Tag: French

Citizen of the world: Professor of French Eric Touya

CLEMSON – Professor of French Eric Touya came to Clemson 11 years ago from the “south-west of the south-west of France,” somewhere between Dax and Bayonne, near the birthplace of Vincent de Paul and Maurice Ravel, and not very far from illustrious authors and thinkers like Montaigne and Montesquieu. It’s about as far away from South Carolina, geographically and culturally, as one can get—but Touya has made it his life’s work to bring those two worlds together and show his students the Earth is much smaller than we imagine.

“Eric Touya brings to Clemson the best of the philological and enlightened European traditions of thought. It is a tradition of research and teaching rooted in the evolution of ideas and the inalienable concept of citizenship,” said Salvador Oropesa, chair of Clemson’s Department of Languages. “The idea is that we, students and professors, are citizens of the world, with rights and duties; we learn from the past to make a better future. Dr. Touya has been a champion of the Language & International Trade program because it puts together the humanities and the ethical creation of wealth to make a better world.”

Touya researches and teaches the French language and 19^th-21^st century Francophone culture (cultures shared by groups of French-speaking people from different areas) and literature courses. He emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to literature, art, theory, ethics and society in his extensive list of classes. Some of the courses he offers include studies in French literature and theater that introduce students to authors like Proust, Sartre, Camus and Simone de Beauvoir. His “Contemporary French Civilization” class invites students to approach the social, cultural and political issues that define France in the 21^st century. He also teaches a “Francophone Women Authors” class that examines the works of women authors, characters, themes, genres and movements in Francophone literature, and “French Feminism and Theory” in which he explores the works of major figures of French feminism such as Monique Wittig, Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva and Luce Irigaray.

“I enjoy the interaction with the students who are curious learners, and eager to examine through literature major philosophical and political questions but also explore cultures and modes of thoughts different from their own,” said Touya. “I am particularly interested in the progress each student can make and I like to impart to them a certain rigor and a sense of enjoyment.”

While he loves bringing French language and culture to his students in the classroom, his favorite thing is bringing the classroom across the ocean to France.

“A defining moment for me was when I began to co-lead in 2010 with Col. Lance S. Young the ‘Paris-Normandy program’ through which Clemson students revisit the journey of American soldiers during WWII in Normandy, Paris and Northern France,” he said. “I felt a bond with the students as an American, even though I am originally from France, as we reflected on the past and paid homage to Clemson students who now rest in Normandy and gave their lives for the liberation of my native country and the world.”

Touya continues to lead groups of American students to France every summer, offering them the opportunity to learn about their country’s and world history “but also about themselves.”

In his free time Touya enjoys the beauty of Clemson’s campus, and of nearby wilderness areas like Table Rock Park. He received his D.E.A. in Comparative Literature at the Université de Paris IV, Sorbonne, and his Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Chicago. He received the John B. & Thelma A. Gentry Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities in 2012 and the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Service in 2017. His most recent book is Simone de Beauvoir: le combat au féminin (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France/Humensis, 2019).

French:

The French Professional Society (FPS) is a pre-professional society for students with a strong interest and background in French and/or French-American relations that wish to apply these interests to their career. FPS meets monthly as a club as well as informally with individual members who want to learn more about the opportunities available to French L&IT/L&IH majors. Meetings throughout the semester focus on professional development and aim to introduce and inform members about study abroad, internships, and career paths.

The Spring 2019 semester began with a joint meeting with the Clemson French Club where students learned from the editor of the on-campus international affairs magazine, The Pendulum, about the opportunity to write an article of an international affairs topic of their choosing, experience the research and editing process, and become published in a magazine. As part of the Language and International Trade Council, FPS helped to plan and develop the 2019 Language and International Business Conference. The society also strengthened its relationship with the French-American Chamber of Commerce of the Carolinas (FACCC) and partnered with them for a networking night in Greer and attended FACCC networking nights in Columbia. At these events, FPS members connected with French Language and International Trade alumni and American and French business associates in the upstate region.

The incoming 2019-2020 FPS President is Mary Veideman. More information is available on the FPS Facebook page.

