UNCA to Host French Week November 3-7

UNC Asheville will host French Week November 3-7, which will feature a number of distinguished speakers. Events are free and open to the public.

William Kennedy, professor of comparative literature at Cornell University, will discuss "How the French Got to be French with Help from the Italians and Spanish: Ronsard and the Pleiade" at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, at Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. He will explore the elusive notion of a school of poets setting out to shape a national language by fabricating a literary one, in this case the French language as manipulated by the 16th century group of poets known as the Pleiade. Kennedy, who holds a doctorate from Yale University, is the author of five books, including "The Site of Petrarchism: Early Modern National Sentiment in Italy, France and England." He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim, Rockefeller and Fulbright Foundations.

Linguist Thomas Klingler will discuss "You are What You Speak: Language, Ethnicity and Labels in Francophone Louisiana" at 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, in Karpen Hall room 038. His talk will explore the differences and complex relationships between the Cajun and Creole languages and people. Klinger is the author of numerous articles on Louisiana Creole, and his book "If I Could Turn My Tongue Like That: The Creole Language of Pointe Coupee Parish" was recently published. A faculty member at Tulane University, Klingler is currently conducting research on language variety in Louisiana’s ethnically diverse communities.

Klingler will discuss "The Linguistic Mosaic of French Louisiana: An Overview" at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Carmichael Hall room 231. This talk will provide an introduction to French Louisiana’s unique linguistic landscape. Klinger will examine the state’s Francophone populations and their history and language characteristics.

UNCA student Miriam Barlowe will present her study abroad project on the "The History of Fontevrault Abbey" at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. The talk will be given in French. Barlowe is a senior French and art history major who visited Asheville’s Sister City of Saumur, France, last summer.

UNCA’s French Week wraps up with a round table discussion on "French Views of America" at noon Friday, Nov. 7, in the Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Three students from the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, France, will serve as panelists. Sandy Malicote, UNCA French professor, will serve as moderator.

A number of activities will be geared toward students, including a French declamation contest and a lunch for French speakers.

For more information, call Cathy Pons, UNCA Foreign Languages Department chair, at 828/232-2440.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Cathy Pons, UNCA Foreign Languages Dept. Chair, 828/232-2440
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526