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Department of French & Italian
frit@umn.edu
612-624-4308
frit@umn.edu
612-624-4308
News & Events
Graduate Program in French
Congratulations: Severine Bates awarded a fellowship at UMN-Morris!!
Séverine has been awarded a fellowship!
Congratulations: Rachel Gibson awarded an SSRC-IDRF!
The Social Science Research Council has awarded Rachel an International Dissertation Research Fellowship for 2012, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Rachel will be doing research at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), and at the Biblioteca Marciana (Venice).
Congratulations: Anna Rosensweig a Hella Mears Fellow!
Anna was awarded a Hella Mears Graduate Fellowship for Summer 2012 for her dissertation, "Tragedy and the Ethics of Resistance Rights in Early Modern French Theater."
Congratulations: Tracy Rutler awarded a Fulbright Fellowship!
Kudos to Tracy Rutler, who will be spending next year in France on a Fulbright Fellowship to research her dissertation project, "Family Remains: The Politics of Legacy in Eighteenth-Century French Literature."
Dépêche de Montpellier: Rachel Gibson
Rachel Gibson took a moment to write us from Montpellier where she is spending the year. French bureaucracy and the travails of teaching the Monroe Doctrine to first-year students at Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3 almost got the best of her, but she's got back to her research. She writes:
Lecture: Andrea Ciccarelli, Crossing Borders: Considerations on Contemporary Italian Literature, 4/23, 3 pm, Folwell 10
Andrea Ciccarelli is Professor of Italian at Indiana University. He has published widely on Italian literature and culture, with a particular emphasis on modern and contemporary writers. His current book projects are on Exile, Migration, Borders in Contemporary Italian Culture and Tradition and Innovation in Modern Italian Culture. Andrea Ciccarelli is the editor of Italica, the quarterly journal of the American Association of Teachers of Italian.
Monday, April 23, 2012
3:00 pm, Folwell 10
A reception follows the lecture.Lecture: Eric Marty, "Why Did the 20th Century Take Sade Seriously?" (4/20, 3pm, Folwell 123)
Eric Marty -- Professor, Université Paris 7-Diderot"Why Did the 20th Century Take Sade Seriously?"
Friday April 20, 2012 at 3:00 pmFolwell 123
A reception will follow the lecture.Roundtable: Corbin Treacy
Human Rights Graduate Minor Colloquium, "Human Rights Research in Action"
Leah Entenmann & Corbin Treacy
Monday April 23, 2012, 3:30 pm
260 Social SciencesAlumni Update: Vlad Dima moving to Univ Wisconsin
Congratulations to Vlad Dima! Currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Union College, Vlad will be taking a position as an Assisant Professor in French at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. His area of specialty will be Francophone Film.
Congratulations! Tracy Rutler and Corbin Treacy awarded IDFs
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships permit students to research and write in collaboration with faculty mentors in interdisciplinary centers on campus.
Check it out: Univocal Publishing
Univocal Publishing is a small, local, and independent publishing house that specializes in philosophy, art, technology, and poetry. Inspired by the philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s deployment of the concept of univocity, the press strives to publish thinkers and writers whose voices are singular and diverse.
Career Networking Breakfast for Graduate Students, Postdoctoral Researchers, and Alumni
WHEN:
Friday, April 13, 2012 from 9-11:30 a.m.WHERE:
University Hotel Minneapolis - Ballroom
615 Washington Ave. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55414The event is free, but registration is required due to limited space.
Armand Renaud 1918-2012
It is with great sadness that the Department of French & Italian announces of the death of Armand Renaud, professor emeritus of French. He was 93 year of age.
For those of you who did not know Armand, it is thanks to his generosity that the Madeleine Renaud Graduate Fellowship was established as a tribute to his wife Madeleine. This fellowship also honors the life and work of Armand Renaud, who gave generously of his learning and wisdom to students, colleagues, and friends during his time in Folwell.
The Conquest -- a film by Xavier Durrigner
The Conquest, Director Xavier Durrigner, 105 min, France, 2010,
In French with English subtitles.
Showing - Fri, Feb 10 through Thurs, Feb 16The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul presents a larger-than-life account of Nicholas Sarkozy’s 2007 taking of the French presidency in Xavier Durringer’s The Conquest, showing theatrically on Screen 3 at St. Anthony Main Theatre Fri, Feb 10 - Thurs, Feb 16.
Denis Podalydès delivers a witty yet commanding portrayal of Nicolas Sarkozy and his rise to the French presidency through the lens of his unraveling marriage to then-wife Cecilia (Florence Pernel). Never one to disguise his ambition, the film’s Sarkozy curries favor with predecessor Jacques Chirac (Bernard Le Coq) and spars gamely with glib rival Dominique de Villepin (Samuel Labarthe). This lampoon depicts the future president of France as a bold and unashamed virtuoso of political combat, whose inattention to his disintegrating domestic partnership emerges as his chief vulnerability.