Spanish:

The Iota Phi Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, hosted its annual induction ceremony on March 2nd in The Brown Room of Cooper Library. Six new members were inducted. During the ceremony, Angelica Werth gave a presentation about her experience studying abroad in Córdoba, Argentina. The event was organized by chapter sponsor Rosa Pillcurima, lecturer of Spanish.

Congratulations to Gabriela Stoicea, assistant professor of German, for earning a 2019 Tier One CU SEED grant. Her book project is titled Fictions of Legibility: The Human Face and Body in Modern German Novels from Sophie von La Roche to Alfred Döblin. Gabi also received a Humanities Fellowship from the Clemson Humanities Hub to fund this project.

Another faculty member in the Department of Languages, Kelly Peebles, associate professor of French, was awarded a 2017 Tier One CU SEED grant for her book Portraits of Renée de France. Her project was highlighted at a recent Board of Trustees meeting by Diana Thrasher, associate director of the Office of Sponsored Programs, Division of Research.

The Clemson Support for Early Exploration and Development (CU SEED) Grant Program provides two tiers of funding support to eligible Clemson faculty in either the initiation of research activities or the completion of a scholarly project or product. Priority consideration is given to faculty who may not have large start-up packages and/or significant financial research support and resources. Initiation activities can include establishing baseline data, completing a phase of a research project that will lead to greater funding opportunities, or developing research partnerships with collaborators at other institutions. Projects or products for completion can include finalizing peer-reviewed publications, scholarly books, chapters in books, or showings, as in the case of the visual and performing arts.

Jody H. Cripps, assistant professor of ASL, served as editor-in-chief of the Society for American Sign Language Journal, which released its second volume. He presented his article from the journal “Stuttering-Like Behaviors in American Sign Language” at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in Boston. Cripps published another article, “Exploring Signed Language Pathology: A Case Study of Professionals Working With Deaf Students Who Have Delay/Disorders in Signed Language Development,” in conjunction with his undergraduate student who was doing a research study at a residential school for the deaf on the topic of signed language pathology.

Stephen Fitzmaurice, assistant professor of Interpreting: ASL, published the chapter “Teaching to Self-Assess: Developing Critical Thinking Skills for Student Interpreters” in “The Next Generation of Research in Interpreter Education,” edited by Cynthia Roy and Elizabeth Winston (Gallaudet University Press). The South Carolina Educational Interpreting Center grant he received in 2016 was renewed and its funder has published the 2018 Annual Report. Fitzmaurice also presented “Reducing Your Grading Time: Student Self-Assessment Practices That Work” at the international Conference of Interpreter Trainers in Salt Lake City. He was elected to a four-year term as secretary on the board of directors for the Conference of Interpreter Trainers. He was also an invited presenter at the Southeastern Regional Symposium for College Educators of Teachers of the Deaf, and Educational Interpreters, in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he presented new empirical evidence regarding “Predicting Interpreter Performance.”

Joseph Mai, associate professor of French, published an extensive review of the Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh’s most recent film, “Graves Without a Name,” in The Mekong Review. This poetic documentary is an autobiographical exploration of mourning and reconciliation, 40 years after genocide during the Pol Pot regime.

Tiffany Creegan Miller, assistant professor of Spanish, gave the presentation “Uk’u’x kaj, uk’u’x ulew: Ecocritical and Ecofeminist Kaqchikel Maya Epistemologies in the Film ‘Ixcanul’ (2015)” at the Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP/10) held Oct. 17-20 in New Orleans. Miller also gave a guest lecture by videoconference on Oct. 22 to a medical Spanish class at Brown University about her work with underserved Kaqchikel Maya patients in Guatemala.

Salvador Oropesa, professor of Spanish and Department Chair, participated in the roundtable discussion by language department chairs on October 15 at the Mountain Interstate Foreign Languages Conference at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Roberto Risso, assistant professor of Italian, published a book, “La penna è chiacchierona: Edmondo De Amicis e l’arte del narrare,” about Edmondo De Amicis (1846-1908), an Italian novelist, journalist, poet and writer of short stories. Risso’s book is the first to explore the entirety of De Amicis’s vast body of work.

