Mission
The Department of French and Italian is a research-oriented unit made up of multidisciplinary faculty who specialize in the languages and cultures of France, the Francophone world, Italy, and parts of the Middle East and Africa. We provide our students with an understanding of the historical and contemporary importance of these countries and facilitate development of proficiency in the French, Italian, Arabic, and Swahili languages while fostering critical appreciation of their literatures and cultures. Thus, the department serves, at all levels, to promote awareness of the diversity of languages and cultures worldwide and to teach linguistic and cultural skills that are critical to become responsible and effective citizens of the twenty-first century world.

Vision
We strive to generate and disseminate knowledge and understanding about the languages, literatures and cultures of France, the Francophone world, Italy, and parts of the Middle East and Africa. We also aspire to maintain a diverse collaborative research community in which all members (faculty, students, and staff) contribute from their particular roles to the shared goal of promoting a better understanding about peoples while ensuring our students find their own path towards a successful and socially-aware life and career.

Strategic Plan

Goal

Raise the national and international profile of our faculty.

Strategy

Enhance the research culture in the Department in collaboration with other units, especially DWLLC.

Critical Tasks:

  • Continue efforts to enhance interdisciplinary training in the Department and across the Division.
  • Support efforts to apply for internal and external grants, such as AHI, NEH, ACLS and Fulbright.
  • Develop a system to increase time available for faculty research.
  • Create a platform to disseminate our research.

Metrics:

  • Increased number of applications for internal and external research grants.
  • Updated Department website to give more visibility to faculty research and recent publications.

Goal

Strengthen majors and minors by promoting undergraduate student progress.

Strategy

Improve undergraduate advising and course offerings while promoting undergraduate research.

Critical Tasks:

  • Create and strengthen “Language for the Professions” courses, such as French/Italian/Arabic for Business, Law, Health.
  • Integrate study abroad in the general undergraduate advising.
  • Update and improve promotional materials advertising and explaining the requirements for the minors and majors.
  • Maintain good communications and work closely with DWLLC professional advisor.
  • Conduct visits of French and Italian GE classes to encourage students to continue.
  • Maintain the integrity of the Italian major and expand the breadth of the Italian program by hiring a scholar with interdisciplinary and cross-cultural expertise in Mediterranean Studies, Migration, and Literary Translation.
  • Partnering with ICRU to identify best practices for undergraduate research for our majors and minors.
  • Offer enhanced undergraduate research experiences in existing courses.

Metrics:

  • Increased number of undergraduates graduating within four years of matriculation over the next five years.
  • By 2025 we will have developed new courses taught in collaboration with other areas of DWLLC, like Translation, Mediterranean and Migration studies.
  • Increased number of French and Italian majors.
  • Increased participation of students in study abroad programs by 2025 if conditions for international travel permit.

Goal

Strengthen course offerings in the CLAS core program.

Strategy

Renovate the undergraduate curriculum adjusting it to current and future needs.

Critical Tasks:

  • Create online versions of Elementary French I and II to be offered in the summer.
  • Develop new GE courses in Diversity and Inclusion.
  • Expand high-demand courses in order to meet demand, increase enrollments and obtain more TA positions.
  • Find the ideal balance between “off-cycle” and “on-cycle” languages courses in order to meet demand and maximize enrollments.

Metrics:

  • Increased enrollment in departmental GE courses by 10% by 2025.
  • Establish online versions of basic French courses by Summer 2021.

Goal

Increase enrollments in already successful undergraduate programs.

Strategy

Expand Arabic and Swahili programs.

Critical Tasks:

  • Create new courses in Arabic and Swahili.
  • Establish committees to prepare plans and timelines for developing an Arabic major and Swahili minor.

Metrics:

  • Offer a major in Arabic by 2022.
  • Offer a minor in Swahili by 2022.

Goal

Improve graduate program in French and Francophone World Studies.

Strategy

Review and innovate the graduate program according to the evolving needs of the field.

Critical Tasks:

  • Assess graduate curriculum, teaching and advising to ensure effectiveness, currency, and inclusiveness for URM students, as well as connection to faculty research and creative agendas.
  • Increase opportunities for summer teaching for graduate students by developing online versions of Elementary French I and II, and raising the number of sections of “Global Sports” to three.
  • Formalize interdisciplinary programs that allow students to pursue dual or joint degrees concurrently: MFA in Literary Translation and MA in French in three years, MA in French while obtaining teaching certification, an MA in French and MFA in Spanish Creative Writing.
  • Increase the number of students in the graduate program.
  • Provide professional development opportunities for graduate students in order to better prepare them for academic and non- academic jobs.

Metrics:

  • Increase in number of applicants to French graduate programs by 25% by 2025.
  • Provide more seminars and professional development workshops for graduate students.
  • Raise the number of graduate students teaching in the summer from 1 to 5.

