President’s Welcome 2021

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Dear ASFS members,

We hope this finds you all safe and well, especially after the tumult of 2020.

The ASFS Executive Committee is pleased to announce its 2021 initiatives.

Before getting to those, we’d like to thank everyone involved in our ASFS XXVIII conference and hope that attendees have fond memories of our virtual meeting. We were particularly pleased with the keynote roundtable, the lively discussion with Prof. Mame Fatou Niang and Prof. Lydie Moudileno, and our exceptionally well-attended postgraduate session. While we missed the interactions of our usual face-to-face conference, we were heartened by the commitment members showed to research across the many disciplines of French Studies. Members gave papers on literature, film, philosophy, applied linguistics, poetry, history, pedagogy and visual art – a fitting representation of the diverse scholarly interests ‘French Studies’ encompasses, and an important reminder of research carried out in these fields in Australia. Dr. Clara Sitbon and A/Prof. Ben McCann are currently editing a volume of the Australian Journal of French Studies based upon the conference, featuring a range of postgraduate and early career researchers.

Our plans for 2021 include:

1. Colin Nettelbeck prize

The ASFS will be inaugurating a prize in honour of Emeritus Prof. Colin Nettelbeck. Many members will know that Colin took a particular interest in mentoring postgraduate and early career researchers so our prize is aimed at these members. The Colin Nettelbeck Prize is designed to support research and travel costs for a French Studies-related project. A call for applications will be distributed shortly.

2. Mentoring program

We piloted our Mentoring program in 2020 and were delighted with its success. We matched up 21 mentors/mentees who worked together throughout the year and they gave very positive feedback to our survey of the program in November. We will shortly be sending a call for expressions of interest for 2021. (Mentors and mentees from 2020 are of course very welcome to continue working together.)

3. Postgraduate Essay prize

We will shortly be distributing a call for entries to the 2021 ASFS/AJFS Postgraduate Essay Prize. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Australian Journal of French Studies and Prof. Jarrod Hayes and Prof. Brian Nelson. We’re delighted that Dr. Yuri Cerqueira dos Anjos has agreed to chair of the Prize Committee this year. We are very grateful to A/Prof. Alistair Rolls for serving in this role in 2020. Alistair will remain on the committee this year. 

4. ASFS Conference XXIX

Due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions, we have decided to postpone our conference in New Zealand to 2022 and are very grateful to the Organising Committee (A/Prof. Jean Anderson, Dr. Yuri Cerqueira dos Anjos, Dr. France Grenaudier-Klijn and Dr. Charles Rice-Davies) for their flexibility and their ongoing support of the Society. We are committed to holding our 29th conference in 2021 and plan to offer a ‘blended’ conference that members could attend either face-to-face or via zoom. We are currently planning where to host the conference and will be in touch with details as soon as we can.

5. Roundtable on ARC Funding at ASFS XXIX

We will be holding a session on ‘ARC Funding in French Studies’ in order to assist colleagues in preparing funding applications. We are gratified by the recent successes in French Studies (at DECRA, DP and Future Fellowship level) and are eager to capitalise upon these for the benefit of all members. We are grateful to Dr. Valentina Gosetti and Dr. Chris Hogarth for organising this session.

6. ‘Teaching-Research Nexus’ Panels at ASFS XXIX

Following a highly successful panel at the 2020 Conference in which members presented strategies for incorporating their research in their teaching, we will be organising a series of panels that showcase members’ pedagogical practice and scholarship of learning and teaching. We are very grateful to Dr. Carolyn Stott and Dr. Marie-Laure Vaille-Barcan for leading this initiative.

Finally, we offer our congratulations to Em. Prof. John West-Sooby, University of Adelaide, for winning FATFA’s ‘Professeur de l’année’ 2020. Congratulations also to Dr. Gemma King, ANU, for winning an Australian Award for University Teaching 2020. These are well deserved accolades that recognise our colleagues’ outstanding performance at a national level. 

I am very grateful to the members who were elected/re-elected to the Executive Committee for 2021: A/Prof. Ben McCann (Vice-President), Dr. Leslie Barnes (Secretary), Dr. Chris Hogarth (Treasurer),Dr. Gemma King (Communications Officer), Dr. Clara Sitbon (Postgraduate Officer) and Ms. Lauren Twine (Membership Secretary, ad hoc member 2021).

We leave you with the good news that our Society has reached over 150 members, so is now at its largest in its history.

We look forward to representing you this year and encourage you to get in touch with us with any request, ideas or suggestions you may have.

Prof. Natalie Edwards (President)

2021 FATFA Conference Online and In-Person April 17-18

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ASFS members may be interested in the upcoming Federation of Associations of Teachers of French in Australia (FATFA) Conference.

