{"id":8790,"date":"2026-02-09T15:56:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:56:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/?page_id=8790"},"modified":"2026-04-09T14:35:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T18:35:05","slug":"french-and-francophone-studies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/majors-and-minors\/french-and-francophone-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"French and Francophone Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-office-dimp-association\"><div class=\"dimp-ctas dimp-floating-ctas\"><div class=\"wrapper\"><div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-garnet-button with-arrow\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/french-francophone-studies\">Visit the full French and Francophone Studies site<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p class=\"is-style-academic-introduction\">The Department of French and Francophone Studies focuses on developing French language proficiency while exploring the histories, cultures, and societies of the French-speaking countries around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.3%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p>Drawing on film, literature, theater, graphic novels, and pop culture, courses in this department focus on decolonization and anti-racism within this subject. All courses are taught in French, except in the case of some courses cross-listed with other departments or programs, giving students ample exposure to the language as they fine-tune their French skills.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\"><div class=\"contact-information\">\n<h5>Contact Us<\/h5>\n\t<p class=\"address\">Indya Childs, Academic Administrative Assistant<br \/>\n9 Andrews Road<br \/>\nRoger Williams<br \/>\n<span class=\"address-email\"><a href=\"mailto:ichilds@bates.edu\">ichilds@bates.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p><div class=\"bates-contact-info-social-grid\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-dark-color has-text-color\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">What You Will Learn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_A-900x300.webp\" alt=\"garnet iconography with speech bubbles, stack of paper, and pencil\" class=\"wp-image-10284\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_A-900x300.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_A-400x133.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_A-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_A-200x67.webp 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_A.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Strong written and oral expression in the French language<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_B.webp\" alt=\"garnet iconography with people, books on a shelf, and magnifying glass\" class=\"wp-image-10285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_B.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_B-400x133.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_B-900x300.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_B-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_B-200x67.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">To explore a diversity of experiences in Francophone cultures<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_C.webp\" alt=\"garnet iconography with people, globe, and trifold map with marker\" class=\"wp-image-10286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_C.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_C-400x133.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_C-900x300.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_C-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_C-200x67.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">To engage directly with Francophone communities through study abroad, internships, and community-engaged learning<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_D.webp\" alt=\"garnet iconography with magnifying glass, open book, and computer\" class=\"wp-image-10287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_D.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_D-400x133.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_D-900x300.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_D-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_D-200x67.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">How to evaluate the credibility and reliability of information across different media, platforms, and sources<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_E.webp\" alt=\"garnet iconography with stack of books, concentric circles, person, and open notebook\" class=\"wp-image-10288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_E.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_E-400x133.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_E-900x300.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_E-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_E-200x67.webp 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">To engage thoughtfully with the cultural experiences of others<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_F-900x300.webp\" alt=\"garnet iconography with people, speech bubble, academic building, and graduation cap\" class=\"wp-image-10289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_F-900x300.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_F-400x133.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_F-768x256.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_F-200x67.webp 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/04\/French_F.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Significant research skills via prolonged mentorship with faculty<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull is-light has-parallax\" style=\"min-height:400px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><div class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-9120 size-full has-parallax\" style=\"background-position:50% 50%;background-image:url(https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/french_2.webp)\"><\/div><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Life After Bates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>French and Francophone studies majors graduate from Bates with strong cross-cultural and analytical skills which are valued across a wide range of careers, including journalism, law, international finance, museum curation, and global community engagement. Recent majors have embarked on successful jobs in media, psychology research, the film industry, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:40px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:10%\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:80%\">\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-garnet-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-8df115c7a0f8fb228d46aa9dc18029e2\">94%<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">of 2020-2024 Bates graduates are employed and\/or attending graduate school \u2014 settled into their next opportunity within 6 months of graduation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:10%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-lightgray-bg has-dark-color has-text-color\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><em>\u201cI was able to take my French major and spin it into international business. After Bates, I went into investment banking at a French investment bank. I really built on that and am now running an international business for a U.S.