RCS Scholarly and Creative Activity
The Department of Romance and Classical Studies is comprised of active scholars, creators, instructors, advisors, staff and students. We dedicate our productive energies and contributions to many communities, on campus and beyond.
Featured Recently
Preview: Italian Film Festival
The annual Italian Film Festival brings students, faculty, and local community members to Wells Hall in April to showcase Italian films. It was brought to East Lansing by Italian professor Carmen De Lorenzo. Organization and publicity are also made possible by the student volunteers of the MSU Italian Club and De Lorenzo’s Italian program colleagues, professors Valentina Denzel, Jessica Toby, and Juliet Guzzetta. The festival is co-sponsored by the Department of Romance and Classical Studies, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, the Istituto di Cultura Chicago, the Dante Alighieri Society Michigan Chapter, and the Italian Consulate in Detroit.
Preview: Tales from the Atlantic Beyond
Safoi Babana-Hampton, Professor of French at RCS, recently released the official trailer of her HARP Large-Scale Development grant-funded documentary feature “Chœurs atlantiques” (Tales from the Atlantic Beyond). The film spotlights the creative and critical engagement of black French artists and cultural actors from the French Caribbean and mainland France with the legacies of the slave trade and of slavery as it intersects with their anti-racist activism and visions of more just and equitable worlds. Public release of the film expected in late spring 2024. This film was made possible by generous support from the MSU Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP Large-Scale Development grant). The HARP Large-Scale Project is funded, in part, through the generosity of the MSU Research Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Department of Romance and Classical Studies, Diversity Research Network, the Department of English Film Studies Program, the Global Studies in the Arts And Humanities Program, Art/Art History & Design. With the contribution of MSU French language students Benjamin Kalosa-Kenyon and Zach Sebree to the trailer English subtitles (click on captions for English subtitles).
student clubs
The language clubs in RCS offer the opportunity to learn about and share experiences related to diverse cultures, languages, and people.