Kumiko Saito, assistant professor of Japanese, appeared on “Writing Dystopia Now,” a radio program in The Cultural Frontline series on BBC World Service. On the Decemeber 9 broadcast, she spoke about cyberpunk and Japanese popular culture. The program is available on demand.

Daniel Smith, associate professor of Spanish, has been listed as an advisory board member on a European Research Council Advanced Grant application, “Cross-Community Bilingual Usage Patterns and Their Acquisition by Children.” His research on Spanish-English bilingualism in northeast Georgia is cited in the proposal for a potential project at the University of Cambridge. This will be the first major study of its kind to conduct a cross-community investigation of geographically separated groups of people who are nevertheless speakers of the same pair of languages, Spanish and English, in various locations in Europe and the Americas. He also presented “The Order of Morpheme Acquisition: Spanish and English in Contact” at the Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Jae Takeuchi, assistant professor of Japanese, was invited to give a lecture at the University of Washington in Seattle as part of their Japan Studies Program Lecture Series. The title of the talk was “Who Knew? How Japanese Language Learners Negotiate the Challenges of Dialect in Small-Town Japan.”

Graciela Tissera, associate professor of Spanish, published “‘The Appeared’ (2007) by Paco Cabezas: Redefining the Book of Hidden Memories and Cyclical Time” in “Terrifying Texts. Essays on Good and Evil in Horror Cinema,” edited by Cynthia J. Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper (McFarland & Company). She presented the research paper “Los castillos en la ficción cinematográfica: sobre los enigmas del espacio laberíntico” at the III Congreso Xàtiva: Historia, cultura e identidad. The conference on the theme of castles in history and fiction was held October 17-19 in Xàtiva, Spain, and was organized by the Universitat de València, Institució Alfons el Magnànim and city of Xàtiva. She also explored the historical memory of the civic-military dictatorship of Argentina (1976-1983) in her paper “Argentina ante la memoria de la última dictadura: percepciones fílmicas de la intrahistoria.” She presented her research at the conference “III Congreso Internacional Art-Kiné: estéticas de la memoria. Prácticas sociales del recuerdo: el cine, los medios de comunicación y la cultura,” which was held November 6-9 at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Eric Touya, professor of French, read a paper titled “Claudel dans/pour l’avenir: diplomatie, économie, éco-critique” at the Colloque International Paul Claudel Résolument Contemporain, sponsored by Sorbonne University, the National Library and the Comédie Française at the Université de Paris IV Sorbonne in Paris. He gave the presentation “Bonnefoy, Badiou, et l’avenir de la poésie: divergences et rapprochements” at the 2018 Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Conference in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He also presented “Teaching Hélé Béji, Post-Colonialism, and the Arab Spring: Perspectives From Baudrillard, McClintock, Giroux” at the conference’s Teaching Women in French Roundtable. Touya published an article, “Le poète et le philosophe: Bonnefoy, Badiou, et l’avenir de la poésie,” in Revue européenne de recherches sur la poésie, No. 4. Paris: Classiques Garnier, and a book chapter titled “Teaching Hélé Béji, Post-Colonialism, and the Arab Spring: Perspectives From Baudrillard, McClintock, Giroux” in “Rethinking the French Classroom: New Approaches to Teaching Contemporary French and Francophone Women,” edited by E. Nicole Meyer and Joyce Johnston (Routledge, New York).

Mari Lentini is a graduating senior in the Language and International Trade (L&IT) program. She studied in France, interned with the U.S. Department of State, and is President of the French Professional Society. Let’s learn more about Mari and her accomplishments.

Where are you from and why did you choose to come to Clemson?

I am from Houston, Texas, although for the past couple of years, my home has been Maggie Valley in the mountains of western North Carolina. It’s about two hours away from Clemson and I chose Clemson because of its close proximity and how the Language and International Trade major combined a language program with business courses. The versatility of the L&IT program to achieve and apply language mastery in the global marketplace is incredible – my L&IT friends have followed their passions into industries such as commerce and trade, fashion, government and politics, teaching, nonprofit work, and more.