- based financial media company. I really got that foundation to say, okay, what are some of the building blocks of a career?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014 Marsha Larned \u201907<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2ab7c3a799664dcab6a3bf35fbf1a0e7\">Selected Places of Employment\/Service<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7293980ecf21423debb4f846f7b3e38f\">\n<li>Bank of America<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sullivan &amp; Cromwell LLP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Analysis Group<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Refugee Women&#8217;s Alliance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>U.S. Navy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teaching Assistant Program in France<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maine Immigrants&#8217; Rights Coalition<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Teton County Health Department<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Guidepoint<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c3d2bfd169d6a9bae4c19f53cab21650\">Selected Graduate Schools<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-836fc58663d40ec1574d8a14704a46fe\">Stanford University School of Medicine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Columbia University Irving Medical Center<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Georgetown University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Central Saint Martins \u2014 University of the Arts London<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Harvard Business School<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-f4461396986845ed464b7f2ece582589\">Georgetown University School of Medicine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Yale University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tufts University<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Boston College<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cornell University<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-lightgray-bg has-dark-color has-text-color\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-bates-slideshow2-slideshow swiper-effect-slide is-style-default\"><div class=\"slideshow-toolbar\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"js-open-fullscreen fullscreen-button\" title=\"View full screen\"><\/a><\/div><div id=\"slideshow4466\" class=\"swiper swiper-main has-pagination-progressbar\"><div class=\"swiper-button-next\"><\/div><div class=\"swiper-button-prev\"><\/div><div class=\"swiper-pagination\"><\/div><div class=\"swiper-wrapper\"><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10081\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1727.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1727-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1727-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10077\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1392.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1392-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1392-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10083\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_3241.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_3241-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_3241-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10080\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1658.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1658-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1658-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10082\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1749.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1749-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1749-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10079\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1534.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1534-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1534-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Moments from inside Laura Balladur's course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday's are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav\" data-id=\"10078\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1261.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1261-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/03\/260316_Classroom_Laura_Balladur_1261-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Moments from inside Laura Balladur&#8217;s course FR205 in Roger WIlliams Hall captured on March 16th, 2026. Monday&#8217;s are a performance day and often include theater-based\u00a0games and improv.(Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\n\nLaura Balladur is Lecturer in the French and Francophone Studies department at Bates College since 2003. Her broad interests include translation both in theory and practice, cinema, the relationship between literature and science, and the embodied mind. Her dissertation \u201cImagination, Physiology, and the Dynamics of Representation\u201d (2005) explored the emergence of proto-biology in various 17th and 18th-century scientific texts in Europe. She has published on translation as well as on the history of science. Her latest article offered an alternate reading to Descartes\u2019s dualism. True to her other undergraduate degree in Studio Arts, she keeps returning to her interest in creative projects. Currently, she is working on a creative non-fiction project describing our relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, both past and present. With a generous Faculty Development Grant (April 2022), she traveled to the colonial archives in Brussels, followed by a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the North and