Barbara Vance

Two years ago, IU was recognized as a Center of Excellence of the French Embassy! As one of only 25 such centers hosted by US universities, we now enjoy a special relationship with the French Embassy and its regional representatives like the Chicago Consulate and its Cultural Services. Thanks to the annual stipend generously provided by the French Embassy and a special competitive grant awarded in 2022, this past year, Professor Alison Calhoun collaborated with colleagues in the Jacobs School of Music to produce Mélodie: French Art Song, a series of four interdisciplinary, interactive workshops open to students in Music and French as well as the general public. In addition to hearing superb performances of art song, the genre that defined the Belle Epoque, participants were treated to a series of dialogues between French opera star/author François LeRoux (Le Chant Intime, Oxford, 2021) and IU professors Calhoun, Jean-Louis Haguenauer (Jacobs School), Allan Armstrong (Jacobs School), and Nicolas Valazza (FRIT). Each workshop included a master class with IU voice and piano students. You can see and listen to the last class here.

In addition to sponsoring special events such as Mélodie, the French Embassy invites our students to apply for prestigious internships that use their French skills in practical ways.

This summer, Imari Walker (French & Franco- phone Certificate in Global French, BA Linguistics and International Law, 2024) won a competitive place in the Embassy’s Innovation Policy Internship Program, following up on Madeleine Thurin’s (French minor, BA International Studies & Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, 2022) participation in summer 2022 as IU’s first awardee. Imari writes: “I had an amazing time in Toulouse this summer! The first week was full of classes offered at Sciences Po Toulouse by distinguished professors from dif- ferent Universities in Toulouse. After that, we all had individual internships with public institutions in France. I interned with the Department of European and International Relations at the Université de Toulouse. I learned so much about international mobility and relations in French higher education. I am so very grateful for the opportunity and support from the French Department since freshman year!”

Finally, Madeline Ruprecht (BA, French & International Studies, 2024) was selected to intern at the French Consulate in Chicago in Summer 2023. Maddy writes: “This summer, I have had the privilege of interning in the press and communications department at the Consulate General of France in Chicago. Some of my main responsibilities have been maintaining the social media pages, writing retrospectives on consular events and activities, assisting in event planning, including for the 150-person Bastille Day celebration, and updating our website. My favorite part of my internship would have to be seeing all the planning behind the Bastille Day celebration on the observation deck of the Hancock Tower come to fruition. Not only did I get to attend the event and network with distinguished members of the community, I was able to see all the hard work everyone had put in come to life. I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I would like to thank the FRIT Department for bringing this opportunity to my attention and helping to support me throughout the process.”