dissertation. Students should then, in consultation with the dissertation director, file an application for admission to candidacy for the PhD degree. When the topic has been accepted and the Department Chair and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies have approved the proposed committee, the student will be informed of admission to candidacy. 

All candidates for the PhD are normally expected to do some teaching as part of their professional preparation.

Courses
The following courses carry graduate credit within the limits established in the various programs.

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