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French and Francophone Studies

French FREN

French Performance - Huis Clois (No Exit)

Sponsored by:
French and Francophone Studies
Huis Clos (No Exit) - a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. “Three damned souls, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle are brought to the same room in hell by a mysterious Valet. They had all expected medieval torture devices to punish them for eternity, but instead find a plain room furnished in Second Empire style. None of them will admit the reason for their damnation: Garcin says that he was executed for being a pacifist, while Estelle insists that a mistake has been made…”

Wilson Hall, McCullough Student Center

Open to the Public

A Field Guide for Foreign Languages, Cultures and Literatures Majors

Sponsored by:
Greenberg-Starr Department of Chinese Language and Literature, French and Francophone Studies, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish Department, and Center for Careers & Internships
The “Field Guide for Foreign Languages, Cultures and Literatures Majors” brings back Foreign Languages alumni to help students think broadly about where their study in Foreign Languages, Cultures and Literatures might take them, and learn about the many career paths developed by alumni. The Field Guide is designed to answer the perennial question, “What can I do with my liberal arts major or degree?” The Field Guide features an alumni panel, followed by an informal reception, allowing students, alumni, and faculty to connect.
Closed to the Public

Parcours d'écriture

Sponsored by:
French and Francophone Studies
Gisèle Pineau to present her talk “Parcours d’écriture”. Gisele was born in Paris, Fance but her upbringing straddled with the island of Guadeloupe due to her father’s military service. She is a French novelist and a former psychiatric nurse. Pineau has written several books on the difficulties of growing up as a black person in France. In particular, she focuses on racism and the effects it can have on a young girl trying to discover her own cultural identity.
Talk will be in French.

Virtual Middlebury

Open to the Public

Life in France During the COVID 19 Crisis

Sponsored by:
Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs, French and Francophone Studies, and Middlebury School Abroad
Nicolas Roussellier, Professor of Political History at Sciences Po Paris & Middlebury College School in France and Anne Simonin, Historian & Senior Researcher with the CNR

Please email jynewton@middlebury.edu or atondu@middlebury.edu for zoom link info.

Sponsored by Stephen A. Freeman Funds, the Department of French and Francophone Studies, the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs, and the Middlebury School in France

Virtual Middlebury

Open to the Public

Contemporary Francophone African Writers and Performative Authorship: Diome & Mabanckou

Sponsored by:
French and Francophone Studies
Presented virtually, Dr. Kristen Stern, Ph.D. at University of Massachusetts Lowell will discuss in English, her current project in which she sketches a model of what she calls performative authorship, and explains why and how this is a necessary tool to understand the works of contemporary francophone writers from the African continent specifically.

Kristen Stern is a scholar of contemporary francophone African literature. She received her undergraduate degree from Nazareth College (NY), an M.A. from Boston College, and a Ph.D. in French literature from Boston University.

Virtual Middlebury

Open to the Public

The "Berlin Wall"

Sponsored by:
French and Francophone Studies, German, History, Political Science, Russian, American Studies, and International & Global Studies
Come “visit the Wall”, a student-and-faculty-built replica of the Berlin Wall which went down 30 years ago! Reflect upon the historical and general meaning of the Wall, bring a pen and leave your thoughts in writing or drawing, engage with it in any productive way you like. And join us for a collective “Tearing down the Wall” event on Saturday, November 9th, in the evening. Once the Wall is gone, let’s celebrate inside of Atwater!!!

Atwater Dining Hall Terrace

Closed to the Public