Department
of French, University of Virginia
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Departmental News:
Congratulations to Janet Horne, who has just been awarded a very competitive and prestigious Fulbright Grant to France for next fall--a rare distinction.
Cheryl Krueger, French Project Director for the Center for the Liberal Arts, organized a one-day workshop for French teachers on Saturday, April 22 at Zehmer Hall. This year's workshop, entitled "scénarios," focused on the ways in which authentic media open doors to the study of language, literature and culture. Each speaker presented and discussed one audio or audio-visual clip in French (i.e., a radio or television broadcast, a sequence from a feature or documentary film), focusing on how this short visual or sound sample tells a larger story about French and Francophone studies. Many thanks to the three faculty members from our department for their informative, lively, and thought-provoking presentations:
- Gladys Saunders: "De Monsieur Jourdain à Yves Duteil : Des mythes concernant la langue française."
- Majida Bargach: "Violences urbaines de novemebre 2005: rupture ou continuité?"
- Roland Simon: "Retour aux classiques: Tintin en Amérique."
After a lunch break, Cheryl Krueger presented a progress report on her TTI project "Le Langage du cinéma," and presented "Projection et Atelier : Kirikou et la sorcière." Participants explored ways to use sequences from this film to enhance their teaching of French language and culture.
Four University of Virginia faculty members presented papers at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference at the University of Kentucky on Friday and Saturday, April 21-22:
- John Lyons gave a paper entitled "Hazardous Pascal" in a panel on "Chance and Culture in Early-Modern France," that was presided by Jennifer Tsien. The panel was organized by John Lyons and Kathleen Wine of Dartmouth.
- At a panel on the early modern city, Mary McKinley presented a paper: "Putting the Spin on Urban Turmoil, Lyon 1562."
- Amy Ogden presented a paper entitled "Hagiographic Marvels, Miracles and Materialism."
- Jennifer Tsien presented a paper entitled "Too Many Books: Reactions against Popular Literature in the 18th Century."
Elisabeth Ladenson spoke on "Proustian Sexualities" at a conference on "L'Etrange M. Proust" at Princeton University on April 20-21.
On Sunday, March 19, Sara Dietzman took her French 345 class to a performance of The Lark (Lillian Hellman's adaptation of Jean Anouilh's L'Alouette) at the Barksdale Theatre in Richmond. The trip was generously sponsored by the Department of French and the Arts & Sciences Council.
A. James Arnold has been invited to the University of Potsdam (Brandenburg) as a Visiting Professor for the Fall term 2006. He will work with Dr. Ineke Phaf-Rheinberger on adapting for the German university system his graduate course on Comparative Caribbean Culture while working at the Ibero-American Institute in Berlin on digital editions of the Buccaneers of America project for the Archive of Literatures in the Caribbean. The Deutsche Akadamische Austauschdienst (DAAD) is the agency sponsoring his invitation to Potsdam."
Philippe Roger a participé à la table ronde finale de «L’héroïsme au XVIIIe siècle», journée d’étude organisée par le Centre de l’Université de Chicago à Paris et par le Centre d’étude de la langue et de la littérature françaises des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (UMR 8599 du CNRS et de l’Université Paris Sorbonne Paris IV)
Philippe sends this spring bulletin:
March in Paris had been stormy ; Easter in New York was more festive,
although not quite restful. I gave a three-week seminar at NYU on «Philosophy
and fiction in the Age of Enlightenment» and a talk at the local
Maison Française with the Gainsbourian (and Stanley Cavellian)
title : «Je t’aime, moi non plus : le divorce franco-américain
est-il une comédie du remariage ?».
A very good thing happened while I was there : The American Enemy,
published by Chicago last year, won the yearly prize for best translation
of a
French work (in the non-fiction category). The translator is Sharon Bowman.
The prize is sponsored by the French-American Foundation and the Gould
Foundation. A paperback edition of the English-language edition should
be out in the Fall.
Another pleasant event was the «journée d’étude» co-organized
in Paris (March 30) by the University of Chicago and my CNRS Center at
the Sorbonne. I took part in the final round table, along with Jean-Claude
Bonnet —Virginien d’adoption— and Sylvain
Menant. But the real star of the day was our own Jennifer Tsien,
who spoke on Voltaire’s
Pucelle.
We warmly congratulate all of our graduate students for their many achievements
this year!
