Principal investigator and project co-director
Heather Willis Allen, Department of French and Italian; Second Language Acquisition PhD Program
Project co-director
Kristin Michelson, Texas Tech University
Project consultants
Gilles Bousquet, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Rebakah Paré, Paré Consulting
Faculty experts
Cécile Accilien, University of Maryland
Lars Erickson, University of Rhode Island
John Moran, New York University
Elyse Petit, Santa Rosa Junior College
Todd Reeser, University of Pittsburgh
Deb Reisinger, Duke University
Christine Sagnier, Princeton University
Nisrine Slitine El Mghari, University of Kentucky
About the project
This collaborative initiative of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Texas Tech University, and Washington University in St. Louis addresses the need to articulate the value of advanced French study and the transferrable skills imparted through undergraduate French curricula.
The project goals include:
- Identification and description of the critical competencies associated with advanced collegiate French study via a working group of collegiate French instructors with diverse professional specializations and identities from eight colleges and universities, including minority-serving institutions;
- Creation of a toolkit of advocacy materials available through the French Embassy and the website for the American Association of Teachers of French for collegiate French programs and institutional advisors to help students, advisors, and faculty recognize and articulate the critical competencies developed through advanced French study;
- Dissemination of project findings and materials via publications, conference presentations, and a webinar. All three of these goals aim to strengthen collegiate French enrollments through collective reflection and advocacy by project participants.
Sponsor and grant funding
French Embassy in the United States, $12,000, 2023-25