Courses
The following course information serves to supplement official course information published in the Guide and Course, Search and Enroll. Students are encouraged to explore these sites for the most up-to-date information. For questions about undergraduate courses please contact Mandi Schoville and for graduate courses contact Shawn Ramer.
Undergraduate French Course Information
For Course Materials, Instructor Content and to Enroll visit Course, Search & Enroll.
Foundational French Courses offered in spring 2027:
- French 101: First Semester French
- French 102: Second Semester French
- French 105: Accelerated Introductory French
- French 203: Third Semester French
- French 204: Fourth Semester French
- French 205: Accelerated Intermediate French
French 228: Intermediate Language and Culture
Credits: 3
Schedule / Instructor:
- Section 001 – M/W/F, 9:55 am to 10:45 am – Instructor TBD
- Section 002 – T/R, 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm – Ritt Deitz
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 204, French 205 or placement into French 228
Counts towards: French Certificate – French Major – Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate
Description: Enhance writing and speaking proficiency through cultural readings on France and the francophone world. Review of grammar and focus on more complex grammatical structures.
French 271: Literature, Comics, and Film in French
Credits: 3
Schedule / Instructor:
- Section 001 – M/W/F, 12:05 pm to 12:55 pm – Instructor TBD
- Section 002 – M/W/F, 11:00 am to 11:50 am – Instructor TBD
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 228
Counts towards: French Certificate – French Major – Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate
Description: An introduction to reading and analyzing literary works, comics, and film, with special emphasis on the development of writing skills in French.
French 280: Exploring Paris
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 11:00 am to 12:15 pm
Instructor: Joshua Armstrong
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: None
Counts towards: French Major
Description: Explore the city of Paris through the diverse, historical, creative, and anecdotal perspectives offered by writers, filmmakers, and other artists. Discuss how authors like Emile Zola, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin, and French Nobel Prize laureate Patrick Modiano introduce a range of voices and eras. Explore key neighborhoods, city maps, significant landmarks, and pivotal historical events, culminating in a nuanced appreciation of Paris’s spatial, historical, and literary complexity.
French 281: Exploring Montreal and Quebec
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 9:30 am to 10:45 am
Instructor: Ritt Deitz
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: None
Counts towards: French Major
Description: Examine Montreal and the province of Quebec through cinema, television, and literary texts. Explore historical and social themes central to Quebec identity, including evolving conceptions of French Canadian and Quebecois identity, particularly in intellectual and cultural life. Analyze how storytelling reflects and critiques cultural traditions rooted in France, as well as the impact of the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s on national identity. Investigate cultural diversity in Quebec through the perspectives and voices of selected authors and filmmakers.
French 312: Advanced Writing Workshop
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 12:05 pm to 12:55 pm
Instructor: Heather Allen
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 228
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major – Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate
Description: Develop writing and oral expression at an advanced level through writing and discussion of internet journalism, translation, or creative genres. Taught in French.
French 314: Professional Communication and Culture in the Francophone World*
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 11:00 am to 12:15 pm
Instructor: Ritt Deitz
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 228, French 311, or French/Int’l Bus 313
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major – Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate
Description: Cultural study of contemporary Francophone Africa, focusing on issues in government, organizations and enterprise. Exploration of cultural and professional relations between Francophone Africa and France, the European Union, and the United States.
*Crosslisted with International Business
French 321: Medieval and Early Modern French Literature
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 1:20 pm to 2:10 pm
Instructor: Anne Vila
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 271
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major – Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate
Description: Introduction to important literary works from the medieval era to the French Revolution.
French 322: Modern French and Francophone Literature
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 9:30 am to 10:45 am
Instructor: TBD
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 271
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major – Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate
Description: Introduction to important literary works of modernity (from the French Revolution to the twenty-first century).
French 345: French Fashion and Literature from the Middle Ages to Today
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 11:00 am to 11:50 am
Instructor: Anne Theobald
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore Standing
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major
Description: Study of French literary texts embedded in their cultural contexts, with a focus on clothing and fashion. Chart the emergence and representation of sartorial taste in France through analysis and discussion of selected texts and other media that feature clothing as a reflection of aesthetic and social values. Rather than evidence for material and economic history, literature and the visual arts will be ways to touch on issues such as the evolution of the notion of human physical beauty, of taste, of gender differences and roles, of social status and stratification in different historical contexts.
French 462: French/Francophone Cultural Studies Across the Centuries*
Topic: The 20th- and 21st-Century French Novel
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm
Instructor: Joshua Armstrong
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 271 (Note: FR 271 is the new requisite. Contact Mandi Schoville if you have an issue enrolling.)
