Announcements
Reception a Fun Send-Off for Graduating Seniors
French BA graduates Olivia Stidham and Allison Billows
This year the Department of French and Italian once again co-hosted a reception for graduating seniors in the Indiana Memorial Union the day before spring commencement ceremonies, Friday May 4. The reception was held in collaboration with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, so students of various romance languages mingled with family, friends, and faculty members and enjoyed sweet treats in the State Room East. All students slated to graduate in May and August 2012 were invited (20 in French and 10 in Italian).
Among the attendees were two friends from the Italian program, Stefanie Orlowski and Jessica Wehr, both of whom participated in the Bologna overseas study program in Spring 2011 and plan to return to Italy soon. Stefanie will start the Middlebury College Italian MA program in June, first with classes in Middlebury, Vermont, and then in Florence. Jessica, this year's Mary V. Lèbano Prize winner, has applied to teach high school English in Lombardia as part of an exchange program.
From the French program, attendees included Sarah Chestnut and Alexandra Moxley, who chatted with Professor Hall Bjornstad. Sarah, an alumna of the High School Honors Program in Brest (Bretagne) plans to pursue graduate study in education, and Alexandra will be teaching as part of the French government's teaching assistants program in Montpellier next fall. At another table, Olivia Stidham, one of this year's Grace Young Undergraduate Award recipients, also expressed her excitement at being selected as a French teaching assistant through the same program. She will be located in the Nancy/Metz area in northeastern France. Her friend and fellow French BA recipient Allison Billows plans to pursue a certificate in ESL (English as a Second Language) to follow her own path back to France. Both students participated in the semester study abroad program in Aix-en-Provence, which was a "cultural eye-opener," according to Allison.
We wish all our students the best of luck as the pursue jobs or further education after graduation!
Albert Valdman receives Médaille d'Or du Mérite Francophone
Dean Larry Singell, Hilde Valdman, Albert Valdman, Jane Robert, Consul Graham Paul, and Interim Provost Lauren Robel
Graham Paul, the French Consul General of the Chicago Consulate, visited the Bloomington campus on Monday, April 16 to celebrate the latest honor to be bestowed upon Rudy Professor Emeritus Albert Valdman, the Médaille d'Or du Mérite Francophone. This honor is given by La Renaissance Française Delegation of the United States and was presented by the Delegation's president, Jane Robert. IUB Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Larry Singell also participated in the ceremony, which took place in the Federal Room of the Indiana Memorial Union. The event was followed by a reception attended by about 45 colleagues, friends, and students of Professor Valdman.
La Renaissance Française is a public non-profit organization benefiting from the patronage of the President of the French Republic. It was founded by French president Raymond Poincaré in 1916 with the mission of promoting French culture throughout the world. The US delegation was founded in 2009, and his Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United States, serves as its Président d'Honneur. Albert Valdman is professor emeritus in the Department of French and Italian and in the Department of Linguistics. He is founder and director of the IU Creole Institute and editor of the journal Studies in Second Language Acquisition. He has been for many decades a leader in the field of French language education and in the study of French as spoken outside of France, especially in Haiti and Louisiana.
Annual Awards Ceremony celebrates academic excellence
Undergraduate awards winners (left to right): Margaret Uland, Kimberly Long, Olivia Stidham, Kevin Gardner, Elizabeth Shariat Panahi, Miranda Hoegberg, Andrew C. Johns, Jessica Johnson, Jessica Wehr
Students and faculty of the Department of French and Italian gathered at the Wells House on Friday, April 6 to recognize outstanding academic achievement of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as excellent classroom teaching by AIs and faculty members, in its annual departmental awards ceremony. Chair Andrea Ciccarelli served as master of ceremonies, and various faculty members took turns presenting the student awards, which made up the bulk of the program. About 70 students, faculty, and friends attended the ceremony, which concluded with the annual Trustees Teaching Award which goes to one FRIT faculty member each year. This year Associate Professor of French Linguistics Julie Auger was chosen by her colleagues to receive this prestigious award.
As usual, Professor Margot Gray was adorned by a festive hat while presenting the Grace P. Young Undergraduate Awards, which this year went to Olivia Stidham, Jessica Johnson, and Andrew Johns. Professor Gray's hat was a nod to the namesake of this award, Grace P. Young, who taught French at IU from 1917 to 1956 and felt a hat to be an essential part of her teaching attire. Professor Emeritus Edoardo Lèbano again presented the Carol Brush Hofstadter Memorial Scholarships, saying with grace and good humor that this proves he is still alive and kicking. After the ceremony, attendees enjoyed coffee, petit fours, and personal congratulations from their peers in the sunny banquet room of the Wells House.