With leads brilliantly etching sharp characterizations of living politicians, director Xavier Durringer need never veer too far from reality, even while deploying fictional embellishments and a larger-than-life sense of humor that—with Nicola Piovani’s buoyant score—giddily evoke a circus-like atmosphere. (Description courtesy Music Box Films)
Official Selection - Cannes Film Festival 2011
The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul presents the very best of national and international independent cinema on Screen 3 at St. Anthony Main Theatre, 115 SE Main Street, Minneapolis, MN 55414. www.mspfilmsociety.org | Press Release online: http://bit.ly/yJDRsK
Lecture: Claire Nouvet, "Annihilation Through Consumption: Dali’s Double Game" (3/2/2012, 3:00-4:30pm)
Claire Nouvet, "Annihilation Through Consumption: Dali’s Double Game"
Date: 03/02/2012
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Location: 123 Folwell Hall
Cost: Free
Description:
Annihilation Through Consumption: Dali’s Double Game
Relentlessly and shamelessly, Dali claims to expose in his literary corpus all of his "secrets" which he "feeds," one by one, to his avid readers. One, in particular, will be exposed, most notably in La Vie Secrète de Salvador Dali: the vital role that Gala (his wife and muse) played in making any creative act possible. For all this exposure, the name of "Gala" will be shown to mark in fact the site of a secret that remains intractable. A maternal figure, Gala indeed stands in for an originary and annihilating experience of consumption that preempts self-constitution. And it is ultimately this annihilating consumption that Dali not only "feeds" to the oblivious consumers of his works, but also turns into a creative matrix of sorts.
Contact:
Name: Department of French & Italian
E-mail: frit@umn.edu
Phone: 612.624.4308
Sponsored by: French & ItalianAlumni News: Rob St. Clair interviewed
Rob St. Clair (Ph.D. 2011), Assistant Professor at the College of William & Mary interviewed on the Global Voicesâ„¢ Journal!
On Language Proficiency
This piece by Stephen Brockmann, professor of German at Carnegie Mellon, from the Chronicle of Higher Education on job candidates' language incompetency. What do you think?
Performance: "Dangerous Liaisons," 1/13-2/4
Torch Theater presents
Lecture: Mary Franklin-Brown, "Reflections on Ekphrasis in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie"
6 December 20114:00 PM - 6:30 PM1210 Heller Hallhttp://www.cmedst.umn.edu
Dépêche de Montréal: Kate Droske
From our own Kate Droske, on fellowship at Concordia University for the semester:
Lecture: A. Curran, "The Natural History of Slavery" (9/23, 2:30pm) 112 Folwell
"Throwing out Postcards" Notes on teaching by Corbin Treacy
Corbin Treacy writes about his experience developing a class for and teaching a two-day workshop for middle- and high-school French teachers through the Institute for Global Studies
Vous aller adorer cette ville!
Check the blog designed by 1004 students for the newest minneapolitains among us:
http://www.bienvenueaminneapolis.blogspot.com/French Major/Minor Declaration Sessions
Do you know an undergraduate who is considered a French major or minor? Let them know about the information sessions scheduled for students interested in declaring either the Minor or the Major.
These are open meetings - no sign-up is necessary.
Friday, September 16, 12:15 p.m., Folwell 1Questions? Contact Prof. Betsy Kerr, 304F Folwell, bjkerr@umn.eduWednesday, September 28, 2:30 p.m., Folwell 1
Thursday, October 13, 2:15 p.m., Folwell 1
Monday, October 31, 2:30 p.m., Folwell 113
Tuesday, November 15, 11:30 p.m., Folwell 1
Wednesday, December 7, 2:30 p.m., Folwell 1Fall 2011 office hours, M &W, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
To schedule an appointment, go to http://frit.umn.edu/ and click on "undergraduate programs", "French", "Advising"
Celebrate Folwell!
Join Us!Celebrating the renovated home for foreign languages, literatures, and cultures.Folwell Hall Grand Opening
Date: 09/09/2011
Time: 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Location: South Lawn Folwell Hall
Join us to mark the reopening of Folwell Hall after a year of renovation.Events:
2:30 Ribbon Cutting with Regent Linda Cohen, President Eric Kaler, and Dean Parente.
3:00 Self-guided tours of classrooms and study spaces, refreshments, classroom technology demonstrations, and fun and games on the Folwell lawn.We're Moving... Back to Folwell!
After a year in Klaeber Court, we're heading back to the newly renovated Folwell Hall. Find us in our new third-floor digs starting August 8th.
Department of French and Italian
314 Folwell Hall
9 Pleasant St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455New Seminar: "Black Women Writers in the Diaspora" (AFRO 5625)
in HHHCtr 35
Instructor: Dr. Njeri Githire
Dépêche de Northfield: Meeting Maryse Condé
Our own Déborah Ferrand shares glowing notes from her trip to Carleton College, with Sarah Boardman and Séverine Bates, to hear Maryse Condé last week:
Some of us had the extreme pleasure to attend the lecture given by Maryse Condé at Carleton University on April 20th. As graduate students and future specialists of francophone literature, it was really an honour to meet such an incredible woman and author.
Dossier: Pourquoi les études littéraires/Why literature matters
From the marvelous resource Fabula, a dossier on recent writings defending literary studies. References span the Atlantic Ocean, from Martha Nussbaum to Yves Citton.
Paranoid? You must be a graduate student!
From yesterday's Chronicle, by Don Troop:
Kudos: Dan Brewer awarded for his graduate advising
Our own Prof. Dan Brewer was among the faculty honored by the 2011 COGS Outstanding Faculty Award!
Lecture: "Journey of a Caribbean Writer," Maryse Condé (4/20, 7:30pm, Carleton College)
From Cathy Yandell at Carleton College:
Nous sommes très heureux de vous inviter, vous et vos étudiants, à la conférence de Maryse Condé à Carleton, suivie d'une discussion avec l'auteure.
