FRANCO MANCA, associate professor of Italian and a native of Sardinia, received his Ph.D. from the University of California-Berkeley. Prof. Manca has for the past decade and a half presided over a steady growth pattern in Italian, so that the department can now offer a minor in Italian Studies and hopes to offer a minor in Italian studies in the near future. Professor Manca specializes in Dante and the Italian Renaissance, on which he has published a number of articles, although he has also published on contemporary Italian literature.