South Kivu capitals: Goma, in the foothills of Mt Nyiragongo, and Bukavu, at the southern tip of Lake Kivu. She wanted to follow the imprints of colonial-era infrastructures onto the present-day territory. The collected voices from the many guides she met reveal the lasting wounds of colonialism with its persisting extractive economies that form the bedrock of our modern life. During the trip to the DRC, she taught a two-hour workshop on The Art of Creative Non-Fiction at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Bukavu. In Fall 2022, students in her translation course met over Zoom with a few students from Bukavu who participated in that summer\u2019s workshop. Her students\u2019 translations along with the originals can be found here: Bridges to Bukav<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"&quot;Truth&quot;-- first year seminar 481A\n\nProf. Alexandre Dauge-Roth French and francophone studies\nProf. Michael Murray economics\nMWF 1:10-2:30 \/ PGILL G10\n\nStudent designers of first-year-seminar on Truth meet students taking the class.\n\nTrevor Fry, Gillian Coyne, Owen Lewis, Isabel Pearson Kramer, Julian Seers, and Mahmoud Yousry.\n\nTwo neutron stars colliding 130 million years ago confirmed Einstein\u2019s gravity theory. Does confirmation\nmean Einstein\u2019s theory is true? How is truth defined within the many truth and reconciliation commissions\naround the world? What promise of truth lies within historical archives? Within documentaries? Within\nfiction? How can we speak truthfully about unspeakable acts? This seminar joins thinkers modern and\nancient drawn from many disciplines to explore what is meant by &quot;truth,&quot; how people form ideas about what\nis true, why people care greatly about truth, and how social forces influence what people think is true.\" data-id=\"9125\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/181130_Truth_FYS_0440.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/181130_Truth_FYS_0440-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/181130_Truth_FYS_0440-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>&#8220;Truth&#8221;&#8211; first year seminar 481A\n\nProf. Alexandre Dauge-Roth French and francophone studies\nProf. Michael Murray economics\nMWF 1:10-2:30 \/ PGILL G10\n\nStudent designers of first-year-seminar on Truth meet students taking the class.\n\nTrevor Fry, Gillian Coyne, Owen Lewis, Isabel Pearson Kramer, Julian Seers, and Mahmoud Yousry.\n\nTwo neutron stars colliding 130 million years ago confirmed Einstein\u2019s gravity theory. Does confirmation\nmean Einstein\u2019s theory is true? How is truth defined within the many truth and reconciliation commissions\naround the world? What promise of truth lies within historical archives? Within documentaries? Within\nfiction? How can we speak truthfully about unspeakable acts? This seminar joins thinkers modern and\nancient drawn from many disciplines to explore what is meant by &#8220;truth,&#8221; how people form ideas about what\nis true, why people care greatly about truth, and how social forces influence what people think is true.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Admitted students and their parents got a chance to see Bates\u2019 classroom culture up close and personal during a masterclass titled \u201cMaster Class: Paris Revisited,\u201d delivered by Professor of French and Francophone Studies Alexandre Dauge-Roth during the Admitted Students Reception on April 14.\" data-id=\"9123\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/230414_Admitted_Student_Reception_2086.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/230414_Admitted_Student_Reception_2086-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/230414_Admitted_Student_Reception_2086-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Admitted students and their parents got a chance to see Bates\u2019 classroom culture up close and personal during a masterclass titled \u201cMaster Class: Paris Revisited,\u201d delivered by Professor of French and Francophone Studies Alexandre Dauge-Roth during the Admitted Students Reception on April 14.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\u201cMy thesis is about the evolving role of French in Maine, and as a Franco-American and French speaker, Herb has been a great friend and contributor to the brainstorming process surrounding my thesis.\u201d\n\nMartha Coleman \u201923 of Seattle, a double major in French and Francophone studies and American studies, took to the steps of Coram Library to bind her honors thesis, along with other students, staff, and faculty.\n\nColeman recruited the help of Herb Saucier, the Learning Shuttle bus driver for the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, to bind her thesis, titled \u201cLe fran\u00e7ais et le Franco(phone)s: An exploration of the evolving significance of French in Maine,\u201d advised by Professor of French and Francophone Studies Mary Rice-Defosse.\n\n\u201cOver the last four years, I've gotten to be here and speak this language, and speak it with people who grew up here speaking French,\u201d she said.\n\nSaucier has been a \u201csupporter and cheerleader\u201d for Coleman throughout the thesis writing process. \u201cI just think it's such a nod to how important community work and community members have been to this project.\u201d\n\n\u201cCommunity engagement has been a huge part of my time at Bates and I hope that my thesis binding will be an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the community members who made my thesis project, and my Bates career as a whole, possible,\u201d says Coleman.\n\nAllison Fischman \u201923, a sociology major from Woodbridge, Conn., and Sam Manogue \u201826 of Wynnewood, Penn., were binding Fischman\u2019s thesis, titled \u201cAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Conceptualizations in Research and Policy,\u201d advised by Professor of Sociology Emily Kane.\n\nLiam Daly-Smith \u201823, a physics major from Montclair, N.J., got help from Jing Fang \u201923 of Beijing, and Adriana Pastor Almiron \u201925 of Asuncion, Paraguay, to bind his thesis, titled \u201cTidal Energy in Cobscook Bay: An Analysis of Tidal Range Energy and Tidal Barrage Generation Paradigms,\u201d advised by Professor of Physics John S\" data-id=\"9122\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/230417_Thesis_BIndings_0133.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/230417_Thesis_BIndings_0133-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/230417_Thesis_BIndings_0133-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>\u201cMy thesis is about the evolving role of French in Maine, and as a Franco-American and French speaker, Herb has been a great friend and contributor to the brainstorming process surrounding my thesis.