The 2021 Conference will be running in a hybrid format online and in-person in Brisbane from April 17-18. The conference will include:

  • Plenary speeches by Florence Boulard, Gianfranco Conti and Joe Dale,
  • Workshops and presentations that are interactive, informative and varied ,
  • Recordings of all sessions available for download for one month post-conference,
  • In-person attendance includes conference function at Cloudland on Saturday 17th.
Click here to view the current timetable.

The members’ price is for members of any state language teachers association. For more information or to make any additional presentation proposals, email Barbara Hanna at b.hanna@uq.edu.au. More information is available on the website at https://fatfamltaqconferen.wixsite.com/website.

Memorialisation, Racism and Post/colonial Connections in Contemporary France: Watch the ASFS 2020 Conference Keynote Round Table

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As the keynote event of the conference Dis/connexion in December 2020, the Australian Society for French Studies was proud to host Professor Lydie Moudileno and Associate Professor Mame-Fatou Niang in conversation with Dr Gemma King on the theme of Memorialisation, Racism and Post/colonial Connections in Contemporary France. The round table event was chaired by Dr Leslie Barnes and the recording (not including the audience Q&A) is available for viewing here:

Following the Q&A, several attendees requested a list of the authors Mame recommended for those wishing to learn more about race and identity in contemporary France. These were Lydie Moudileno, Jacqueline Couti, Audrey Celestine, Maboula Soumahoro, Myriam Moise, Aya Cissoko, Dali Micha Toure, Tassadit Imache, Assia Djebar, Maryse Condé, the Nardal Sisters and Bintou Dembélé.

Event abstract:

What role does race play in the French imaginaire and how does this manifest in a society that continues to insist on its own colour-blindness despite a history of colonialism and immigration and an increasingly ethnically diverse present? One answer can be found in the nation’s Assemblée Nationale where a mural displaying recognizably racist iconography serves to celebrate the abolition of chattel slavery in France. Outside the building presides Jean-Baptiste Colbert – Louis XIV’s finance minister and author of the French ‘code noir’ – recently defaced in protest of France’s « négrophobie d’état ». Recent publications such as Lydie Moudileno, Etienne Achille and Charles Forsdick’s 2020 volume Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in Modern France have shed light on the place of such colonial imagery in the contemporary Republic, as lieux de mémoire infamously ignored in Pierre Nora’s work of the same name. The continued presence of such memorials in France, and around the world, raises urgent questions about the nexus of history, memory, and everyday racism that have gained particular prominence in international protests and debates this year. This keynote event for the ASFS 2020 conference brings Lydie Moudileno and Mame-Fatou Niang together in dialogue with Gemma King about the persistence of racist colonial ideologies in the everyday “realms” of French society, be they state-sanctioned memorials, museums or the nightly news.

Lydie Moudileno is Marion Frances Chevalier Professor of French and Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, co-author with Etienne Achille of Mythologies postcoloniales: Pour une décolonisation du quotidien (Champion 2018) and co-editor with Achille and Charles Forsdick of Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in Modern France (Liverpool 2020).

Mame-Fatou Niang is Associate Professor of French at CMU, author of Identités françaises: Banlieues, féminités et universalisme (Brill 2019), and co-director of the documentary film, “Mariannes noires: Mosaïques afropéennes” (2015). She is also a driving force behind the petition to remove the slavery mural from the Assemblée Nationale.

Gemma King is Senior Lecturer of French at ANU and author of Decentring France: Multilingualism and Power in Contemporary French Cinema (Manchester 2017) and Jacques Audiard (Manchester 2021). She convenes ANU’s Global Paris course, which explores iconic cultural sites while also discovering forgotten parts of the city relating to colonial history, the legacy of slavery, and the evolution of the Republic.

ASFS 2020 Conference Programme

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The programme is now available for the 2020 Australian Society for French Studies conference, with the book of abstracts here. Join us online from 3-4 December for an exciting collection of panels and events on the theme of Dis/connexion, including a keynote round table on Memorialisation, Racism and Post/colonial Connections in Contemporary France from Lydie Moudileno and Mame-Fatou Niang.

During a time of social distancing, in which we are requested to “Stay Apart Together”, the ASFS 2020 conference brings members together to reflect upon the theme of connection and disconnection. Paper presentations are scheduled for 10 minutes plus panel discussion. The conference is free to all members of the ASFS. If you would like to attend as an audience member, you can renew or apply for membership here; Zoom links will be forwarded to members prior to the conference.

The Postgraduate Session will take place on the morning of 3 December via Zoom, led by Postgraduate Officer Dr Clara Sitbon. The Postgraduate Session is free and open to all members.

Invitation : Webinar, Jour du prof de français

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Jour du prof de français – 26 novembre 2020 17h

AEDT (Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra) 

Rejoignez-nous de 17h à 18h pour prendre le temps de célébrer notre profession ! Après une année aussi éprouvante, il est temps de sortir le champagne et de nous le dire “Nous sommes formidables !” 