Lectures: "Alternative Narratives or Denial? " (Wed 4/13, 4pm, Humphrey Forum)
Featuring Two Lectures:
"Godard's Wars"
Philip Watts, Associate Professor of French, Department Chair, Columbia University"Thoughts on Giorgio Agamben's Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and the Archive"
Jeffrey Mehlman, Professor of French, Department of Romance Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University"Humanities, For Sake of Humanity:" Inside Higher Ed
Dan Berrett's report on the Symposium on the Future of the Humanities is worth a read:
CSCL Colloquium featuring Greta Bliss: 3:30, 3/25 (Nicholson 325)
"Translation Routes"
Akshya Saxena, "In Other Words: Reading Dainik Jagran's Sangini"
Friday March 25th at 3:30pm
Nicholson Hall 325
Dan Dooghan, "Polytopic Texts and Incremental Apprehension: Republican China's Contribution to Translation Theory"
Michelle Baroody, "The Untimeliness of World Literature"
Greta Bliss, "Looking Back, Looking Forward: The Vital Antagonisms of Maghrebi Untranslation"MSP International Film Festival (4/14 -5/5) The "Year of France" Highlights
The 2011 Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival launches next month! is slated for April 14 through May 5 - presenting over 180 films from some 60 countries at the five-screen St. Anthony Main Theatre. For three weeks, the Twin Cities celebrates the arrival of the best of international and independent filmmaking in the region. We are thrilled to present 13 French films in conjunction with the Year of France in Minnesota!Performance: "Albertine en cinq temps" (4/15, 7pm, St. Kate's)
The Department of International Languages and Literatures at Saint Catherine University and its French colleagues from the ACTC institutions including Hamline, St Thomas, and Macalester would like to invite you to attend a single evening's performance of Albertine en cinq temps, an adaptation of the play by French Canadian playwright Michel Tremblay, by Théâtre de la Chandelle Verte on Friday April 15, Friday, 2011 at Saint Catherine University in the Recital Hall located in the Music Building on the Saint Paul campus.
CFP: 16th/17th-century panels at MLA (3/15/11; Seattle 1/5-8/12)
The Division on Seventeenth-Century French Literature of the MLA announces its Calls for Papers for 3 sessions, including a joint round table with the Division on Sixteenth-Century French Literature:
CIEE: Encountering Contemporary French Theory
Interested in an intensive academic summer experience? Consider CIEE's program with the Collège International de Philosophie in Paris. Open to graduate students and undergraduates.
Dépêche de Klaeber Court: Prof. Judith Preckshot
I asked Prof Judith Preckshot about what she's working on right now, and she told me about a fascinating and timely graduate seminar she's preparing for next semester:
Discussion: Political Theory Colloquium: Jill Locke on Rousseau (3/11)
This Friday (3/11) UMN's political theory colloquium will host Jill Locke (Political Science and Women's Studies, Gustavus Adolphus College). Jill will briefly present her work "Rousseau, The Misfit's Hero," followed by a longer discussion. The colloquium will be in 1314 Social Sciences at 1:30; coffee will be served.
The paper is at http://www.polisci.umn.edu/centers/theory/schedule.html
Conference: Translating the Encyclopédie in the Global 18th Century
If you're in New York this weekend, catch up with our own Dan Brewer at ARTFL's annual conference on the Encyclopédie, this year at Fordham University.
Language Study in French for Graduate Students
Are you interested in perfecting your French? Consider Bryn Mawr's Avignon Institute, which is one of the few with a graduate component.
Dépêche de Paris: Lia Mitchell from the rue Oberkampf
Lia Mitchell, our Exchange Fellow in Paris, writes us about Canals on Mars, the invasion midwestern vowels of Paris, and the so-called original LouLou :
CFP: "Re-Visioning Terrorism" (3/20/11; 5/8-10/11)
RE-VISIONING TERRORISMAn Interdisciplinary and International ConferenceSEPTEMBER 8-10, 2011 - Purdue UniversityFellowship: TASI 2011, "Violence Across the Mediterranean to Northern Europe: Theory and Practice" (4/8; 7/17-29)
"Violence Across the Mediterranean to Northern Europe: Theory and Practice"
Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute in European Studies, July 17 - July 29, 2011
University of MinnesotaCFP: Photography, Gender, Representation (3/1/11; 4/22-23/11)
**Call for Papers**BEND! Photography, Gender, & the Politics of Representation
An Interdisciplinary Symposium
Princeton University, April 22-23, 2011
Keynote Speaker: Professor George Baker, Department of Art History, UCLAAlliance Française: "La Nuit de la Pub!" (3/7, 7pm)
The Alliance Francaise of Minneapolis/St. Paul and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design will be featuring an evening of French advertisements "La nuit de la Pub" (The Night of the Ad) on Monday, March 7th at 7:00 p.m. Founder and Director of the "media think tank" La Maison de la Pub in Paris, Anne Saint Dreux will lead the evening with screenings of French and International commercials focused on women in advertisements.
Alliance Française: "Soirée à La Fontaine des Abeilles" (2/26, 7pm)
The Alliance Française de Minneapolis/St. Paul invites you to "Soirée à La Fontaine des Abeilles". Whether you are familiar with the famous French fabulist, Jean La Fontaine or not, this will be an evening you do not want to miss! Join us at the Alliance for an evening of singing, performances and a presentation by Professor Max Adrien, of Hamline University, on Saturday, February 26 from 7:00-10:00 p.m. Entrance is free and all presentations will be in French. The event is for all ages and we encourage families, students and all Francophiles to attend!
Lecture: Sanyal, "Migrations of the Plague: Albert Camus, The Concentrationary, and Terror" (2/18,)
Join us for a lecture byDebarati Sanyal, University of California, Berkeley
Friday, February 18th
4-6pm
Nicholson Hall 125A ne pas oublier: fabula.org!
Quelle mine d'information!
Lecture: "Hollywood, Pirated Videos and Child Soldiers" Macalester, 2/16
The French and Francophone Studies Dept at Macalester invites you in the context of our lecture series to :
Hollywood, Pirated Videos and Child Soldiers, Dr. Emmanuel DongalaUsing the Google Books corpus effectively...