How would you describe yourself? What do you like to do in your free time?

I am a curious person and like to learn new concepts and explore new places. My frequent travel experiences taught me how to plan ahead and be organized as well as to be adaptable and spontaneous. In my free time, I enjoy running, studying new languages, hiking, and going to concerts.

Why did you select your major(s)? Have you studied abroad or done internships related to your studies?

I knew that I wanted to study abroad while in college. I absolutely could not wait to go to France and use French in my daily life. L&IT really interested me because in addition to the class requirements, there are two education enrichment requirements: one is to study abroad in a country with your target language and the second is to complete an internship at a company that uses your language. These components demonstrated to me that Clemson cared about my growth and development in language and cultural fluency.

My minor is in Global Politics, which shaped my study abroad experience. I completed two study abroad programs back-to-back. First, in winter 2017 with the Institute of American Universities College, I had the amazing opportunity to explore how American diplomacy and its institutions are implemented abroad, specifically in Morocco, Belgium, and France. This included understanding the structure of U.S. embassies, meeting with diplomats at the U.S. Consulate General in Casablanca, the U.S. Mission to the EU, and the U.S. Mission to NATO, and visiting non-governmental organizations to grasp the effectiveness of the track II diplomacy approach in assisting with conflict resolution and the achievement of foreign policy goals.

Immediately following this, I studied for a full semester in the south of France with IAU College at Aix-en-Provence. I did a homestay to fully immerse myself in the French language and culture. My classes included courses such as Arabic (at the moment, Arabic is not offered at Clemson, so I jumped on the opportunity to learn a new language while abroad!), International Economics and the EU, and French Children’s Literature, to name a few.

If you would like to read more about my experiences and see pictures, feel free to check out my study abroad blog: www.aixperiencefrance.wordpress.com.

For my internship, I interned in Washington, D.C. with the U.S. Department of State in Summer 2018. I was an Orientation intern at the Foreign Service Institute. Orientation, colloquially known as A-100, for newly-hired U.S. diplomats is where they learn more about the State Department and skills they need to be successful for their career in the Foreign Service. I helped to coordinate and participate in their workshops, and this experience provided invaluable insight in my decision to pursue a future in foreign policy.

What advice would you give to other students in your major?

I would encourage students to develop strong and meaningful relationships with one another and their faculty. Get to know your advisor and other people in the major early on inside and outside of the classroom – the Introduction to L&IT class is a great place to start as well as your language’s professional society. Participate in your language club’s events, like the film showings and their conversation tables. Reach out to past students who have gone abroad or interned and hear why they picked the city or program that they did, and then continue to stay in touch with them!

Are you involved in any extra-curricular organizations, and what is your role?

I am someone who likes to be busy and involved in my community, and I am still discovering new clubs that match my interests in languages, foreign policy, and music. Currently, I am the President of the French Professional Society and am helping to plan the upcoming L&IT conference in March 2019. I also am a delegate for the university’s Model United Nations team and chaired for committees at the Clemson University Model United Nations Conference and a French collegiate conference in Aix-en-Provence. I serve in the judicial branch of Student Government and manage finances for my service sorority, Gamma Sigma Sigma. I also love concerts and country music, which is why I became part of CMA EDU. As Vice President of Special Events, I help to plan and coordinate the events for our members, including opportunities to learn more about careers in the music industry and the business side of it from professionals.

What are your future plans?

I am searching for a business or foreign policy internship for the upcoming summer. I am also in the process of researching fellowship programs that will help make graduate school more accessible for me. I would love to continue my learning in area studies, specifically in the effects of French colonization on the development of North African societies, or in the field of international law. My dream career is to join the U.S. Department of State as part of their Foreign Service.

On October 27, 2018, the Department of Languages hosted the 46th Annual Declamation Contest. This poetry recitation contest brings together middle- and high-school students from the region, who come to the Clemson campus for the day to show off their language skills. This year, 485 students from 31 middle and high schools in South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina registered to compete in ASL, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Russian and Spanish. Clemson students also volunteered to set up, help with registration and parking, supervise contest rooms in Daniel Hall, and lead campus tours. The campus tours were a new offering this year, with approximately 80 contestants and their families participating.