This month, we celebrate the following good news:
Sara Dietzman has accepted a position of Assistant Professor in the Modern Languages Department at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
French House News:
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On April 28, the Maison Française celebrated 20 years
in the historic Barringer House with a reception and dinner for current residents,
alumni, faculty members and friends. Robert Denommé,
long-time chair of the Department and the creator of the Maison Française
in its present form, gave a brief history, explaining the idea originated with
a group of students who had gathered together and rented a house on 14th Street
NW where they had meals together and spoke French. Learning that the Barringer
house, former home of Dr. Paul Barringer, the last Chairman of the Faculty
of the University (before the University had a President), was available for
restoration, Mr. Denommé persuaded investors to restore theonce-elegant
building as a French house. The successive
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directors of the Maison have been Lionel Duisit, and Christine Zunz, who organized this anniversary celebration. After the dinner, catered by C&O Restaurant, the Robert Denommé award for an outstanding resident of the Maison was awarded to Stephanie Culbertson (whose mother, as it turns out, was one of the French House pioneers from 14th Street). Awards for exceptional contributions to the Maison were also presented to Kathryn Sims, who has presided over the kitchen and dining room of the Maison and won the hearts of generations of residents, and to Isabelle Choquet and Pierre Dairon. The evening concluded with brief presentations of French and African films by Cheryl Krueger, Kandioura Dramé, and John Lyons. |
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Undergraduate News:
French Department Distinguished Major Danielle Sewell presented her DMP thesis, "The French 'Exception Publique': the Hidden Cause of Crisis in France," at the Undergraduate Research Symposium on Friday, April 21st. Our congratulations to Danielle - We are proud to have her represent our Department.
Winner
of the 2006 Maas Memorial Prize in French
The winner of this year's T. Braxton Woody Award is Elizabeth Scott Caldwell. Endowed by the late Professor Braxton Woody, this $350 award, administered by the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, honors a French major in the next to last year of study who through academic achievement and other activities has contributed to the advancement of French studies. Congratulations, Scottie.
Winner
of the 2006 Maas Memorial Prize in French
Michelle Cloud, one of this year's Distinguished Majors, has won the Maas Prize with her essay "Sarkozy : un homme politique non conventionnel ?" Michelle will put her $ 2000.00 to good use next year as she studies at Science Po in Paris. Congratulations, Michelle.
Looking Ahead
Susan Anspach (English major, French minor) will be pursuing a career in news writing next year. She has yet to make up her mind about what city she'll be working in, but she's partial to Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago.
Michelle Cloud (French DMP/Foreign Affairs) will be working towards her master's at Sciences-Po Paris and teaching English. She hopes to do part of her master's in Berlin.
Dane Dowell (Business with a concentration in Accounting, French minor) will be going to France this summer to visit some old friends and then returning and sitting for the CPA exam. In August, he will be moving out to Denver to begin working with Pricewaterhouse Coopers in their assurance sector. He hopes to work with them for a couple of years in Denver and then transfer to Paris for a two year rotation. After that, he is considering going into seminary.
Abisola Oladunni Fatade (Foreign Affairs major, French minor) is looking forward to going to law school in the fall.
After graduation, Abigail Jenkins (Art History/French) will be moving back to Houston to work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in the Photography department. She will be researching artists and serving as a liason between them and a collaborating museum in Paris.
Rachel Jirka (French/Music) will be starting work towards a master's degree in French at the Middlebury College Language School.
Lauren Marshall (French/History minor) will be staying in Charlottesville next year but is still currently looking for a job. She plans to pursue a career in non-profit NGO work, possibly in the areas of relief work and human rights in Africa.
Kevin Maskell (French DMP, Biology, Minor in Physics) will be attending
medical school at the Chicago Medical
School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. He will
be attending on a Health Professions Scholarship from the US Army.
Kelly O.A. Mayer (BioChemisty DMP/French DMP, Studio Art minor) has chosen to attend Dental School at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Dental Medicine to begin late July ’06. Two of Kelly’s art works (“French Bread Illuminated” and “Memento”) have recently been selected to hang in the UVA Juried Art Show in the Newcomb Hall Gallery. She also received 1st Place in the Charlottesville Ten Miler for women in age groups under 24yrs and 7th woman overall with a time of 70min52sec.
Jennifer Nurmi (English/History, French minor) will be interning at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. She just finished writing her distinguished major thesis for the English department and is very relieved!
Edgar Radjabli (French major) will be studying dentistry at the University of Maryland starting this fall. He plans to travel to France frequently, including a month-long trip to Nice immediately after graduation.
Starting on September 18, Lindsey Sabol (B.S. in Commerce /French major) will be working in the Herndon, VA, office of Capgemini Consulting, a global consulting firm whose headquarters are in Paris. She is also getting married on September 2, and will be living in Arlington, VA, with her husband, Nathan, and kitty, Toffee.
Anna Silverman (French/Spanish, Art History minor) will be working in Colorado this summer, and hopes to live and work in South America for a year or two before attending law school and studying Immigration Law.
Elleni Tsatoumas (Foreign Affairs/French, Sociology minor) is a Canadian citizen, and will be returning to Montreal at the end of May. She is currently awaiting news from McGill University's Law Department.
Robert Wiley (French/Middle East Studies) will be pursuing his master's degree in a two-year program at the University of Chicago in Middle Eastern Studies, with his concentration on the North African region.
Congratulations and best wishes to all of our graduates!