(or at least using it to procrastinate in an interesting fashion)... Try this experiment from Google Labs:
"French is too important to be left to middle-class Francophiles"
From today's Guardian, one academic's perspective on how French literature has created for him "a new mental landscape...""'"Oy Vey!"':" Houellebecq and BHL in conversation, reviewed
Ian Buruma reviews the translation of M Houellebecq and B-H Lévy's dialogic musings in Public Enemies: Dueling Writers Take On Each Other and the World (Random House, 2010).
Prof. Bruno Chaouat interviewed on Palin's comments
Read the article by Maury Glover and see the interview on Fox 9 News, Palin's 'Blood Libel' Video Fans Flames:
Gonzo Theatre's "No Exit" at the Lowry Lab Feb 3-12
Dramaturged by our very own Sophie Kerman!
Department Faculty receive annual Imagine Fund Awards
Congratulations to our faculty for these awards, which support for research in the arts, design, and the humanities:
Fellowship: Institut Français d'Amérique (1/15/11)
The Institut Français d'Amérique announces the annual competition for fellowships to support research in France for Graduate Students and Recent Ph.D. recipients. Up to four $1500 awards are available for maintenance (not travel) during research in France for a period of at least one month in the summer or fall of 2011.
Dépêche de Montpellier: Liz Panting
At the end of a really busy semester, MA student Liz Panting found some time to write us from Montpellier. She's spending the year on one our department's Fellowships as a lectrice at UPV...
Dépêche de Paris: Sylvie Ngilla interviews Claire Denis (with a photo to prove it!)
Doctoral candidate Sylvie Ngilla was in Paris last month and interviewed filmmaker Claire Denis...
Fellowship: Middlebury College Dissertation Fellows (1/21/11)
Middlebury College Dissertation Fellowship ($30,000, renewable up to two years)
A Letter from FRIT Faculty
December 8, 2010
The faculty of the Department of French and Italian wish to express our unwavering support of the University Administration, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Center's director Bruno Chaouat, in light of the recent lawsuit filed against them.
Dépêche de Paris: On sabbatical with Professor Dan Brewer
Dan Brewer takes time out of his sabbatical to write...
It's the season of dispatches back to the States getting published, so here's one from Paris. It's not in the grand style of Janet Flanner's or Adam Gopnick's gem-like letters in the New Yorker. Nor will Julian Assange be much interested in it. But it carries a sense of this dix-huitiémiste's pleasure, wonderment, and delight at having spent the fall in the City of Light while on sabbatical....
CFP: The Idea of France / L'Idée de la France (11/10-12/2011) due 1/10/2011
CALL FOR PAPERS
Interdisciplinary Conference at the University of Pittsburgh
November 10-12, 2011
"The Idea of France" / "L'Idée de la France"
We welcome abstracts from all fields (literature, history, political science, sociology, anthropology, law, religion, art, music, cultural studies, film studies, gender studies, etc.) that treat the question of the idea of France or Frenchness in any time period from the middle ages to the twenty-first century. Papers may be delivered in English or French.
Tentative keynote speakers include David Bell (History, Princeton), Olivier Dutheillet de Lamothe (Conseiller d'Etat, Membre honoraire du Conseil constitutionnel), Lawrence Kritzman (Cultural Theory, Dartmouth), Domna Stanton (Literature/Women's Studies, CUNY), and Ezra Suleiman (Political Science, Princeton).
Please send 150-250 word abstracts (English or French) to
Due date: January 10, 2011.
For further information, contact Todd Reeser,
Dépêche de Carlisle, PA: Benjamin Ngong (PhD, 2007)
Benjamin Ngong took a few minutes to write us from Dickinson College, where he's an Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies and Contributing Faculty to Africana Studies. Of academic life, he writes:
Life as an Assistant Professor on tenure track is not easy, but I'm trying to make the best out of it.
In fact, it turns out he's been doing quite well...
Dépêche de Nolte: Greta Bliss, IDF Fellow at the IAS
Klaeber Court, our temporary home during Folwell's remodel, is indeed far far away from Nolte Hall. Thus I was delighted to get an email from Greta Bliss detailing some of her activities as an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. She gave her presentation to colleagues on her dissertation project, (entitled "Untranslating the Maghreb: Reckoning with Gender in Literature and Film from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia") and got useful feedback from fellows in multiple social science and humanities disciplines, which she put to use for a paper she gave last month at the Middle Eastern Studies Conference in San Diego. There she presented on the films A Door to the Sky by Farida Benlyazid and Bedwin Hacker by Nadia El Fani.
She writes:
IAS is a great environment in which to push my working questions further while being "haunted" (in a good way) by an array of methodological approaches and disciplinary concerns. Colleagues doing inspiring work in fields from Geography to Performance Studies have asked strange and stimulating questions, helping me think more extensively about the contours and content of my project--and where I want to go with it.
Working with questions from the different disciplinary angles she's encountered this semester, she'll be finishing up a dissertation chapter, "Narrative as Fault-Line in Maïssa Bey's Surtout ne te retourne pas (2005)" on which she'll also be presenting a paper at the ACLA conference in Vancouver this coming Spring...
Congratulations! Rachel Gibson wins Urness Award
Congratulations to Rachel Gibson who received the Annual Carol Urness Student Writing Award from the James Ford Bell Library for her essay "Correspondence from Candia: Venetian Trade in Shifting Waters."
Lecture: Goulet, "Derrida Meets the Demon-Baboon," 12/7 4pm
The Department of French and Italian announces a lecture by Andrea Goulet, Associate Professor of French, Department of Romance Languages, University of Pennsylvania.
