The Department is involved in the African Studies program, the Integrated Studies Program, and the Women's Studies program; it participates in a variety of year and semester long study abroad programs in France and elsewhere in the Francophone world, including Colby's program in Dijon. JanPlans abroad are a regular part of the curriculum and have been organized to Morocco, Dijon and Guadeloupe in the last two years. Through an exchange program with the École Normale Supérieure, Colby welcomes a French language assistant every year, and sends the ENS a French major for a year of post-graduate study. Students going abroad receive special training in conversational skills and phonetics before departure.

The Minor in Italian Studies acquaints students with the breadth of Italian language and civilization and introduces them to the life and culture of Italy from ancient Rome, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and up to the modern and contemporary unified Italian state.

French civilization is one of the building blocks of the Western world; the influence of French language and literature transcends centuries and continents. French is now spoken as a first or second language by over 200 million people and is one of the official languages of over forty nations and the UN. Colby alumni live in France and Francophone countries, where they have secured employment using their French language skills in teaching, publishing, international business and government organizations. Italian, which has always appealed to those interested in the "high culture" of art history, music, archeology and classics, has now also made its way into the fields of international business and diplomacy, as Italy expands its role in the European community.