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major
Description: A study of how culture has evolved over the course of French history, in relation to a chosen topic.
*Meets-With French 672
French 591: Advanced Grammar and Style **NEW
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W, 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm
Instructor: Anne Theobald
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 311, 312, 313, 314, 590, or graduate/professional standing
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major
Description: Improve written expression in French while developing various skills to communicate more clearly, accurately, and effectively in the French language. The presented material and the intensive writing format aim to improve proficiency in nuanced discussions and the ability to analyze French literature and culture. Skills developed and practiced are applicable to the teaching of and/or working in the French language.
French 391: French for Reading Knowledge*
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 12:05 pm to 12:55 pm
Instructor: Anne Vila
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore Standing
Counts towards: Fulfills “Reading Knowledge” for certain programs. Check the Guide for more information.
Description: Intensive grammar and reading for those with little or no experience in French. Readings from appropriate texts in the humanities, sciences, social sciences.
*Does not count towards the Italian Major or Italian Certificate. Typically taken by students who must fulfill a “Reading Knowledge” requirement.
For Course Materials, Instructor Content and to Enroll visit
Course, Search & Enroll – French Courses
and Course, Search & Enroll – Lit Trans Course.
French 105: Accelerated Introductory French
Credits: 4
Format: Online and Synchronous with some Asynchronous work
Dates: June 15, 2026 – August 9, 2026 (8 weeks – DHH)
Schedule: M/W/F, 10:00 am – 12:15 pm synchronous online
Instructor: Graduate TA
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: Not open to students with credit in French 102.*
Counts towards: Foreign Language level 2, Elementary level, L&S credit, Accelerated Honors, French Foundational Course
Description: Accelerated development of communicative literacy skills in French and exploration of the contemporary French-speaking world, equivalent to the completion of both FRENCH 101 and FRENCH 102.
Equivalent to taking French 101 and 102. Upon completion of this course, students can enroll in French 203 or 205.
*After May 15th, open to graduate students with permissions – contact frit@frit.wisc.edu.
French 205: Accelerated Intermediate French
Credits: 4
Format: Online and Synchronous with some Asynchronous work
Dates: June 15, 2026 – August 9, 2026 (8 weeks – DHH)
Schedule: M/W/F, 10:00 am – 12:15 pm synchronous online
Instructor: Heather Allen and a Graduate TA
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 102 or 105 or placement into French 203. Not open to students with credit for French 204.*
Counts towards: Foreign Language level 4, Intermediate level, L&S credit, Accelerated Honors, French Foundational Course
Description: Develops communicative skills in relation to interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational speaking and writing and their understanding of the French-speaking world. Course topics include friendship and social media, scientific innovations, food cultures around the world, globalization, immigration, and language advocacy.
Equivalent to taking French 203 and 204. Upon completion of this course, students can enroll in French 228.
*After May 15th, open to graduate students with permissions – contact frit@frit.wisc.edu.
French language courses* are available for complete beginners through advanced students. Students who have any previous French language knowledge, study and/or credits, must take the French placement test. Visit French Placement for more information or questions.
French Foundational Courses
- French 101: First Semester French (offered fall / spring)
- French 102: Second Semester French (offered fall / spring)
- French 105: Accelerated Introductory French (offered fall, spring, and summer)
- French 203: Third Semester French (offered fall / spring)
- French 204: Fourth Semester French (offered fall / spring)
- French 205: Accelerated Intermediate French (offered fall, spring, and summer)
Language courses beyond 4th semester French!
- French 228: Intermediate Language and Culture (offered fall / spring)
- French 311: Advanced Composition and Speaking (offered fall only)
- French 312: Advanced Writing Workshop (offered spring only)
- French/Int’l Bus 313: Professional Communication and Culture in the Francophone World (offered fall only)
- French/Int’l Bus 314: Contemporary Issues in Business, Government and NGOs (offered spring only)
- French 590: Introduction to Phonetics (offered occasionally)
- French 316: Study Abroad: Advanced French Language (only available to students on a UW–Madison study abroad program)
*Please note that the Department of French & Italian does not allow auditors in French language classes.
French 280: Exploring Paris
Credits: 3
Instructor: Joshua Armstrong
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: None
Counts towards: French Major
Description: Explore the city of Paris through the diverse, historical, creative, and anecdotal perspectives offered by writers, filmmakers, and other artists. Discuss how authors like Emile Zola, Ernest Hemingway, James Baldwin, and French Nobel Prize laureate Patrick Modiano introduce a range of voices and eras. Explore key neighborhoods, city maps, significant landmarks, and pivotal historical events, culminating in a nuanced appreciation of Paris’s spatial, historical, and literary complexity.
