Due to the pandemic, all the lectures were held via Zoom
Tuesday, April 20 11:30 AM
“Writing and Translating as Reparation: Memory and History.”
Marie-Célie Agnant
Marie-Célie Agnant, writer, presents “Writing and Translating as Reparation: Memory and History.” Marie-Célie Agnant is a Haitian writer of international reputation who immigrated to Quebec in 1970. She writes poetry, short stories, novels, and youth literature. She has worked as translator and interpreter as well.
Her first novel, La Dot de Sara (1995), is about Haitian women and immigration. Her second novel, The Book of Emma, is about race, slavery, memory and language, while the third, An Alligator Named Rosa, is about the impact of the repression during the Duvalierist dictatorship and confronting one’s past. Her latest novel, Femmes au temps des carnassiers, imagines the life of a female journalist who was an early victim of the Duvalier regime. Her first collection of short stories, Le silence comme le sang, is about the lasting pains of the dictatorship, while her second volume, Nouvelles d’ici, d’ailleurs et de là-bas, includes tragic stories that unmask diverse characters and traumas. Her poetry includes Balafres, Et puis parfois quelquefois…, and Femmes des terres brûlées.
Amy Reid is Professor of French and Gender Studies, and Director of the Gender Studies Program at New College of Florida. Her translations of novels by Patrice Nganang and Veronique Tadjo have been recognized with awards from the MLA, the French Voices Program of the French Cultural Services, and the National Endowment of the Arts. She is currently completing a translation of Agnant’s An Alligator Named Rosa.
Katia Grubisic is a writer, editor, and translator. Her work has appeared in Canadian and international publications. She is currently completing a translation of Femmes au temps des carnassiers.
This lecture will be in French and English.
This event is co-sponsored by the French and Francophone Studies Department, the Ministry for International Relations of the Québec Government and by the Jane Dein fund, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Friday, April 9 11:30-1:00PM
French Lecture – Marie-Ange Payet
From Slavery to Freedom: The Epic Story of Maroon Women on Reunion Island
Retracing two centuries of the active participation and the essential role of women helping the maroon men seeking freedom from 1662 to 1848, Marie-Ange Payet celebrates the lives of these maroon women Simangalove, Sarlave, Héva, Marianne, Raharianne on Reunion Island so they never be forgotten. They fought alongside their companions, re-creating/re-inventing an identity for themselves away from the plantation and the slavery system. The maroon women constitute the origins of many myths, métissage, legacy, transmission and survival of cultural practices in the contemporary Reunion Island society.
Dr. Marie-Ange Payet is a professor of French and Francophone Literature at the University of Reunion Island. She graduated from the City University of New York where she studied for many years with Edouard Glissant. She holds a degree in Film Studies as well, specializing in African American cinema. Originally from Reunion island, she dedicated her research to the important role of maroon women (fugitive slaves) on the French island in the Indian Ocean. Her book “Les femmes dans le marronnage à l’île de la Réunion de 1662 à 1848 “ was published in 2013.
This talk will be in English.
Thursday, March 25 11:30-1:00 PM
French Lecture – Jean Zoungrana
IFE – VOICES FROM EUROPE – Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic in France
Professor Jean Zoungrana from the University of Strasbourg will discuss “Reflections on the Covid-19 Pandemic in France.” During this exchange with the Macalester community, Jean Zoungrana will offer several reflections on French society in the current context of the pandemic. Themes to be analyzed include social responsibility, individual freedom, and the relationship of citizens to the government and to science, as well as the distinction between the first period of lock-down in France, marked by strong support from the population, and the second, which has been characterized by a wave of mistrust. This will be followed by a discussion and comparison between the French response and that of the United States. Students are encouraged to follow news of Covid-19 in France beforehand from the online editions of the main French newspapers (Le Monde; Liberation; Le Figaro).
Jean Zoungrana has a doctorate in philosophy and is a graduate in social sciences from the University of Strasbourg. Lecturer in Social Sciences in the Department of Social Practices and Development at the University of Strasbourg, he works on the sociology of knowledge as well as in the field of social work, where he focuses his current research on social policies and social interventions.
Tuesday, February 16 11:30 AM-1:00 PM
French Lecture – Gabrielle Civil
Black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer
Gabrielle Civil, a Black feminist performance artist, poet, and writer present “Ghost Gestures.” In this dynamic artist talk, Gabrielle Civil will explore black diaspora grief and transformation in her practice as a black feminist performance artist. She will reflect on bloodlines, heritage translation, and ancestral return, paying special attention to her Fugue Trilogy created after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. She will show how performance “ghost gestures” can become a way to embody the past and welcome the future.