Competitors recited two poems, a mandatory selection and a second selection. They were evaluated by 64 judges, who included Clemson faculty and staff and members of the community. After the judging was complete, students and their families attended an awards ceremony in Tillman Hall. The event also gave participants a chance to explore the campus, eat in a dining hall, and learn more about the school by joining a tour. Past Declamation participants have attended or are now attending Clemson to study foreign languages.

The contest’s continued success is due to the hard work of the Department’s faculty and staff, all of whom volunteer at the event, especially the Declamation Committee of Su-I Chen, Melva Persico, Doroles Martín, Anne Salces y Nedeo, Amy Sawyer, and Julia Schmidt. The Department is grateful for the continued support of donors Dr. Rob Roy McGregor, Jr. and Dr. Ralph Rynes; the volunteer judges; and the Dean’s Office of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities.

The following faculty members were promoted to Senior Lecturer:

Kim Misener Dunn, ASL

Allison Hinds, Spanish

Ellory Schmucker, Spanish

Kenneth Widgren, French

The following faculty members were promoted to Full Professor (read more here):

Johannes Schmidt, German

Eric Touya, French

Other faculty news:

Joseph Mai, associate professor of French, had his essay “Site 2: Style and Encounter in Rithy Panh’s Cinéma-Monde” appear in the collection “Cinéma-Monde: Decentered Perspectives on Global Filmmaking in French,” edited by Michael Gott and Thibaut Schilt, (Edinburgh University Press). The essay examines how the great Cambodian documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh addresses representations of a post-Khmer Rouge refugee camp to a world cinema audience. He also published a chapter in the Modern Language Association book “Approaches to Teaching Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables,’” edited by Michal Ginsburg and Bradley Stephens (2018). His piece explores Hugo’s conception of the moral individual. Mai also published an essay in The Mekong Review about Anthony Bourdain’s experiences in Cambodia.

Tiffany Creegan Miller, assistant professor of Spanish, presented at the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) in Los Angeles March 27-29. Her presentation “Orality and Translation in Print and Digital Recordings of Humberto Ak’abal’s Sound Poetry” was part of a seminar on topographies of sound and music in Spanish and Latin American literature and film. While in California, Miller was also invited to discuss her work with Kaqchikel Maya communities in Guatemala on the Maya radio program “Contacto Ancestral,” which airs in Los Angeles on the community radio station KPFK. She also published an article, “Performing Transnational Maya Experiences in Florida and San Juan Chamula in Workers in the Other World by Sna Jtz’ibajom and Robert M. Laughlin,” in Hispanic Studies Review 3 (2018): pp. 46-62. This article draws from Maya storytelling techniques to examine the ways that Maya activists in Chiapas, Mexico, use theatre and performance to raise awareness about the challenges that Maya migrants and their families face, both in sending communities and the United States. Miller also presented at the annual congress hosted by the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) May 23-26 in Barcelona, Spain. Her presentation “‘Xib’e pa El Norte’: Ethnographic Encounters With Kaqchikel Maya Transnational Migration From Lake Atitlán, Guatemala” was part of a seminar on the theoretical and methodological challenges in studying migrations. Miller was an NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) Summer Scholar at the University of Georgia. The NEH Summer Institute June 17-29 focused on Digital Technologies in Theatre and Performance Studies. In July, Miller was invited to deliver a talk at Oxlajuj Aj, a Kaqchikel Mayan language field school, offered through Tulane University. This presentation – “Kojb’ixan pa qach’ab’äl!: El papel de las canciones infantiles en las aproximaciones pedagógicas a la revitalización cultural y lingüística en el idioma kaqchikel” – took place July 25 in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala. Her presentation focused on Kaqchikel Maya children’s songs in bilingual classrooms in the context of contemporary Pan-Maya activism in Guatemala. Miller was also elected secretary of the Central America section advisory board of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA).