French 281: Exploring Montreal and Quebec
Credits: 3
Instructor: Ritt Deitz
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: None
Counts towards: French Major
Description: Examine Montreal and the province of Quebec through cinema, television, and literary texts. Explore historical and social themes central to Quebec identity, including evolving conceptions of French Canadian and Quebecois identity, particularly in intellectual and cultural life. Analyze how storytelling reflects and critiques cultural traditions rooted in France, as well as the impact of the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s on national identity. Investigate cultural diversity in Quebec through the perspectives and voices of selected authors and filmmakers.
French 285: Rebellious Women from the Global South*
“Some classes end up sticking with you, and Rebellious Women was one of them. I can’t think of another course that tied together literature, history, and current events so seamlessly. Learning about the immense hardships women have faced, and the awe-inspiring ways they’ve overcome them, has shaped my academic and professional life.” – Lilah G. (Journalism and French Major)
Credits: 3
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: None
Counts towards: African Studies Certificate – Arabic Language and Culture Certificate – French Major – Gender and Women’s Studies Major and Certificate – International Studies Major – Middle East Studies Certificate
Description: Explores how women from different francophone regions (with a specific focus on North and Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East) gain agency through literature, movies, comics, and songs, contesting different forms of domination, exclusion, and injustice, based on gender, race, class, and religion.
*Crosslisted with Gender & Women’s Studies
French 288: Doctor’s without Borders (Médecins sans Frontières)
Credits: 3
Instructor: Ritt Deitz
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: None
Counts towards: French Major – Global Health Major & Certificate – Health and Humanities Certificate – International Studies Major
Description: An overview of the global humanitarian NGO, Doctors without Borders (or Médecins sans Frontières MSF) including its history, mission, organization, and the cultural, political, and ethical challenges it faces. Explores issues of global health, social justice, and humanitarian action. Features distinguished global practitioners with first-hand experience in health crisis situations.
French 345: French Fashion and Literature from the Middle Ages to Today
Credits: 3
Instructor: Anne Theobald
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore Standing
Counts Towards: French Certificate – French Major
Description: Study of French literary texts embedded in their cultural contexts, with a focus on clothing and fashion. Chart the emergence and representation of sartorial taste in France through analysis and discussion of selected texts and other media that feature clothing as a reflection of aesthetic and social values. Rather than evidence for material and economic history, literature and the visual arts will be ways to touch on issues such as the evolution of the notion of human physical beauty, of taste, of gender
Undergraduate Italian Course Information
For Course Materials, Instructor Content and to Enroll visit Course, Search & Enroll.
Foundational Italian Courses offered in spring 2027*:
- Italian 101: First Semester Italian
- Italian 102: Second Semester Italian
- Italian 105: Accelerated Introductory Italian
- Italian 204: Fourth Semester Italian
- Italian 205: Accelerated Intermediate Italian
*NOTE: IT 203 will not be offered in spring 27. Students interested in IT 203 should instead take IT 205 which combines IT 203 and 204.
Italian 150: Race, Ethnicity, and the Italian Americans*
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 9:30 am to 10:45 am
Instructor: Ernesto Livorni
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: none
Counts towards: Italian Certificate – Italian Major.
Description: What does it mean to be Italian American? Must those who identify as such choose one identity over the other? How are they viewed by society? As Italian, American, or some undefinable other? Explore the history of Italian immigration to the United States and its effects on both the ethnic group and the hosting country, as recounted in literature and film both by those who experienced it firsthand and their descendants. Italians fleeing from racism and poverty in Italy found racial, religious, and cultural discrimination. Working toward “whiteness,” Italian Americans traded off their own “Italian-ness” while clinging to aspects of it in the hope to preserve parts of their identity. They forged strong bonds with African American, Jewish, and other marginalized communities, in a relationship of understanding but also of tension and rivalry. Focuses on specific literary texts paired with textbook readings that provide their historical and social background.
*Meets with ILS 109
Italian/Littrans 225: Italian Mafias
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 11:00 am to 12:15 pm
Instructor: TBD
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: none
Counts towards: Italian Certificate – Italian Major
Description: Explore Italian Mafias (Cosa Nostra, Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, etc.) by examining the representation of organized crime in Italian literature, cinema and popular culture.