"Derrida Meets the Demon-Baboon: Leroux's Balaoo and the Paleontological Imaginary of Crime"
Tuesday, December 7
4pm, Nicholson 275Light refreshments will be served.
Dépêche de Williamsburg: Vlad Dima
We had a lovely visit from Vlad Dima (PhD 2010) last week, who's currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the College of William & Mary.
Along with a packed teaching, advising, and service schedule at W&M, Vlad's continued to publish in his area of research, cinematographic sound. Recent articles include Vlad has published on sound issues in Quentin Tarantino's films in "Moviement" (Indicatori sonori in Kill Bill), on Anne Hébert in "Dalhousie French Studies" (Les personnages dans Les Fous de Bassan : la nature de leurs identités). He has two more articles forthcoming in "The Quarterly Review of Film and Video," The Aural Fold and the Sonic Jump-cut: Godard's Baroque Sound, and in "The Journal for Film and Video," Aural Narrative Planes in Djibril-Diop Mambety's Films.
He has also published numerous theatre reviews for Aisle Say, and has contributed to the "Bright Lights Journal" with reviews of A Single Man and Inglourious Basterds.
He is currently working and has submitted articles on Hitchcock, one dealing with the evolution of the murder scene, and the other with connections between Baudelaire's spleen and Hitchcock's Vertigo, as well as a study of the female voice in Seinfeld.
Alumni, send us your news!
Lecture: Mall, "Mercier ou les Lumières au jour le jour" (Macalester, 12/1)
Lecture (in French) by Dr. Laurence Mallon
Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at
4:45 p.m.
at Macalester College in Humanities 401."Louis Sébastien Mercier ou les Lumières au jour le jour"
NPR Covers SUNY-Albany Closings
Cuts To University's Humanities Program Draw Outcry
by MARGOT ADLERAs a colleague quipped, referring to SUNY-Albany's motto The World Within Reach", "I guess that is a literal expression nowadays, e.g., within arm's length..."
But the question remains, what are we doing, and what are we not doing, to make visible the connections we know should be apprent to our culture?
The Chronicle: "Deficiency in Foreign Language Competency: What is Wrong..."
Among those of us engaged in international education, it is considered a basic premise that, in today's knowledge-based global economy and society, a full command of at least one second language is a core competency that should become mandatory for all graduates of higher-education institutions.
"Deficiency in Foreign Language Competency: What Is Wrong with the U.S. Educational System?" -- November 9, 2010, 2:45 pmBy Francisco Marmolejo
Graduate Seminars in French, Spring 2011
Three seminars will be offered in our department next semester. Some seminars in our department require participation in French, others require reading knowledge of French. See below for details...
French 8270: Literature Out of Bounds in Modern and Contemporary France (Prof. Mária Brewer)
French 8410: Storied Identities: Women Writers in Contemporary Quebec (Prof. Eileen Sivert)
French 8120: The Problem of the Fifteenth Century (Prof. Susan Noakes)
Frieda Ekotto Lecture 11/19, 3-5pm, 115 Nicholson Hall
The Department of French and Italian announces a lecture by Frieda Ekotto (University of Michigan) entitled: "What is the Color of Blackness?" on Friday, November 19 from 3-5pm in 115 Nicholson Hall.Light refreshments will be served.
J-L Nancy responds to Albany
Jean-Luc Nancy, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Strasbourg and the European Graduate School, has written a rather snarky critique of Albany that pretty much sums up what is at stake here. Since it is short I have reposted the entire response...
Film Premiere: Enemies of the People
Please join the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota in a discussion with the Director/Producer of the award-winning documentary, Enemies of the People, Thursday, November 11 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm in Room 614 Social Sciences, University of Minnesota.
Enemies of the People Director/Producer Rob Lemkin will join PatriciaHampl, award-winning author and U of Minnesota Regents Professor ofCreative Writing, to discuss documenting human rights violationsthrough film and writing. Short clips from the documentary will beshown.
Lecture: Cox, "Immigrant Writing" 11/15 4:45 (Macalester College)
The French and Francophone Studies Department at Macalester College would like to invite you to the French Lecture Series on Monday, November 15 at 4:45 PM in Humanities 401.
Stephanie Cox, Visiting Professor from Carleton College will present "Immigrant Writing in Quebec and Ying Chen"
Francophone Asian-Canadian Writer Ying Chen was born in Shanghai, came to Montreal in the 1990s, and now lives in Vancouver. As the first Chinese writer in Quebec, she attracted attention and her first three novels have been popular in and outside the classroom. Since Quebec society had always identified itself strongly in opposition to the Other, be it the English, the Amerindian, the French and the American, the immigrant gaze reversed its position and inaugurated its role as dominant society. After becoming an icon of Immigrant Writing, Ying Chen made major changes within her writing, thereby risking to lose a portion of her readers but with the aim to avoid the kind of ethnic reading which she felt the categorization of "écritures migrantes" (Immigrant Writing) leads to. Instead of instructing Western readers about the Chinese culture as a cultural ambassador, she invites the reader to meet through the universal experience of exile, whether it be geographic or social.
Stephanie Cox is a Visiting Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Carleton College where she teaches courses on Quebec, Acadia and Louisiana, including "Women of New France" and "Marginality and Renaissance in Francophone North America." She is the author of "La vie probable" a forthcoming study on the writing of Ying Chen. She is the recipient of a Faculty Enrichment Grant from the Canadian Embassy to design a course on "Transnational Writers of Quebec."
