Four New College Students Receive French Teaching Assistantships for 2009-2010
Three fourth-year students at New College of Florida will travel to France next year under French Teaching Assistantships awarded by the French government. A fourth student received an assistantship, but declined the award to work on film projects in Philadelphia next year. Including the most recent awards, 12 New College students have been awarded prestigious teaching assistantships from the French government since 2000.
Anyelle (Ellie) Johanna De Leon, born in the Dominican Republic, from Hollywood, Florida, will be heading to Grenoble. Ellie concentrated in philosophy. Her senior thesis, entitled “In Defense of Passion,” proposes a re-evaluation of traditional philosophical views. Ellie has been involved in Eastern style dance for years, and has choreographed several pieces for the New College dance tutorial. She plans on continuing with philosophy in graduate school after her sojourn in France, where she intends to further her dance education.
Alexandra (Ali) Rogers, from Rock Hill, South Carolina, will also be teaching in Grenoble. Ali’s area of concentration was philosophy. Her senior thesis was entitled “The Power of Your Voice Could Redirect every Truth: Rap as Resistant Discursive Practice,” which she characterizes as “an analysis of rap music through the lens of Michel Foucault’s theories about power and resistance.” Ali is very active in dance and the visual arts, including painting and drawing. “I look forward to this opportunity in France because I hope to one day work as a translator of philosophical texts,” she says. “I will be applying to French graduate schools once I am there.”
Madison Sharko, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, will teach in Bordeaux. Madison concentrated in French Literature/British and American Literature. She wrote her senior thesis on “Subversion, Refraction and the Do-It-Yourself Proust: Autobiographical Intertexts of La Recherche,” a reference to Marcel Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu. She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris in 2007, and has been a French teaching assistant at New College. For a recent January independent study project, she received a student travel grant from the New College Alumnae/I Association to conduct research on Moroccan women’s writing. She presented her research at the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association Conference and was awarded a Margaret P. Bates Award by New College’s Gender Studies Program for her paper.
An award was also given to Scott Ross from Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. Scott, who concentrated in French Literature and Environmental Studies and studied in Paris, decided to decline the award to work in film production, which has become his passion. His film, “You Will be Outdated Soon,” won the Spanish Moss Award for Promising Floridians at the Florida Experimental Film Festival and the Best Experimental/Animated Short at IndieGrits Festival in Columbia, SC. He also co-directed a film called “Rosebud” (with New College alum Ricky Kelly), which played at several film festivals around the country.
The French Ministry of Education and the Cultural Services at the Embassy of France offer approximately 1,500 teaching assistant positions in French primary and secondary schools, as well as in various French teaching colleges. This is a unique opportunity for young American citizens to gain valuable teaching experience by spending between six to nine months in France or in one of its overseas departments. The grant program facilitates the mastery of the French language through linguistic immersion, while at the same time offering insights into contemporary France.
For more information, contact Aimee Chouinard, media relations coordinator, at (941) 487-4152 or [email protected].