Italian 312: Writing Workshop
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 9:55 am to 10:45 am
Instructor: Loren Eadie
Language of Instruction: Italian
Requisite: ITALIAN 204 or 205 (or ITALIAN 202 prior to Summer 2025)
Counts towards: Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate – Italian Certificate – Italian Major.
Description: Development of composition skills related to expository and other forms of writing, with focus on grammatical skills, conventions, rhetorical techniques for organizing information, presenting coherent arguments, and appropriateness of language to topic. Substantial work on the development of writing strategies for composing and editing.
Italian 322: Studies in Italian Literature and Culture II
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 12:05 pm to 12:55 pm
Instructor: Stefania Buccini
Language of Instruction: Italian
Requisite: ITALIAN 204 or 205 (or ITALIAN 202 prior to Summer 2025)
Counts towards: Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate – Italian Certificate – Italian Major.
Description: Focuses on a variety of genres and media (poetry, drama, novel, short story, cinema, television) and authors, with emphasis on the cultural and historical contexts from 1600 to the present.
Italian 350: Rome: Lust for Glory*
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 1:20 pm to 2:10 pm
Instructor: Loren Eadie
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore Standing
Counts towards: Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate – Italian Certificate – Italian Major
Description: Examines the development of Rome, “the Eternal City,” and its continuing presence as both a metaphoric and physical focal point of Italian artistic and cultural sensibilities. Outline the development of Rome’s authoritative or “mythical” status in literature, art, architecture and film, beginning in the Augustan era and arriving to today, focusing on significant moments in the creation and expansion of the actual city and its cultural influence in the late-Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the era of the Risorgimento (Unification of Italy), and the rise of Fascism. Develop ability to think critically about how the diverse material productions of writers (historians, playwrights, poets), painters, sculptors, architects, philosophical thinkers, and later filmmakers of the periods covered reflect one another and reflect the ideas and ideologies of their age.
*Crosslisted with ILS.
Lit Trans 255: Black Death and Medieval Life through Boccaccio’s Decameron*
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 1:00 pm to 2:15 pm
Instructor: Jelena Todorović
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore standing
Counts towards: Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate – Italian Certificate – Italian Major – Health and Humanities Certificate.
Description: Have you ever wondered what it was like to live during the Black Death? Were our medieval and early-modern ancestors different from us, or are we challenged with similar problems? What can we learn from their lives? And, if we could, what could we teach each other? Discuss these topics while reading one of the world’s greatest literary classics, Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, a text that will make us both laugh and cry. Through reading the Decameron, investigate medicine, art, culture, music, politics, religion, interpersonal and transcultural relations, warfare, fashion, gender and gender roles, as well as everyday life in the Middle Ages and early modernity. Also examines medieval written documents, twentieth-century feminist responses to the Decameron and filmic renditions of it, medieval frescoes, historical descriptions of the plague, and modern descriptions of, and reactions to, the COVID-19 pandemic.
*Crosslisted with Medieval.
Lit Trans 410: In Translation: Special Topics in Italian Literature
Credits: 3
Schedule / Instructor:
- Secrets & Legends of Florence – Sec. 001, M/W/F, 11:00 am to 11:50 am – Stefania Buccini
- The Grand Tour and the Romantic Myth of Italy (Honors Only) – Sec. 002, T/R, 11:00 am to 12:15 pm – Ernesto Livorni
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore standing
Counts towards: Global Cultures, Languages, and Education Certificate – Italian Certificate – Italian Major.
Description: Treatment of a specific perific period, genre, theme or movement in Italian literature.
For Course Materials, Instructor Content and to Enroll visit Course, Search & Enroll.
Italian 105: Accelerated Introductory Italian
Credits: 4
Format: Online and Synchronous
Dates: (8 weeks – DHH)
Schedule: M/T/W/R/F, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Instructor: Graduate TA
Language of Instruction: Italian
Requisite: Not open to students with credit in Italian 102.*
Counts towards: Foreign Language level 2, Elementary level, L&S credit, Accelerated Honors, and an Italian Foundational Course.
Equivalent to taking Italian 101 and 102.
*After May 15th, open to graduate students with permissions – contact frit@frit.wisc.edu.
Italian 205: Accelerated Intermediate Italian
Credits: 4
Format: Online and Synchronous
Dates: (8 weeks – DHH)
Schedule: M/T/W/R/F, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Instructor: Graduate TA
Language of Instruction: Italian
Requisite: Italian 102 or 105 or placement into Italian 203. Not open to students with credit for Italian 204.*
Counts towards: Foreign Language level 4, Intermediate level, L&S credit, Accelerated Honors, and an Italian Foundational Course.