Fellowship: IDF (final deadline 2/15/11; internal deadline TBA)
The Graduate School, on behalf of the Provost's Interdisciplinary Team, is pleased to announce that it will award a limited number (approximately 10) of one- and two-year Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships for 2011-12 to outstanding Graduate School students with interdisciplinary dissertation topics who would benefit from interaction with faculty at one of the University's interdisciplinary research centers or institutes. The fellowship provides a unique study opportunity for our very best students with research and scholarly interests that complement those of the host center or institute and its faculty. Prospective fellows are asked to designate the host center or institute they believe is the best match with their dissertation topic, contingent upon a faculty member's willingness to work with the student during the fellowship year.
TERMS OF THE AWARD
Recipients of the 2011-12 fellowship will receive a stipend of $22,500 for the academic year beginning September 2011, plus full tuition. Eligible recipients are also covered by comprehensive health insurance, including subsidized dependent and dental care.A select number of students will receive a two-year award. Award of fellowship funds for the second year will be contingent upon satisfactory degree progress and active participation in the host center or institute, as documented by the student's adviser, DGS and center/institute mentor. The stipend in 2012-13 will be determined by spring 2012.
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellows must register in the Graduate School as full-time students each semester. Fellows may hold supplemental support up to the value of a 25-percent graduate assistantship from any source in each semester. Awards may not be deferred beyond the original award period.
ELIGIBILITY
The competition is open to Ph.D. students by application, with endorsement by the student's graduate program and college dean/associate dean. Successful applicants are likely to be students who will be in the second, third, or fourth year of their program in the 2011-12 academic year and who are making timely degree progress. Students who have passed the preliminary oral examination are eligible, as well as those who have not yet passed this exam. Students who have received a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship are not eligible.APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Directors of Graduate Studies are responsible for assisting the student in preparing the application file and submitting the completed application to the Graduate School Fellowship Office by the specified deadline. The following information must be included in the student's application:1. the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship application form
2. a three-page statement, written by the student, that:
describes the proposed interdisciplinary research or scholarly project
explains how the student's scholarship will benefit from residence at the center/institute at which the student proposes to studyif the application is for a two-year award, provides justification for two years of support
3. the student's c.v. that includes documentation of the student's involvement in, or contributions to, research, scholarly or creative activities (e.g., publications, abstracts, presentations at professional conferences or university seminars, exhibits)
4. a letter of support from the director of the research center or institute at which the student intends to study; in addition to supporting the student's application, the letter from the center/institute director must:
a. demonstrate how the student will benefit from an affiliation with the center/institute and how the center/institute will benefit from the student's participation
b. identify the resources the director will commit to the student in terms of:
study space funds for student travel to a professional conference (directors are encouraged to provide $2,500 for activities related to the student's professional development)
c. explain how the center/institute would be an appropriate host site for the student, e.g.:
the mix of disciplines represented among its faculty related to the student's interdisciplinary interests, the diversity of faculty research interests and methodologies
regular, events that feature faculty members' work opportunities for students to feature their work other support the center/institute might provide (financial support, mentoring, professional development opportunities)
5. letter(s) of support from the faculty member(s) at the selected research center or institute with whom the student plans to study
6. a letter of support from the student's academic adviser/co-advisers
7. a letter of support from the Director of Graduate Studies of the student's major program; the DGS's letter may focus principally on the overall academic quality of the student and the student's scholarly potential
8. transcripts from each college or university attended (photocopies are acceptable, including the University of Minnesota transcript)
9. an up-to-date copy of the official degree program form, if the student has filed it.Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with prospective mentors and host center/institute directors early in the application process to ensure that the student and research project are a good match for the host site.
REVIEW AND SELECTION
The review will be conducted by a committee of the Graduate School Fellowship Office.Selection of recipients will be based on the following criteria:
• the importance of the research and the clarity with which it is conveyed to the non-specialist
• the potential for the student to make an unusually significant contribution to the field
• the degree to which the proposed or current research manifests the student's independence, originality, and resourcefulness
• the potential for the research project to incorporate methodologies from more than one discipline
• the synergy that can be created by the student and faculty member working together around the interdisciplinary topic or problem
• the comparative strength of the student's academic record
• the clarity, coherence and strength of the letters supporting the student's applicationSpecial attention will be given to the interdisciplinary nature of the current or proposed dissertation research and the willingness of the particular center or institute and its faculty to host the student during the fellowship year.
The DGS and dean of the student's program will be notified of the outcome of the student's application in March.
Please direct questions about these awards to the Graduate School Fellowship Office at 612-625-7579 or gsfellow@umn.edu.
Lecture: Lynch, "Obituaries for Poetry," 11/19
The English Department's Nineteenth Century Subfield presents
"Obituaries for Poetry: Dead Poet Love, the Life of the Author, and Photographed Romanticism"
Deidre Shauna Lynch, University of Toronto
Friday, November 19, 2010 at noon
A light lunch will be served
Please join us for a presentation by Deidre Shauna Lynch, the Chancellor Jackman Professor and Associate Professor of English at the University of Toronto. Dr. Lynch is an established literary scholar specializing in eighteenth-century and romantic-era literature with particular interests in women authors and the history and theory of the novel. Her first book, The Economy of Character: Novels, Market Culture, and the Business of Inner Meaning was the winner of the 1999 MLA Prize for a First Book.
Co-sponsored with the Department of English, Theorizing Early Modern Studies, the Center for Early Modern History, the Coca Cola Activity Initiative and GAPSA.
Working toward a better understanding of the Humanities
There have been a lot of posts about the demise of the humanities, and relatedly the massive disconnection between those who practice humanistic inquiry and their administrators. Here's a different take on the situation, covered by the Boston Globe:
"Colleges Aim to Revive the Humanities"
I like the change of tone, but there are a lot of aspects to what this article covers that make me wonder... For example, I don't think we need "reviving;" just better understanding. Am I naïve? And more crucially, check out our spokespeople:the leaders of many prestigious universities -- including Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard -- are increasingly espousing the virtues of the humanities...