Arelis Moore de Peralta, assistant professor of Spanish and Health, returned from a spring break trip to the Dominican Republic, along with her Creative Inquiry and “Tigers Building Healthier Communities Abroad (TBHCA)” students. Moore and six students conducted research in an effort to develop sustainable, collaborative interventions to improve health and well-being in a low-resource community. This was the third TBHCA trip to the Dominican community of Las Malvinas II. This time, Moore and her group collaborated with a colleague from Boston University’s School of Social Work and their local partner university, Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE). Together they conducted two focus groups and a “photovoice” project with the youth of Las Malvinas II to identify effective ways to engage them in local health improvement efforts.

Salvador A. Oropesa, professor of Spanish and chair, read the paper “Fantasías Neoliberales en la Serie Procedimental de Eva Sáenz de Urturi” at the XIV Congreso de Novela y Cine Negro: Clásicos y Contemporaneos at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. His article “Mitología y terrorismo en la Trilogía del Baztán de Dolores Redondo” appeared in the collection “Clásicos y Contemporáneos en el Género Negro,” edited by Álex Martín Escribà and Javier Sánchez Zapatero (Santiago de Compostela: Andavira, 2018, pp.121-27).

George Palacios, assistant professor of Spanish, was a visiting professor in the school of history at the Universidad Industrial de Santander in Bucaramanga, Colombia, where he taught the literature, culture and history of the African diaspora in Colombia and the Caribbean. Palacios lectured on “Reflexiones en torno a la diaspora Africana en Colombia” and “Literature and History through the Prism of the Haitian Revolution.” He also gave the inaugural lecture for the master in education program of the faculty of social sciences and humanities at the Universidad de Medellín in Colombia: “Una reflexión sobre el currículo: procesos y crítica para el contexto Latinoamericano.” Palacios presented the paper “Resistencias Afrodiaspóricas frente al destierro en la novela Colombiana hacia mediados de siglo XX” at the VI International Conference on Afro-Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian and Latin American Studies, held Aug. 7-10 in Accra, Ghana.

Kelly Peebles, associate professor of French, published “Renée de France’s and Clément Marot’s Voyages: Political Exile to Spiritual Liberation” in a special issue of the journal Women in French, “Les femmes et le voyage (Women and Traveling),” edited by Catherine R. Montfort and Christine McCall Probes. She also published “Embodied Devotion: The Dynastic and Religious Loyalty of Renée de France (1510-1575)” in “Royal Women and Dynastic Loyalty” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), edited by Caroline Dunn and Professor Emerita Elizabeth Carney (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp. 123-137). She also presented the paper “From Mother to Daughter and Bride to Widow: Transforming the Gender Roles of Renée de France and Anne d’Este” at the Royal Studies Network Kings & Queens 7 conference, held July 9-12 in Winchester, England.

Johannes Schmidt, professor of German, presented (in German) on the differences in Johann Gottfried Herder’s and Nietzsche’s philosophies of history at the meeting of the International Herder Society in Turku, Finland. He also chaired two panels and gave the laudation honoring Karl Menges of University of California, Davis, the recipient of the 2018 Herder Medal. He was one of several scholars interviewed for a German radio feature on Johann Gottfried Herder, titled “Herder: a Grandniece Discovers the Poet.” The feature was recently released as a podcast.

Daniel J. Smith, associate professor of Spanish, presented “Spanish and English Contact and the Order of Morpheme Acquisition” April 5 at the 2018 SouthEast Coastal Conference on Languages and Literatures (SECCLL) in Savannah, Georgia. While referencing a “natural order” of the acquisition of morphemes in first and second language acquisition, the presentation highlighted how two languages can influence each other and make changes in the order of acquisition. Implications were made regarding teaching English and Spanish as second languages and for children learning both languages simultaneously.

Gabriela Stoicea, assistant professor of German, published the chapter “When History Meets Literature: Jonathan Israel, Sophie von La Roche, and the Problem of Gender” in a collection edited by Carl Niekerk, “The Radical Enlightenment in Germany: A Cultural Perspective” (Brill/Rodopi, 2018), pp. 211-37.