Pour célébrer comme il se doit, la FATFA en conjunction avec l’Ambassade de France et SBS French radio vous invite à un Q&A avec Christophe Mallet de SBS French radio et Chantal Crozet sur le thème “Diversité, engagement et enthousiasme : les enjeux du métier de professeur de français en Australie”. Puis l’heure sera aux célébrations avec la remise de prix de la première édition de “Nous sommes formidables !” Sept professeurs de français à travers toute l’Australie seront reconnus et remerciés pour leur contribution à la profession. Cet évènement est gratuit mais l’inscription est obligatoire. Pour vous inscrire cliquez ici ou pour de plus amples informations cliquez ici.

Invitation, Jour du prof de français, 26 novembre 2020

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Chers collègues,

Rejoignez-nous le lundi 26 novembre de 17h à 18h (AEDT) pour prendre le temps de célébrer notre profession ! Après une année aussi éprouvante, il est temps de sortir le champagne et de nous le dire « Nous sommes formidables ! »

Pour célébrer comme il se doit, la FATFA en conjonction avec l’ambassade de France et SBS French radio vous invite à un Q&A avec Christophe Mallet de SBS French radio et Chantal Crozet sur le thème « Diversité, engagement et enthousiasme : les enjeux du métier de professeur de français en Australie ». Puis l’heure sera aux célébrations avec la remise de prix de la première édition de « Nous sommes formidables ! » Sept professeurs de français à travers toute l’Australie seront reconnus et remerciés pour leur contribution à la profession.

Cet évènement est gratuit mais l’inscription est obligatoire. Le Jour du prof se déroulera principalement en français et des certificats de participation seront disponibles sur demande. 

Pour vous inscrire ou pour de plus amples informations cliquez ici: http://www.fatfa.net/derniegraveres-infos.html.

Les organisateurs du Jour du prof de français

Professor John West-Sooby awarded inaugural Prix du professeur de français de l’année

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Long-time ASFS member Professor John West-Sooby was this week awarded the prestigious Prix du professeur de français de l’année for the tertiary sector by the Federation of Associations of Teachers of French in Australia (FATFA), supported by the French Embassy in Australia. John is retiring from the University of Adelaide this year and it is thus a very timely award for him to receive, recognising as it does his decades of service as a French teacher and researcher, a mentor, and a champion for the promotion of French at a national level. 

A virtual event co-hosted with the French Embassy will be held on Thursday 26 November where nominees will ‘receive’ their award. John will also be interviewed by SBS French radio prior to the event.

Please join us in congratulating our very worthy colleague!

New publication in Language Studies featuring ASFS members

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We wish to draw attention to this new publication in Language Studies, co-edited by former ASFS President Professor Jean Fornasiero. Intersections in Language Policy and Planning: Establishing Connections in Languages and Cultures contains several chapters from ASFS members which we hope would be useful to the work of our French Studies community. These include:

“Making the Case for Languages in Postgraduate Study” by current ASFS President Natalie Edwards and current ASFS treasurer Christopher Hogarth,

“French Studies at the University of Melbourne, 1921-1956” by former ASFS President Véronique Duché, and

“Engaging with the Past: Lessons from the History of Modern Languages at the University of Adelaide” by thirty-year ASFS stalwart John West-Sooby.

Please consider ordering this publication for your university’s library.

New association: Women in French Australia

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The Australian Society for French Studies is pleased to note that an Australian branch of the Women in French Association has been established. The network is based on and attached to the WIF programme in North America, and the executive committee is composed of the following ASFS members:

President: Christie Margrave (ANU) 

Vice President: Bonnie Thomas (UWA) 

Secretary/Early Career Researcher Representative: Françoise Campbell (Royal Holloway/IMLR) 

Communications Officer/Postgraduate Student Representative: Beth Kearney (UQ) 

International Liaison Officers: Natalie Edwards (U of Adelaide), Chris Hogarth (UniSA) 

The first WIF Australia panel, “Mediating Connections in Women’s Life Writing”, will take place at the ASFS virtual conference in December 2020. The association will also be launching a seminar series in the weeks to come, beginning with an Introduction to the Inaugural WIF Australia (Wif-Oz), a virtual event to take place on Friday November 6th, 2020 at 5.30 AEST. The committee is seeking approximately 10 participants each giving a 3-5 minute paper on their work in Women in French Studies. A Q and A session will follow the papers. If you are interested in participating and presenting at this event and in being a member of the network, contact wifaustralia@gmail.com.

Deadline extended to 25 September: Australian Society for French Studies 2020 Conference (‘Dis/connexion’, 3-4 December)

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ASFS Conference Banner 2020

We are pleased to extend the deadline for proposals for the Australian Society for French Studies 2020 Virtual Conference, until Friday September 25. We will advise successful applicants by early October and attendees and speakers will be required to become members/ renew their membership of the Society by November 1. Please find the call for papers below.

