Fête -- faites! -- de la Recherche
Today's news story starts with an inspirational quote from French & Francophone Studies major Alex Earls ('23):
"Have an idea...
Talk about that idea with a professor!"
Alex's talk took place at yesterday's Fête de la Recherche, where he was presenting his honors thesis work on French universalist thought and its impact on France's ability to comply with the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. In addition to outlining the stakes of his own work, Alex demystified the research process, explaining how one comes up with a research topic, constructs a precise question, and therefore moves (over the course of 12 months) from an initial moment of curiosity to a fully developed argument about a topic of interest.
This year's Fête showcased student research projects from: our summer program in Montpellier; IFE internships abroad; interdisciplinary coursework conducted on campus; and a second honors thesis presentation by Alexandra Byrne ('23) on the politics of colonial restitution in French museums. More information about these presentations can be found on the offficial program [pdf}.
Many thanks to Anta Gueye, Corinne Vanella, Caroline Elszy, Mary Trimble, Lea Solomon, Aiden McCullough, Carolyn Bonafede, Alex Earls, and Alexandra Byrne for all this inspirational work!
To top off the event, we had the great pleasure of welcoming back two French & Francophone Studies alumnae: Lydia Funk ('19) dropped by in person and shared her experiences teaching English in France through the French Embassy's TAPIF program. Stephanie Kumah ('12) joined us via Zoom to speak about her current work with USAID's Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization and to explain how critical her work in French & Francophone Studies has been in furthering her career.
It was truly lovely to celebrate the 2022 Fête de la Recherche in person after two years of pandemic life. The event was entirely organized and hosted by students in Prof. Leruth's senior seminar, with a brilliant Anta Gueye as primary emcee.
W nos étudiant.e.s!