Why is this happening first and foremost at the privates, or so-called "luxury" institutions. Are the humanities a luxury that public institutions really do without?
Fellowship: CGES Berlin (due 12/3)
The Center for German & European Studies is now accepting applications for our 2011 Minnesota Goes to Berlin fellowship. Open to U of M system undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline or field beyond their sophomore year; minimum age 20; demonstrated interest in working with school-age children; German language proficiency desired but not required.
Live and work in Berlin! Spend 1 month living with a German host family and serving as a native speaker resource person in an elementary school. You will also conduct research on a topic of your choice, explore Berlin's culture as a group and participate in organized social and cultural programs.
Fellowship package includes:
* room and board with host family
* international health and liability insurance for 1 month
* public transportation pass
* stipend of EUR 150
* $500 grant towards airfare reimbursementFor more information and to download an application, please visit: http://www.cges.umn.edu/fellowships/internships.htm#USAgoesBerlin
Deadline is *Friday, December 3, 2010 by 4:30 p.m.*
--
Center for German & European Studies
University of Minnesota
214 Social Sciences Building
267 19th Ave. South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: (612) 626-7705
Fax: (612) 625-0528
Email: cges@umn.edu
www.cges.umn.eduThe Art of the Conference Paper
An interesting take by Alessandro Angelini, on Inside Higher Ed, on the pitfalls of the conference paper, as often experienced by graduate students! The author suggests that bad conference papers aresymptomatic of the same underlying features of post-graduate life: one is often at a low point in intellectual confidence, one has yet to produce original work, and most importantly, one is new at this. So one either communicates this felt fragility or compensates for it with unmeasured bombast.
Do you agree?
Thanks to Corbin Treacy for sharing.
Paris apartment locators
Every once in a while, someone asks about finding an apartment in Paris.
Here are two on-line services
lokim.com. Used to be called paris-be-a-part-of-it. Luckily they changed their name. Reputed to be "user-friendly and professional, and there are a range of prices."
France-USA Contacts has a very active site with professional and private rental availabilities: fusac.com.
Any other suggestions?
FLAS information sessions
The Institute for Global Studies and the European Studies Consortium are happy to announce the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship competition for summer 2011 and the 2011-12 academic year. All departments are encouraged to nominate up to four graduate students (for both summer and academic year) for each competition. Nominations are due to IGS by February 11, 2011. Competition priorities and eligibility information are available here:
International: http://igs.cla.umn.edu/grad/fundflas.html
Europe: http://esc.umn.edu/funding/flas.html
These fellowships provide opportunities for students to pursue foreign language study, with primary emphasis on advanced study in the less commonly taught languages (any language other than French, German, or Spanish). During the academic year, graduate students are provided with a $15,000 living stipend and up to $18,000 in support for tuition and mandatory fees. The summer award provides a $2500 living stipend and $5000 in tuition/fee support. (Note: departments are no longer required to cover tuition overages.)
Later this month IGS will hold information sessions for students interested in the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships.
Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010, 400 Ford Hall, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010, 2-207 Carlson School, 1:00-2:00 p.m. (special emphasis on professional schools)
Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, 260 Social Sciences, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Contact:
Laura Seifert
FLAS Coordinator
Institute for Global Studies
214 Social Science Building
P: 612.624.6527
F: 612.626.2242
Gallica, the BNF's Bibliothèque numérique, gets better and better!
If you haven't checked out Gallica recently, the site is worth a look (available in English too!). Check them out on Facebook too, where they recently showcased one of the copies of the L'Ami du Peuple that Marat fell onto after being stabbed by Charlotte Corday...
I am particularly fond of this new widget they've developed that allows visualizations of Gallica documents in other sites. Now that's freedom of information!
Check out some of the works of the 18th-century Swiss Rodolphe Töpffer, considered by many to be the original comic-book artist:
Filmmaker Michael Prazan: 11/4-11/7
The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies is proud to host French filmmaker Michael Prazan next week. He will present his documentary Einsatzgruppen: Death Brigades at St. Anthony Main on Thursday, Nov. 4th at 7pm and on Sunday, Nov. 7th at 6:30pm. For more information on Mr. Prazan and his film, please see the attached flyer, or visit www.chgs.umn.edu.
Mr. Prazan will be on campus on Thursday, Nov. 4th, and we would like to invite you to join us for an informal gathering to welcome him to campus. If you are available, please join us in the CHGS Library (room 710 in the Social Science Building) from 12:45pm - 2pm.
As this gathering is over the lunch hour, feel free to bring a brown bag lunch, or if you would prefer, a box lunch from Kafe 421 can be provided for $10. See the attached order form for box lunch options. Please let me know which sandwich and side you would like to order. You can bring cash or a check to the lunch.
I hope you will be able to join us. Please RSVP to lech0045@umn.edu.
Freelance: Translator Needed
Monday, November 01, 2010 1:16 PM
Hello! We need a script translated from English to French, or French Canadian if possible. The script is about 45 pages long and approximately 18,000 words.
Email me at Susan@WFCResources.com
Susan Seitel
WFC Resources
5197 Beachside Drive
Minnetonka, MN 55343
952-936-7898
800-487-7898
www.WFCResources.com
The Five Stages of Grading
Thanks to Dr. B for this helpful exploration of what so many of us must face every 3-4 weeks...
CFP: KFLC (4/14-16/2011), Deadline extended: 11/15
The Kentucky Foreign Language Conference has extended the deadline for abstracts until November 15, 2010 for the upcoming 2011 conference.