Call for Papers

Australian Society for French Studies

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE 2020

DIS/CONNEXION

3-4 December

Keynote speakers: Professor Lydie Moudileno (University of Southern California) and Associate Professor Mame-Fatou Niang (Carnegie Mellon University)

In light of the current situation, the ASFS has had to come to the inevitable decision of postponing the conference that was scheduled to take place in New Zealand this year, to 2021. In order to maintain a sense of community, and academic discussions around our research and future, the ASFS Conference will move online in a shorter format for 2020.

During a time of social distancing, in which we are requested to “Stay Apart Together”, the ASFS 2020 conference will bring members together to reflect upon the theme of connection and disconnection.

We invite proposals for papers and panels related to the conference theme. Papers may reflect upon, but are not limited to:

  • The role of the Humanities in general, and of language, literature and culture in particular, during times of crisis and social unrest
  • Literary, artistic and cinematic representations of connection and disconnection
  • The dis/connection between World and national literatures, cinema and history, and other forms of transnational connections
  • The Medical Humanities and the ethics of care
  • The Digital Humanities
  • Language pedagogy and (dis)connection
  • Interdisciplinary connections (and their limits)

Paper presentations will be scheduled for 10 minutes. Panels will be scheduled for 45 minutes, with 3 presentations and discussion.

The conference will be free to all members of the ASFS. Presenters will be required to join the Society by 1 November.

The Postgraduate Session will take place on the morning of 3 December via Zoom, led by Postgraduate Officer Dr Clara Sitbon. The Postgraduate Session is free and open to all members.

The conference will feature keynotes and roundtables, will include different formats for special events, and will incorporate social spaces such as a virtual coffee room running alongside and between panels.

We hope that this will allow members to continue to engage with the ASFS activities and with each other in these trying times.

Deadline for submitting paper and panel proposals: 25 September 2020 to Dr Leslie Barnes, Secretary: leslie.barnes@anu.edu.au.

Appel à communications

Australian Society for French Studies

CONFÉRENCE VIRTUELLE 2020

DÉ/CONNEXION

3-4 décembre

Intervenants principaux : Professor Lydie Moudileno (University of Southern California) et Associate Professor Mame-Fatou Niang (Carnegie Mellon University)

Au vu de la situation actuelle, l’ASFS a dû prendre la difficile décision de repousser sa conférence annuelle, qui devait initialement se tenir en Nouvelle-Zélande en décembre cette année, à 2021. Pour maintenir un sentiment de communauté, et pour poursuivre les importantes discussions qui conditionnent notre recherche et notre avenir, l’ASFS souhaite maintenir une version virtuelle de sa conférence, dans un format plus court.

A une époque de distanciation sociale, où nous sommes exhortés à être distancés ensemble, l’édition 2020 de la conférence ASFS entend rassembler ses membres autour de réflexions sur les thèmes de connexion et déconnexion.

L’ASFS invite des propositions de communications autour de ces deux thèmes. Les communications peuvent aborder les éléments suivants, sans pour autant y être exclusivement limitées :

  • Le rôle des Sciences Humaines (Humanities), des langues, de la littérature et de la culture, en temps de crise et de troubles sociaux
  • Représentations littéraires, artistiques, cinématographiques de connexions et déconnexions
  • La dé/connexion entre les littératures, cinémas, histoires nationales et nationaux, et les littératures, cinémas et histoires du monde, ainsi que d’autres formes de connections transnationales
  • Les Humanités Médicales et l’éthique de la compassion
  • Les Humanités Numériques
  • Pédagogie linguistique et (dé)connexion
  • Connections interdisciplinaires (et leurs limites)

Les communications seront de dix minutes chacune, et les panels de 45 minutes chacun (pour trois présentations et discussions).

La conférence sera entièrement gratuite pour les membres de l’ASFS. Si vous n’êtes pas membres de la société mais que vous souhaitez présenter une communication, vous devrez joindre la société avant le 1er novembre 2020.

La session dédiée aux étudiants de troisième cycle aura lieu le matin du 3 décembre via Zoom, et sera coordonnée par Dr Clara Sitbon (Postgraduate Officer). Cette session est gratuite et ouverte à tous les membres.

La conférence comprendra des séances plénières et tables rondes, mêlera une variété de formats pour divers événements, et inclura des espaces sociaux virtuels (cafés virtuels) en parallèle et entre les différentes sessions.

Nous espérons que cela permettra aux membres de continuer à s’impliquer dans les activités de l’ASFS, et les un.e.s avec les autres durant ces moments difficiles.

Les propositions de communications et de panels sont à envoyer avant le 25 septembre 2020, à la secrétaire de la société, Dr Leslie Barnes (leslie.barnes@anu.edu.au).