Jae Takeuchi, assistant professor of Japanese, was awarded the Hamako Ito Chaplin Memorial Award for excellence in Japanese language teaching. The national award is given out to only one or two instructors of Japanese each year. Takeuchi also presented her research “Our Language”– an autoethnographic analysis of Japanese Dialect Use in L1/L2 Interaction” at the annual American Association of Teachers of Japanese annual conference in Washington. She was also invited to be a panelist for a discussion “On Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Expected of Future Japanese Language Educators” at the 27th meeting of the Central Association of Teachers of Japanese Conference, held at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She also presented her research at the same conference, in a talk titled “‘His Japanese Makes No Sense’ – Native Speaker Bias and Depictions of L2 Japanese Competence.”

Pauline de Tholozany, assistant professor of French, gave the keynote address at “Equinoxes,” the French Studies Graduate Conference on March 17 at Brown University. Her paper was titled “‘Sophie, avec impatience’: of Impatient Children, Broken Stuff, and Irritated Adults in 19th-Century France.” She also presented a paper at the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association, along with two Clemson Students, Surabhi Poola and Kaitlin Samuels. Their panel was titled “Of Plots, Readers, and Change: Norms and Transgressions in 19th-Century French Literature.” She also published a chapter in the Modern Language Association book “Approaches to Teaching Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables,’” edited by Michal Ginsburg and Bradley Stephens (2018). Her piece describes teaching the novel in the context of an interdisciplinary course on childhood.

On March 14, Graciela Tissera, associate professor of Spanish, presented her research at the Congreso Internacional Interdisciplinario “La ciudad: imágenes e imaginarios,” which was organized by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain. Her paper entitled “La ciudad a través del cine: visión del individuo y los sistemas” focused on the portrayal of the cities of Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, and Barcelona in the following movies: “Secuestro Express,” by Jonathan Jakubowicz (Venezuela, 2005); “Cidade de Deus,” by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund (Brazil, 2002); and “Biutiful,” by Alejandro González Iñárritu (Spain, 2010). The analysis explored the profile of the cities as structured systems and their influence on the individual from social, cultural, economic and philosophical perspectives. She presented her research April 6 at the SouthEast Coastal Conference on Languages and Literatures, which was organized by Georgia Southern University. Her paper “‘Box 507’ (2002) by Enrique Urbizu: Crossroads of Human Spirit and Economic Systems” focused on the unforeseen outcomes of confrontations between companies investing in real estate. She also organized and chaired a session at the conference, “Individuals vs. Systems in Cinema,” to discuss the complex relationships portrayed inside and outside systems in multicultural environments and in relation to psychoanalysis, metaphysics, ethics, technology, health, business and gender. Tissera’s students, Jesse Bynum (Modern Languages-Spanish major with an English minor) and Hannah Cheeks (Psychology and Modern Languages-Spanish major) participated in the session. Bynum’s research paper “Systematic Defensive Memory and Psychological Trauma in David Carreras’ ‘Hipnos‘ (2004)” discussed dissociative identity disorders as coping mechanisms and experimental treatments for severely emotionally disturbed patients. Cheeks’ research paper “Exploring the Treacherous Systems of the Mind: Sergi Vizcaíno’s ‘Paranormal Xperience’ (2011),” centered on altered perceptions and symbols created by the unconscious mind as representations of systems influencing human behavior. The professional presentations were made possible through the Creative Inquiry program and Department of Languages travel grants.

Eric Touya, professor of French, and Col. Lance Young led a group of Clemson students to Paris and Normandy in France during the summer. The aim of the course was to revisit the journey of the American soldiers during World War II from a French perspective. Through this journey, the students analyzed and reflected on the meaning and purpose of the GIs’ actions and experiences, and the current place and role of France and the United States in the world.

Johannes Schmidt and Eric Touya were among seven newly promoted professors to be recognized by President James P. Clements and Provost Robert H. Jones at a reception on September 4 at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts. Richard E. Goodstein, dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities, also hosted a dinner in their honor last month.