Call for Papers:
The University of Kentucky is now accepting abstracts for the upcoming 64th Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference to be held April 14-16, 2011. This year's conference accepts abstracts for the following divisions: Arabic Studies, East Asian Studies, French and Francophone Studies, German-Austrian-Swiss Studies, Hispanic Linguistics, Hispanic Studies ( Peninsular and Spanish American), Italian Studies, Language Technology, Luso-Afro-Brazilian Studies, and Second Language Acquisition.
Mary Louise Pratt (http://as.nyu.edu/object/marypratt.html) will deliver the 2011 Keynote Lecture, "Globalization as Linguistic Force Field" on Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is now NOVEMBER 15 2010. Please distribute widely.
Acceptance of your paper for presentation implies a commitment on your part to register and attend the conference. All presenters and attendees must pay the appropriate registration fee by February 15, 2011 to be included in the program.
For more information on the conference please visit http://www.as.uky.edu/kflc/ or contact the directors by email at kflc@uky.edu.
Kentucky Foreign Language Conference
April 14-16, 2011
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40506
http://www.as.uky.edu/kflc/
Email: kflc@uky.eduTheGonzoGroupTheatre: "Waiting for Godot" 10/20-30
TheGonzoGroupTheatre presents
"Waiting for Godot" by Samuel BeckettWhile waiting near a tree on a barren stretch of road for someone named Godot, Vladimir and Estragon inhabit a drama spun from their own consciousness. What results is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense. A seminal work of twentieth-century drama, Waiting for Godot remains one of the most magical and beautiful stories of our time.
Cast includes: Nick James, Luke Weber, Michael Ooms, Paul McGuire, and Jordan Alexander
"Waiting for Godot" runs October 20th-30th at the Lowry Lab Theater in downtown Saint Paul. $12-$18. For tickets and information, visit www.gonzotheatre.org.
Contact Sophie Kerman for more info!
CFP: KFLC (April 14, 2011 - April 16, 2011): 1 November 2010
The Division of French and Francophone Studies is now accepting abstracts for the upcoming 64th Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference to be held April 14-16, 2011. All topics and periods are welcome. We are particularly interested in topics related to the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
We request that you submit brief abstracts (300 word max) at the following URL: http://web.as.uky.edu/kflc/ABSTRACT.html
Mary Louise Pratt (http://as.nyu.edu/object/marypratt.html) will deliver the 2011 Keynote Lecture, "Globalization as Linguistic Force Field" on Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is November 1, 2010.
For more information on the conference please visit http://www.as.uky.edu/kflc/ or contact the directors by email at kflc@uky.edu.
Kentucky Foreign Language Conference
April 14-16, 2011
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40506
http://www.as.uky.edu/kflc/
Email: kflc@uky.edu
Two on-line journals offering long review essays
Two new journals in medieval studies, Postmedieval and New Medieval Literatures are both publishing critical review essays. As Postmedieval states,
"Each issue will also feature a book review essay, and unlike most other medieval studies journals, we will not be incorporating reviews of individual books (with, say, five to ten reviews of single titles per issue). Rather, each issue of the journal will include a review essay (of 6,000-8,000 words) that will address a particularly pressing theme or topic within medieval studies and the humanities more broadly, and it will include books that are related to each other within the rubric of this theme or topic. These reviews will include books written by medievalists as well as by scholars in other fields and periods in order to draw for our readership what we see as the very important connections and conjunctions between work in medieval studies and contemporary thought. These reviews will be written by scholars in medieval studies whose work is connected to the theme or topic of the books collectively under review, thereby ensuring a review that will not just remain on the surface of these books, but which will make a critical contribution to the subject(s) addressed in the books under review."
Thanks to Mary Franklin-Brown for the tip!
Nominations for Stout-Wallace Fellowships due 5 November
Reminder: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA GRADUATE SCHOOL ENDOWED FELLOWSHIPS, 2011-12
WILLIAM STOUT AND THOMAS WALLACE FELLOWSHIPS. For graduate students in the humanities or social sciences who are in the intermediate years of the Ph.D. (i.e., normally students currently in their second or third year of graduate study). One nomination per department. Stipend: $22,000, plus tuition.Draft applications due to the department (Front Office by NOON, Friday 5 November).
Draft applications should include:
1) Draft application form, signed by the DGS (to confirm that we have talked about your application)2) Draft research proposal, including title of project.
• Up to three pages, double-spaced, 12 point type, with margins not less than one inch, and title at top of page.
• Your proposal should describe the proposed research or study you plan to pursue in the coming academic year.
• If you choose to include key references, they must fit within the three-page limit.3) Personal biographical statement.
• One page, single or double spaced, 12 point type, with margins not less than 1".
• Your statement should provide an account of the various sources, influences, and previous efforts that led to your choice of academic discipline and research area, while filling in any gaps in your record. It should offer a picture of your motivation and purpose as well as a description of long-range personal and professional plans and goals. It should not be an extension of the Research Proposal section.4) A current University of Minnesota graduate transcript (unofficial)
5) On one page, an explanation of any "Incomplete" grades (if applicable), as well as a note offering the names of your two recommenders, and confirming that they have both agreed to write you letters of support.
Our nomination will be announced by 15 November, with the final application due at the Graduate School by 1 December.
New design launched using Movable Type
Our web site is sporting a new look and feel thanks to Movable Type and the Professional Template Set. The Professional Template Set makes it possible for just about anyone to get up and running with a new web site using Movable Type. It is literally as easy as just a few clicks. Just pick a new for your web site, select the Professional Template Set and publish. Then viola! a new web site. Thank you Movable Type!
Upcoming Events
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09/20/2012 4:00 PMLocation: 125 Nolte Center for Continuing Education
