The department offers bachelors degrees in French and Italian. At the graduate level the department provides three subject tracks leading to masters and doctors degrees in French: French and Francophone Literature; French Linguistics; Romance Linguistics. Graduate courses in Italian support graduate degrees in other departments and cross-disciplinary offerings.

As political and economic issues become increasingly international in scope, there is a growing need for Americans to be competent in foreign languages. A liberal arts degree with a concentration in French or Italian can be an asset to a career in education, business, or international affairs.