Department of French and Italian Studies

“I caught the live telecast [of the presidential inauguration] just as Amanda Gorman was set to recite her soul-stirring poem ‘The Hill We Climb.’ As she took the stage, radiant in her bright yellow jacket and red headpiece, the morning’s frustrations began to recede. And when she gifted us her words, I could feel the nation let out a collective sigh of relief after four years of weathering trauma,” writes Maya Smith, associate professor of French and Italian studies at the UW.

College of Arts & Sciences Dean Stacey explains that there is an important civic, political, social, and cultural element to an education and that you can get that in a wide variety of majors.

Interested in the College of Arts & Sciences but don’t know what to study? Here are six majors that you may not have discovered yet.

UW students, alumni, and faculty explain how COIVD-19 has disrupted Black life.

Maya Angela Smith, associate professor of French, writes about her experience as a Black mother-to-be.

French and oceanography major Anna Sulc has traveled the world for her humanities and biology research. 

Recent notable books by University of Washington faculty members look at gentrification and inequity in a New York neighborhood, skin lighteners though history, female agency in Arthurian legend and biographical epitaphs in China across many centuries.

Grace Flott (BA, International Studies | French, 2013) shares her experiences in expressing grief, trauma, and disability through artwork.

This week in the arts, attend a Washin Kai recital in classical Japanese, listen to the musical musings of Indigo Mist, converse over coffee, and more.

Eight exceptional Arts & Sciences students have been selected as 2019 Dean's Medalists and Graduate Medalists.

As a court interpreter, Kenneth Barger (BA, 2014) has helped hundreds of litigants be understood.

A UW pre-med student explains why her academic major — Italian — will make her a better doctor.

Op-ed by Maya Smith, assistant professor in the French and Italian Studies Department at the UW.

For Martin Horst, with majors in French and linguistics, language is a bridge to other cultures.