Equivalent to taking Italian 203 and 204.
*After May 15th, open to graduate students with permissions – contact frit@frit.wisc.edu.
Italian language courses* are available for complete beginners through advanced students. Students who have any previous Italian language knowledge, study and/or credits, must take the Italian placement test. Visit Italian Placement for more information or questions.
Foundational Italian Courses
- Italian 101: First Semester Italian (offered fall / spring)
- Italian 102: Second Semester Italian (offered fall / spring)
- Italian 105: Accelerated Introductory Italian (offered summer, fall, and spring)
- Italian 203: Third Semester Italian (sometimes offered fall / spring)
- Italian 204: Fourth Semester Italian (sometimes offered fall / spring)
- Italian 205: Accelerated Intermediate Italian (offered summer, fall, and spring)
Italian language beyond IT 204 or 205:
- Italian 311: Advanced Italian Language (sometimes offered, typically fall only)
- Italian 312: Writing Workshop (sometimes offered, typically spring only)
Students who have completed IT 204 and 205 can also take many other Italian courses besides language! Check the Guide for all Italian courses and the Guide for all Lit Trans courses.
*Please note that the Department of French & Italian does not allow auditors in Italian language classes.
Graduate Course Information
Spring 2027 Courses
French 391: French for Reading Knowledge
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W/F, 12:05 pm to 12:55 pm
Instructor: Anne Vila
Language of Instruction: English
Requisite: Sophomore Standing
Description: Intensive grammar and reading for those with little or no experience in French. Readings from appropriate texts in the humanities, sciences, social sciences.
Overview of Course Goals and Structure
French 591: Advanced Grammar and Style **NEW
Credits: 3
Schedule: M/W, 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm
Instructor: Anne Theobald
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: French 311, 312, 313, 314, 590, or graduate/professional standing
Description: Improve written expression in French while developing various skills to communicate more clearly, accurately, and effectively in the French language. The presented material and the intensive writing format aim to improve proficiency in nuanced discussions and the ability to analyze French literature and culture. Skills developed and practiced are applicable to the teaching of and/or working in the French language.
French 672: Topics in Literature and Culture*
Topic: The 20th- and 21st-Century French Novel
Credits: 3
Schedule: T/R, 2:30 pm to 3:45 pm
Instructor: Joshua Armstrong
Language of Instruction: French
Requisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Explores a specific topic in the history of French and/or Francophone literature and culture; includes analysis and interpretation of texts and/or film in their historical contexts. May be focused on one, or cut across different literary periods. Applies diverse interpretative methodologies to a coherent body of material. Taught in French.
*Meets-With French 462
French 947: Seminar: Literature Questions
Theme: TBD
Credits: 3
Schedule: Tuesdays, 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Instructor: Florence Vatan
Requisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Study of literature and culture organized thematically or by time period. Taught in French.
Italian 632: Features in Italian Literature
Theme: Making Boccaccio: Writing, Editing, and Interpretation
Credits: 3
Schedule: Thursdays, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Instructor: Jelena Todorović
Requisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: This course explores Giovanni Boccaccio as both a literary author and an active participant in the material production, transmission, and interpretation of texts, chiefly as the “inventor” of the literary canon of the tre corone. A central component of the first part of the course will be Boccaccio’s scribal activity and his engagement with the written book. Through the study of manuscripts, scribal practices, and authorial revision, we will investigate how Boccaccio’s work as a copyist, editor, and compiler of texts informs our understanding of his literary production. The second part of the course will focus chiefly on the Decameron andwill examine how Boccaccio’s narrative art took shape through processes of composition, revision, compilation, and circulation. We will read the Decameron closely, focusing on its narrative structures, framing devices, generic experimentation, and representations of social and cultural life, while also considering how its meanings are shaped by the material forms in which it survives.
Italian 731: Features of Italian Literature
Topic: Come in cielo così in terra: Literature and Art in the Age of Reform
Credits: 3
Schedule: Mondays, 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Instructor: Kristin Phillips-Court
Requisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: In-depth exploration of periods and concepts of Italian literature, from Mid-Modernity to the 21st century. Topics vary. Taught in Italian.
Italian 952: Seminar-Studies in Italian Literature
Topic: Mimesis between Art and Life: D’Annunzio and Pirandello
Credits: 3
Schedule: Tuesdays, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Instructor: Ernesto Livorni
Requisite: Graduate/professional standing
Description: Advanced seminar. Topics vary.