French, Undergraduate, Department of French and Italian, Northwestern University

Honors, Awards, Activities

Annual Prizes 2007-2008

Business French: Elizabeth Bourgart
French 309 (Simone Pavlovich)
Project on CARTIER.

2nd year awards:Vanessa Shen
French 125-2 (Christiane Rey)
“La liberté guidant le peuple"

3rd year language: Ben Armstrong
French 201 (Margaret Sinclair)
“Un Cycle violent: le déclenchement de la haine et de la violence dans la cité”.

3rd year literature: Harold Williford
French 210 (Sylvie Romanowski)
“Une poésie vivante: la bataille littéraire de la Négritude”.

4th year literature: Josie Menkin
French 316 (Nasrin Qader)
“Que Faire Avec Cette Violence?”

4th year literature: Irina Kogan
French 346 (Doris Garraway)
“La Précarité de l’auto-projection: Une analyse de Zamore et Mirza d’Olympe de Gouges en juxtaposition avec les Lettres Persanes de Montesquieu.

Departmental Honors

The Honors program in French and Italian gives outstanding students the opportunity to carry out a course of independent study on a topic of their choice under the supervision of a faculty member.

Juniors who have a grade point average of 3.4 or higher in the major
are invited by the Director of Undergraduate Studies or any other faculty member of the department to consider writing an honors thesis in their senior year. If they decide to do so, they should declare their intention of doing honors work no later than the spring quarter of their junior year by contacting the DUS and submitting a brief proposal on the topic they wish to investigate. Based on this description and in conversation with the student, the DUS will assist the student in finding a thesis director. Often students already have someone in mind for this work. In this case, a formal request by the DUS and the student will be made to the particular faculty member. After these preliminary processes are completed, the student may register for a 399 with his/her thesis director.

The honors project is produced through two quarters of 399 which will count towards the 15 required credits for the major in French. It
can build on but must not duplicate previous work done abroad or in a 300-level course.

Guidelines for students and thesis directors:

The honors thesis should be at least 25-30 pages long. It cannot be a simple collection of data or summary of primary or secondary sources, but must show strong evidence of significant research, interpretation, analysis, and original thought. It must be written in correct French.

The Student must get in contact with his/her thesis adviser before the end of the spring quarter of the Junior year in order to discuss his/her idea with the advisor and receive instructions for preliminary reading and research. At the beginning the following fall quarter, the student should have a clear idea of the problem he/she wishes to explore and have a two page preliminary proposal ready for the thesis advisor.

By the end of fall quarter, students are required to have a bibliography and a 10 page paper reporting on their preliminary findings and their argument. This paper must elaborate on the original proposal and show progress in the ways in which the student has conceptualized the
problem under study. At this time, an evaluation will be made as to whether the paper can be expanded into an honors thesis. If it is judged not to be of honors caliber, the student will receive one credit for the work done in the fall quarter

By the beginning of winter quarter, the student must determine who will be the second reader of the thesis. The second reader must be a member of the French department and will be chosen in consultation between the student and his/her advisor. It is the responsibility of the student to approach this faculty member in a timely fashion and ask him/her to read the thesis for the final report. Students may have a third reader on their committee, especially if the thesis is highly interdisciplinary. This third member can be from outside the French department.

By the end of winter quarter, students are required to have completed the first draft of the thesis. The spring quarter will be dedicated to revisions of the thesis for final submission to the Honors Committee for evaluation. As soon as the DUS receives the deadlines for submission from WCAS, he/she will communicate them to the thesis director.

Atelier d'écriture

The Atelier d'écriture offers free help to students with essays to write for 200- and 300-level literature and culture classes. Students can consult Mme Radulescu, the director, by appointment (sign-up sheets are on her door, Crowe 2-136). Students should have a complete version of their paper ready well in advance of its due date.

Cercle Francophone

The cercle francophone is a student-organized club sponsored by Margaret Dempster (m-dempster@northwestern.edu) and Aude Raymond (araymond@northwestern.edu) and other language faculty in the French department. The group meets on a regular basis to have an opportunity to speak French in a relaxed and fun setting. Activities include film screenings, preparing and enjoying French cuisine, guest speakers and outings to French cultural events in Chicago. In addition to the cercle francophone events, students have a weekly opportunity to engage in informal French conversation with students and instructors at lunches held in the dining room of the International Studies Residential College. For information about the French Table lunches, contact Margaret Dempster (m-dempster@northwestern.edu).

Rosa la Rose

"Rosa la rose" is an annual literary magazine in which all members of the French and Italian Department (undergraduates, graduates and faculty) are invited to publish their creative work, whether written (in either language) or artistic. Students can volunteer to help the Faculty Adviser (Mme Stella Radulescu) prepare the magazine. Volume 10, Spring 2006, is now available.

French Government Youth & Sports Grants

Every year the Department selects one or more undergraduates to be the recipients of the French Government "Youth and Sports Grants." This fellowship allows students to improve their understanding of French culture by spending a short period in one particular region of the country. The fellowship pays all their expenses while in France. Funds for the students' travel to France are provided by the Department from the Norman Spector Scholars' Fund. The selection process takes place and is announced in the winter quarter. Interested students should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies in French, Nasrin Qader (n-qader@northwestern.edu), for details about the application.

The recipient of the scholarship in 2006 is Laurie Bossory, who will participate in the « Paris en roller » session.