Gabrielle Civil has premiered fifty performance works around the world and her performance memoirs include Swallow the Fish (2017), Experiments in Joy (2019) and Ghost Gestures (2021). Her writing has also appeared in Dancing While Black, Kitchen Table Translation, New Daughters of Africa, and Black in the Middle. She earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University with an emphasis on diasporic black women’s writing. A 2019 Rema Hort Mann LA Emerging Artist, she currently teaches at the California Institute of the Arts. The aim of her work is to open up space. www.gabriellecivilartist.com
Monday, December 7 at 4:45 PM
French Lecture – Nolin Deloison Baum ’12
“Auguste Escoffier, Master Chef and Social Innovator”
After studying both Political Science and French, Nolin Deloison Baum ’12 decided to pursue a career in the culinary arts. He has worked professionally in the United States – perhaps most notably at Chez Panisse in Berkeley – as well as in Paris, Rome and Helsinki. Though he had long been interested in gastronomic history, his passion for the evolution of French gastronomy and literature grew especially during his time in culinary school in Paris. Nolin has since then remained something of a student, amassing a large collection of French culinary texts from the last four centuries. Most recently part of his library was a featured special collection at the 74th Annual California Rare Book Show.
The topic of Nolin’s presentation will be Auguste Escoffier, often called the King of Chefs. Of all of the great masters of French Cuisine, Escoffier has always stood out to Nolin. Escoffier’s unmatched contribution to gastronomy earned him an enduring celebrity. It has been somewhat forgotten, though, that he also leveraged his fame to draw attention to women’s rights, peace, poverty, and hunger, and he even successfully lobbied for social welfare programs. Nolin will examine the indelible mark that he left on both cuisine and society.
Thursday, November 19, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM (CST)
IFE Voices from Europe – Conversation with Mariam Touré, Liberté d’Agir Scolaire
Please join the French and Francophone Studies Department for a Conversation with Mariam Touré, Liberté d’Agir Scolaire. Mariam Touré was born in Paris to an Ivorian family. In the early 2000s, she began working in the non-profit sector as an activist in various feminist and anti-racist associations. In 2011, she founded the non-profit Liberté d’Agir Scolaire which works in educational and social institutions in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the Paris region to prevent violence including harassment and discrimination.
This talk will be in French. After Mariam Touré’s presentation there will be a moderated Q&A session in which you may ask a question directly or via the chat function.
This is part of a three-speaker series organized by IFE Paris in partnership with Macalester College.
Tuesday, November 24, 2020
11:30 AM – 1:00 PM CST
IFE Voices from Europe – Conversation with Isabelle Denise
Isabelle Denise was lawyer and director of the legal department of the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (Paris) from November 1991 to February 2001. From March 2001 until September 2003, she served as a director in an association working to ensure access to health and rights for prostituted people. In October 2003, she resumed her position as head of the legal department at the Ligue des droits de l’Homme, where she continues to work today.
Alongside her professional career, she was a professor of public law and law of foreign nationals for 9 years at a training school for social workers in Paris. She was also involved with various institutions linked to prisons (for 3 years, she worked in the Hommes district of Fleury-Mérogis, the prison with the largest number of prisoners in France), as well as schools, and healthcare.
She is currently the president of the association “Le Bus des Femmes”, a community health association, a position she has held since July 1, 2020.
Thursday October 15, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM CDT
IFE Voices from Europe Series – Conversation with Stéphanie Rameau
“A Conversation about Women in France”
Stéphanie Rameau first served as a director of the chapter of the prominent French feminist association Ni Putes Ni Soumises in Tourcoing, in the north of France. She was then elected president of the national association of Ni Putes Ni Soumises, a position she has occupied since 2016. A healthcare professional, Stéphanie Rameau is also a member of the national bureau of SOS Racisme, an organization that combats racism and discrimination in France.
In this conversation with Macalester students and faculty, Stéphanie Rameau will discuss violence against women, the French equivalent of the #MeToo movement (#BalanceTonPorc), gender and racial discrimination, and police violence in a comparative framework that emphasizes the specificity of French law and society.
All students are welcome. The talk will be in French. After Stéphanie Rameau’s presentation there will be a moderated Q&A session in which you may ask a question directly or via the chat function.