The film traces the life and politics of a quaint French town, Pondicherry, as the Tamil French people gear up for the 2017 presidential elections. It explores notions of identity, citizenship, and home in the post-colonial era. Professor of Religious Studies Brian Pennington will moderate the post-screening Q&A.

This event will take place in the McBride Gathering Space in the Numen Lumen Pavilion at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. “Two Flags” is shown in Tamil and French with English subtitles.

Kumar’s visit and this screening are made possible with the support of the Elon Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society and the Department of World Languages and Cultures.

During concurrent morning and afternoon panels, students presented research in French, German, and Spanish. Their research topics included analysis of a range of texts from literature and film to socially constructed places and architecture.

During lunch, Professor Brooke Kreitinger of UNCG gave an engaging plenary lecture on German documentaries in her talk titled “Seeing the Other, Being the Other: Familiar, Foreign Encounters in Recent Refugee Documentary Films.”

In the afternoon, Celis-Castillo, Choplin and Lange led interactive workshops in all three languages on how to write a CV and cover letter for various cultures or how to find funding for international experiences such as internships or study abroad.

The final conference events were three concurrent Professionalization Panels during which six Elon alumni — Margaret Liston ’16 and Madeline Monaco ’15 (French), Sam Geha ’18 and Madeline Wetterhall ’18 (German), and Jacqueline Spencer ’17 and Evan Seder ’18 (Spanish) — talked about their own personal and professional journeys related to engagement with foreign languages and cultures.

While the alumni have used their languages professionally, they reminded students that deep knowledge of another language and culture is always viewed positively by potential employers (whether or not the language is a prerequisite for the position) because it demonstrates open-mindedness, an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and a willingness to engage with difference.

World Languages and Cultures faculty members hope that the conference will become a permanent fixture at Elon that will expand to include panels in additional languages in the future.

Seeing and hearing advanced students present their research early in their college careers can be a true motivator. Several attendees commented that the most valuable part of the conference was connecting with like-minded students and sharing research and passions. For all attendees, speaking with Elon alumni about their experiences with careers, internships and life abroad was invaluable. 

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Students and faculty from Elon, Guilford College and Wake Forest University gathered for the day-long conference exploring “No Limits in the French- and Spanish-Speaking Worlds” with a poster session open to all languages. Also in attendance were special guests in French from Durham Academy.

The conference was generously sponsored by the Fund for Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, the Student Professional Development Center, the Office of Alumni Engagement and the Department of World Languages and Cultures. The event was organized by Patti Burns, lecturer of French in the Department of World Languages and Cultures.  

During concurrent morning and afternoon panels, students presented both finished works and works in progress. Their research in French and Spanish was on topics that ranged from the depiction of childhood poverty, violence and immigration in Latin America to representations of migrants and migrant identity in modern day France.

During the poster session, students in French, German and Hebrew presented their research on topics such as idyllic representations of immigration in film, heimat—the relationship between people and a spatial-social unit, and culturally significant jewelry. During lunch, Professor Maria Bobroff of Guilford College gave the plenary lecture on Québécois and Vietnamese cultures in her talk titled “Kim Thúy: Traversing Barriers and Breaking Molds.” In an afternoon session, Professor Pablo Celis-Castillo led an interactive workshop on how to write a CV and cover letter for various cultures in the Spanish-speaking world.

The final conference events were two concurrent Professionalization Panels during which three Elon alumnae — Amber Christino ’10, Christina Peterson ’10, and Erin Luther ’16 — talked about their own personal and professional journeys related to engagement with foreign languages and cultures. Kristen Aquilino from the Student Professional Development Center highlighted a focus on personal priorities and reflection as students discover their professional paths.

While the alumnae have used their languages professionally, they reminded students that deep knowledge of another language and culture is always viewed positively by potential employers (whether or not the language is a prerequisite for the position) because it demonstrates open-mindedness, an ability to adapt to changing circumstances, and a willingness to engage with difference.

World Languages and Cultures faculty members Adamson, Burns, Celis-Castillo, Olivia Choplin, and Sarah Glasco hope that the conference will become a permanent fixture at Elon that will expand to include panels in additional languages in the future.