Johannes Schmidt received a promotion to full professor in the Department of Languages. Schmidt’s research interests range from 18th- and 19th-century German literature and philosophy to German drama and music.

He has taught a variety of courses including German drama, 18th- and 19th-century German literature, the culture and literature of exile, humanities seminars on drama, World War II, the Shoah, and German language and culture courses at all levels.

With Rainer Godel, Schmidt is the co-editor of the International Herder Yearbook, a bi-annual, peer-reviewed professional journal of the International Herder Society.

Schmidt earned his bachelor’s degree in Germanistics, Linguistics and Economics at the University of Konstanz in Germany, his master’s degree in Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and his Ph.D. in German Literature at the University of Hamburg in Germany.

In 2006, Schmidt was elected treasurer-secretary (North America) of the International Herder Society. He also served as the president of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German from 2003-06.

Eric Touya received a promotion to full professor in the Department of Languages. His research and teaching interests include 19th– to 21st-century French and Francophone literature and culture, and interdisciplinary approaches to literature, art, media, theory, culture, economics, ethics and society.

Touya also is the academic advisor for the French and International Trade program and the study abroad program in Paris and Normandy.

“I am happy to hear the news and to serve as teacher, mentor and scholar for this great university,” Touya said. “I am grateful to all the students and colleagues and to my wife and daughter for their support.”

Touya is a recipient of the prestigious Chevalier des Palmes Academiques, awarded by the French government.

Touya received his diplôme d’etudes approfondies in comparative literature at the Universite de Paris IV, Sorbonne, and his Ph.D. in Romance languages and literatures at the University of Chicago.

He is the author of “Musique et poétique à l’âge du symbolism” (L’Harmattan, 2005), “French-American Relations: Remembering D-Day after September 11” (University Press of America, 2008), “Francophone Women Writers: Feminisms, Postcolonialisms, Cross-Cultures” (Lexington Books Publishing, 2011) and “The Case for the Humanities: Pedagogy, Polity, Interdisciplinarity” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).

Two students in the Department of Languages have been selected as the 2018 Christopher J. Duckenfield Scholars. Congratulations to Jessica Harris, an Economics and Philosophy major with a French Studies minor, and Hannah Pearson, a Modern Languages-ASL and English major with a concentration in Writing and Public Studies. Both are juniors in the Calhoun Honors College.

The program provides Jessica and Hannah the opportunity to study at St. Peter’s Summer School at Magdalen College at the University of Oxford in England. The cost of their room, board and tuition will be covered by the scholarship. They will select a course in English literature, Medieval studies, or environmental studies to complete during the summer. When they return to Clemson in the fall, Jessica and Hannah will give a presentation to the university community on their experiences.

One of the signature offerings in the Department of Languages is the Language and International Health B.S. for those students interested in pursuing health-related careers. This program is jointly administered with the Department of Public Health Sciences in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences.

The L&IH major pairs a modern language concentration with coursework in public health theory and practice. The language component emphasizes linguistic and cultural proficiency in the target language by studying specific peoples, cultures, literatures, technical language, health environments, and multicultural issues. The public health component includes the history and philosophy of public health and medicine; the organization, management, and financing of health services; and the social and behavioral aspects of health, epidemiology, health evaluation methods, and health communications. Students choose an emphasis area in either Health Administration or Community Development.

Spring 2018 marks the first semester that a French track is available in addition to the Spanish and Chinese tracks. As with the other tracks, L&IH-French students must study abroad for at least one semester and complete an internship in a French-speaking health-care setting. However, any student who has completed intermediate French can also enroll in L&IH-French courses even if they are not pursuing the major.

Lecturer of French Anne-Carole Salces y Nedeo teaches the new French for Health Professionals courses. “Learning a foreign language is not only beneficial to those who want to work abroad,” she says. “Learning a foreign language is opening one’s mind to something new; it’s seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes. This is a priceless skill which has become increasingly necessary to acquire in our modern world. I am glad to see Clemson University taking steps in that direction, by trying to become more internationally oriented, and I am proud to be part of it! I hope to see more and more students seize this opportunity which, without a doubt, will make them better healthcare providers and administrators.”