Leslie Kealhofer (PhD Candidate)

Since entering FSU's graduate program in French in 2006, I have been especially fortunate to benefit from two internships in France. In the summer of 2007, I worked as an intern at France Terre d'Asile, a humanitarian organization helping asylum-seekers and refugees, just outside downtown Paris. I returned to Paris in the summer of 2008 to work as intern with the publishing house Verdier, which specializes in works promoting international dialogue and understanding. Simultaneously, I was also able to further my doctoral research on Algerian women in France by meeting with writers, officials, politicians and film-directors relevant to my project.

The internships were arranged by Dr Hargreaves, Director of FSU's Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, and supported respectively by FSU's Center for the Advancement of Human Rights and the Claude Pepper Center. Throughout these experiences, I learned many things, not only on a professional level, but also on a personal level. I met and worked with people from all over the world, and by the end I felt like I'd taken a joint course in world geography and world conflict.

At France Terre d'Asile I enjoyed getting to know the residents, talking with them about the United States, their countries, their experiences in France, and cultural differences in general, and I was very touched by their warmth and kindness. I very much appreciated the opportunity to speak French all day, every day, and saw my oral comprehension and speaking skills noticeably improve over the course of my internship. It was my first experience working in a French organization, which was a very interesting experience in itself.

On a personal level, it was a very eye-opening experience. Working in Saint Denis gave me the opportunity to spend time in a part of France that is known as a quartier chaud or difficult area, but is also a town full of life: a large market held twice during the work week, streets full of people and lined with stores, and a very diverse population. At the same time, I also saw parts of the surrounding areas that were much more bleak: high-rise HLM (low-income housing) buildings, surrounded by concrete parking lots and very little commerce. This illustrated many things that I have been studying in my Francophone literature and culture classes.

For a girl who grew up in Iowa, the opportunity to eat a homemade Nepali meal made by a friend, learn how to cook a Sri-Lankan curry, attend a celebration for a Pakistani resident who received refugee status, and just to learn about and come into contact with people from so many cultures, was unforgettable, and an opportunity for which I am truly grateful.

Throughout my next internship, at Editions Verdier, I engaged in many activities relating to inter-cultural dialogue. I met with authors and editors from many different countries - such as Russia, Spain, and Italy - and religious backgrounds - such as Judaism and Islam. I worked with Verdier as they introduced these authors and their works to the French-speaking public. In addition to meeting with these authors and editors, I attended meetings with journalists, worked with the press service at Verdier, read manuscripts, and transcribed radio and television interviews given by Verdier's authors. I was very much struck by the dedication of the staff at Verdier, which publish works not just with the intention of being best-sellers but because they believe that the messages are important and can make a positive contribution to society.

The internship was also extremely helpful for my French skills, as I was surrounded by the French language every day, both in conversations with my colleagues and the literature they publish. I also used my time in France to take advantage of many resources for my PhD dissertation research. I was advised during this process by former Interior Minister Pierre Joxe, who introduced me to different Franco-Algerian organizations that promote dialogue and reconciliation between France, Algeria, their populations, and descendants. This also included an interview with the wife and daughter of a harki, political refugees after the Algerian War and victims of discrimination and hardship once in France. Finally, I worked with documentary film director Chantal Briet to create English subtitles for her film J'habite le français (I live in French). This film brings to the fore the necessity of creating a dialogue of cultures between the majority and minority populations in France – starting with resources needed to learn the French language. These experiences have been invaluable to me as I pursue my doctorate in French.