Seeing and hearing advanced students present their research early in their college careers can be a true motivator. Several attendees commented that the most valuable part of the conference was connecting with like-minded students and sharing research and passions. For all attendees, speaking with Elon alumnae about their experiences with careers, internships, and life abroad was invaluable.

​This year’s festival theme was “Résistance,” exploring both the refusal to accept circumstances and the resilience to overcome them. It was inspired by Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic film about French Resistance fighters, “Army of Shadows,” which demonstrates so vividly the sacrifices people will make to defy oppressive regimes—a theme common to current news around the world regarding global terror, mass migration, and political turmoil.

François Masuka, Assistant Professors Ryan Johnson and Ariela Marcus-Sells, and Associate Professors Michael Carignan, Jeff Carpenter and Evan Gatti graciously introduced the films and led post-screening discussions about how the characters enacted “résistance.” Attendees, including Elon students, faculty, and staff as well as community members and faculty and students from local institutions, were invited to consider causes worth fighting for at all costs and reminded to be eternally hopeful in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Vive la résistance!

The Tournées Film Festival was made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), the French American Cultural Fund, Florence Gould Foundation and Highbrow Entertainment. Additional sponsors included the Elon College of Arts and Sciences; the Residential Campus Initiative; the Inclusive Community Council; the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society; French Club; the Global Neighborhood Association; The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life; Muslim Life at Elon; Jewish Studies; Peace and Conflict Studies; and the Departments of English, History and Geography, Philosophy, and World Languages and Cultures. Door prizes were generously provided by Irazù Coffee, The Oak House, Pandora’s Pies, The Root Trackside, Smitty’s Homemade Ice Cream, and Tangent Eat Bar. Professor Patti Burns, lecturer of French in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, organized the Festival. French professors Adamson, Burns, Choplin, and Glasco look forward to more interdisciplinary collaborations in next spring’s Festival, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the revolutionary events of May 1968 in France. Photo©CinemaGuild

The community gathered in Global Commons 103 on Sunday afternoon to enjoy previews for upcoming Festival films and door prizes provided by Smitty’s Homemade Ice Cream. In her introduction to the film, Ariela Marcus-Sells, assistant professor of of religious studies, encouraged viewers to see how the film “offers a vision of the poor French suburbs that is simultaneously uncompromising and compassionate, a portrait in which violence, anger, and crime are neither excused nor romanticized, but rather contextualized for the roles they play in shaping and constraining the lives of the people who live there.” The protagonist’s consistent resistance to oppression leads him to live “a life triangulated by exceptional ability, extraordinary luck, and … a choice – the choice to love life and to see beauty in a world tinged with despair.” Marcus-Sells ended with a call for each of us to honor this story by choosing to love life, even when all seems hopeless.

Tournées Film Festival is made possible with the support of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the U.S., the Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC), the French American Cultural Fund, Florence Gould Foundation and Highbrow Entertainment. Additional sponsors include the Elon College of Arts and Sciences; the Residential Campus Initiative; the Inclusive Community Council; the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society; French Club; the Global Neighborhood Association; The Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life; Muslim Life at Elon; Jewish Studies; Peace and Conflict Studies; and the Departments of English, History and Geography, Philosophy, and World Languages and Cultures. Professor Patti Burns, lecturer of French in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, is organizing the Festival.  

“Grigris (Grigris),” Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by François Masuka, Isabella Cannon Global Education Center

“Loin des hommes (Far from Men),” Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by Ryan Johnson, Philosophy

“La cour de Babel (School of Babel),” Monday, Feb. 27, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by Jeff Carpenter, Education

“L’armée des ombres (Army of Shadows),” Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 7 p.m. Introduced by Michael Carignan, History and Geography

“Parce que j’étais peintre (Because I was a painter),” Sunday, March 5, 2017 at 2:30 p.m. Introduced by Evan Gatti, Art and Art History  

Glasco discussed the infusion of social justice perspectives in beginning French courses via Francophone products, practices and perspectives from literature, music, film, etc. and how this approach transforms traditional language and culture courses and thus how students perceive language learning. Students in such courses can become not just passive advocates, but active agents for social change.

Burns discussed cultural exploratory projects wherein students can use authentic French texts, websites and online platforms to interact with native speakers and thus better understand the lived reality of the language and culture they study. She offered practical scaffolding techniques for writing and speaking assignments to help build linguistic accuracy along the way, as well as best practices for error correction.