French Colloquium Probes Theme of Change

Author: Alison Damick

Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26 marked the second ever French Colloquium at Middlebury College. From 4:30 p.m. Friday, when the colloquium's principal convener, Professor of French Edward Knox, introduced the opening address of Jeremy Shapiro, associate director for the Center on the United States and France, Brookings Institution, to the 5 p.m. closing discussion of the weekend's events the next evening, the Robert A. Jones House was alive with conversation, lectures and film. While all official speakers addressed the audience in English, French was overheard just as often throughout the room, an indication of the array of people in attendance.
Titled "France in 2003: The Challenge of Change," the colloquium featured speakers from all over the country and the world. Speakers presented topics on a wide range of issues concerning the changes occurring in France and how these changes affect the French sense of identity. Lectures ranged from Harvard University's Jonathan Laurence's "Multiculturalism in France," Associate Editor of Le Monde Thomas Ferenczi's "France and Europe," and former advisor to the French Labor Minister Nicolas VÈron's "Workplace Issues in France." "Etre et Avoir," a 2002 documentary by Nicolas Philibert about a one-room schoolhouse in France, was also shown on Friday.
Knox states that in organizing the colloquium with Professor of French and French Department Chair Bethany Ladimer and Assistant Professor of Political Science Erik Bleich, "our goal was to put forward topics that would show France in a process of change, or not, but also how France perhaps takes different approaches from the U.S. on similar problems. The speakers were selected in concert with the French Cultural Services."
This year's colloquium was organized after a positive response to last year's colloquium, "DÈj‡ Views: How Americans Look at France." Last year's event prompted the French Cultural AttachÈ from Boston to express interest in cosponsoring an event this year. According to the colloquium Web site, this year's colloquium was geared towards "ringing changes on the old French adage of plus Áa change, exploring both how and how much things are changing, and whether in fact the more things change the more they stay the same." Knox considered this symposium a "big success" due to the "heavy attendance, the distances some people traveled, the comments and the quality of papers." The room was indeed filled to capacity with students, professors and visitors.
Knox also reported, "For the record, the colloquium and the topics were put together before diplomatic relations deteriorated in late fall 2002." However, the fact that so many people came out to the symposium despite the political situation was a satisfying sight for many French students.
"There was a great turnout at all the presentations, both on the part of the students and the town," Erin Bell '06 said. Bell attended all the Colloquium events as part of her French class, and says she is very glad she did. "It's comforting to see that so many people are still open to and interested in learning about France and the French in a time when there's such a tension between our nations."