Sarah Eiden and Claire Ambrose with family members
Italian minor Sarah Eiden (far left) and French major Claire Ambrose (second from right) celebrate with family and friends.

A variety of jobs await our undergraduate cohort. Kate Adams (BA, French and International Studies) has a position performing data analysis at a consulting firm in Chicago, hoping to perhaps transfer eventually to the firm’s Paris office. Nicholas Petry (BA, French and International Studies) will be working for Habitat for Humanity here in Bloomington, coordinating volunteers and nurturing donors. Rebecca Hailperin-Lausch will be teaching English in Grenoble, France, through the French government’s TAPIF program.

On May 3 we also celebrated the achievements of several MA and PhD graduates. Jade Liu, happy to have successfully completed the MA in French/Francophone Studies and to be accepted to the PhD program, was there with her mother from California. Students from abroad often don’t have family on campus for commencement, but that didn’t stop Giorgio Losi (MA, Italian) and Ludovic Mompelat (MA, French Linguistics) from enjoying the day. Both will continue on to their respective PhD programs in the Fall. Rosa Borgonovi was all smiles after finishing her PhD in Italian in a mere four years. After focusing on her dissertation the last few months, she looks forward to teaching again in her native Italy. “The students bring happiness to your life,” said Rosa. We agree!

As the PhD can be awarded at the end of any given month, our annual reception included two early celebrants, and a few who graduated last fall and winter did not attend. Mark Black and Amber Panwitz are both PhD candidates in French Linguistics expecting to finish in Fall 2019. They are married with a young daughter and brought a big happy family to the reception at the University Club, including aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Our other PhD graduates, all in the field of French/Francophone Studies, defended their dissertations earlier. We congratulate Jill Owen, who has secured a job at Baylor University, Georgy Khabarovskiy (Brown University), Noëlle Brown (Kennsaw State University), and Jessica Tindira (Lycoming College). Tanti auguri and félicitations!