Goal

Support the graduate student experience.

Strategy

Invest in efforts to improve graduate success in research, funding, and job placement.

Critical Tasks:

  • Ensure that advising committees work together and meet regularly throughout the student’s program of study.
  • Provide more opportunities for students to develop skills that prepare them for non-academic careers during graduate training, maintaining and strengthening collaboration with the Obermann Center in this regard.
  • Use departmental funds to create summer RA positions for graduate students.
  • Provide opportunities for students to develop their own course about French literature in English and teach it as a section of FREN:1005 “Texts and Contexts: the French-speaking World.
  • Redesign and update the course "Introduction to Graduate Studies".
  • Develop new courses in critical methodologies.

Metrics:

  • Conduct advising committee meetings every semester to discuss progress with the student.
  • Increase number of graduate students teaching FREN:1005 under faculty supervision by fall 2022.
  • Survey graduate students anonymously at the end of their degrees to receive input and assess level of satisfaction.

Goal

Improve recruitment, retention, and success of URM and first- generation students (graduate and undergraduate).

Strategy

Devote time and resources to actively recruiting and retention of graduate and undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds.

Critical Tasks:

  • Distribute recruitment materials to universities with traditionally diverse populations.
  • Increase faculty participation in SROP and FirstGen@Iowa programs by communicating availability of faculty mentors to program directors.
  • Adopt a more holistic review process when evaluating graduate applications from diverse students by adopting a broader assessment of experience and qualifications.
  • Work with Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to create new outreach programs for identifying and recruiting URM and first- generation students to our graduate program.
  • Work individually with URM students in the program to help them navigate our major or minor or the graduate program.
  • Continue our current effort to diversify the curriculum with an awareness of the relevance of DEI.
  • Create mechanisms for students to provide feedback on the curriculum regarding DEI.
  • Work to identify UI undergraduates from African and Middle Eastern immigrant communities who would be encouraged to consider fulfilling their BA language requirement by taking either Swahili or Arabic.
  • Work to form active relationships between faculty and members of African and Middle Eastern immigrant communities in Iowa City and across the state of Iowa with the purpose of encouraging students from those communities to attend the UI by informing them of opportunities to study Swahili or Arabic.

Metrics:

  • Increased number of URM and first-generation students at all levels.
  • Increase graduation rates of URM and first-generation majors by 20% by 2025.

Goal

Advance faculty success and leadership, with special attention to URM faculty.

Strategy

Devote time and resources at all levels in the Department to actively recruiting and retaining faculty.

Critical Tasks:

  • Actively review and renovate leadership in the Department.
  • Create mentoring plans for lecturers, and assistant and associate professors to facilitate their promotion and place them in a better position to provide leadership in the Department, the Division and the College.
  • Form or enhance the role of committees (Undergraduate, Graduate, Executive Committee) with regular and active communication.
  • Adopt a holistic review process when evaluating applications from diverse faculty by adopting a broader assessment of experience and qualifications.
  • Work with Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to create new outreach programs for recruiting and retaining URM faculty.

Metrics:

  • Reduce the time to promotion for Associate professors by 2025.
  • Have new committees at work and reporting their activity by Spring 2022.
  • Increase the number of F&I faculty actively participating in College and University service adding to the Department faculty who already serve on CLAS and Charter committees on DEI.

Goal

Expand connections of F&I on campus and across Iowa.

Strategy

Strengthen the visibility of our work in strategic areas and programs, relating it to the needs and realities of diverse populations in Iowa and the U.S.

Critical Tasks:

  • Identify and document current engagement activities.
  • Develop plan to strengthen outreach in strategic areas and programs.
  • Expand current activities that involve URM community members.
  • Continue to develop a set of courses that involve our students with the wider Iowa City and regional community and where outreach, engagement and DEI are intertwined.
  • Collaborate with the DWLLC in creating Humanities Labs that promote engaged teaching and research.

Metrics:

  • Increased course offerings focused on engaged teaching.
  • By 2025, 25% of Department members participate in outreach and volunteer activities with French, Italian, Arabic and Swahili-speaking populations.

Goal

Strengthen communication and ties with our alumni community.

Strategy

Establish effective and regular contact with alumni with the support of the already available means at the U of Iowa.

Critical Tasks:

  • Work with liaison in the UI Center for Advancement.
  • Maintain regular appointments with current alumni donor.
  • Create a list of alumni from the past 20 years.
  • Initiate contact with alumni by sending a survey (to find out how
  • they rate their experience as a student, what they may need from us,
  • and how we can build long-term relationships with them).
  • Maintain contact with alumni by inviting them to participate in departmental events.

Metrics:

  • Regular (at least once a year) meetings with liaison in the Center of Advancement.
  • Regular (at least once a year) appointments with current alumni donors.
  • Increased contact with alumni through correspondence and participation in departmental events.