\u201d\n\nMartha Coleman \u201923 of Seattle, a double major in French and Francophone studies and American studies, took to the steps of Coram Library to bind her honors thesis, along with other students, staff, and faculty.\n\nColeman recruited the help of Herb Saucier, the Learning Shuttle bus driver for the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, to bind her thesis, titled \u201cLe fran\u00e7ais et le Franco(phone)s: An exploration of the evolving significance of French in Maine,\u201d advised by Professor of French and Francophone Studies Mary Rice-Defosse.\n\n\u201cOver the last four years, I&#8217;ve gotten to be here and speak this language, and speak it with people who grew up here speaking French,\u201d she said.\n\nSaucier has been a \u201csupporter and cheerleader\u201d for Coleman throughout the thesis writing process. \u201cI just think it&#8217;s such a nod to how important community work and community members have been to this project.\u201d\n\n\u201cCommunity engagement has been a huge part of my time at Bates and I hope that my thesis binding will be an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the community members who made my thesis project, and my Bates career as a whole, possible,\u201d says Coleman.\n\nAllison Fischman \u201923, a sociology major from Woodbridge, Conn., and Sam Manogue \u201826 of Wynnewood, Penn., were binding Fischman\u2019s thesis, titled \u201cAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Conceptualizations in Research and Policy,\u201d advised by Professor of Sociology Emily Kane.\n\nLiam Daly-Smith \u201823, a physics major from Montclair, N.J., got help from Jing Fang \u201923 of Beijing, and Adriana Pastor Almiron \u201925 of Asuncion, Paraguay, to bind his thesis, titled \u201cTidal Energy in Cobscook Bay: An Analysis of Tidal Range Energy and Tidal Barrage Generation Paradigms,\u201d advised by Professor of Physics John S<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"swiper-slide\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Teaching as if Their Lives Depend on it: Preparing Students for Bates and Beyond\nWhether your children are first-years or seniors, they will be anxious about getting a job after Bates. Parents are not immune to this anxiety either. While they are here, we encourage our students to be engaged, motivated, and to challenge themselves in their academic work. It\u2019s a continuum: students develop both habits of mind and practices that they\u2019ll carry from their academic work into lives of engaged citizenship. How do the liberal arts prepare individuals for life beyond college? Why does intellectual breadth in college enrich one\u2019s life both at Bates and in the future? How do we challenge students to discover new passions and the wide range of options open to them? What do we need to instill in our students to help them succeed in college and beyond? In this panel discussion, professors from a variety of disciplines talk about teaching for life, pre-professionalism and discovery, and tout the benefits of finding one\u2019s path and wandering off it.\n\nModerator: Kathryn Low, Professor of Psychology and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty\n\nPanelists:\n\nLee Abrahamsen, Associate Professor of Biology and Chair of Medical Studies Committee\nMatthew Jadud, Associate Professor of Digital and Computational Studies\nKirk Read, Professor of French and Francophone Studies\nMara Tieken, Associate Professor of Education\nPettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (Room G52)\" data-id=\"9121\" data-fullsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/170923_Teaching_Panel_0114.webp\" data-regsrc=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/170923_Teaching_Panel_0114-900x600.webp\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/170923_Teaching_Panel_0114-900x600.webp\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><div class=\"image_caption\"><p>Teaching as if Their Lives Depend on it: Preparing Students for Bates and Beyond\nWhether your children are first-years or seniors, they will be anxious about getting a job after Bates. Parents are not immune to this anxiety either. While they are here, we encourage our students to be engaged, motivated, and to challenge themselves in their academic work. It\u2019s a continuum: students develop both habits of mind and practices that they\u2019ll carry from their academic work into lives of engaged citizenship. How do the liberal arts prepare individuals for life beyond college? Why does intellectual breadth in college enrich one\u2019s life both at Bates and in the future? How do we challenge students to discover new passions and the wide range of options open to them? What do we need to instill in our students to help them succeed in college and beyond? In this panel discussion, professors from a variety of disciplines talk about teaching for life, pre-professionalism and discovery, and tout the benefits of finding one\u2019s path and wandering off it.\n\nModerator: Kathryn Low, Professor of Psychology and Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty\n\nPanelists:\n\nLee Abrahamsen, Associate Professor of Biology and Chair of Medical Studies Committee\nMatthew Jadud, Associate Professor of Digital and Computational Studies\nKirk Read, Professor of French and Francophone Studies\nMara Tieken, Associate Professor of Education\nPettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (Room G52)<\/p><\/div><div class=\"swiper-lazy-preloader\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7aee253ed451432bbb39b803eb057bb0\">Why Study French and Francophone Studies at Bates?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The French and Francophones studies department takes a wholly interdisciplinary approach, delving into sociology, anthropology, rhetoric, and more to give students a well-rounded view on the subject. The majority of students study abroad for one semester or a year in places including Bordeaux, France; Paris; and Rabat, Morocco.&nbsp;In addition, Lewiston has a rich and diverse Francophone population, allowing students to converse with French Canadians and new Mainers from various sub-Saharan Francophone countries and get first-hand exposure to the voices and topics they\u2019re studying.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:80px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-garnet-bg has-white-color has-text-color\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Featured Courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:12px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<aside class=\"course-teaser-wrap\">\n\t<div class=\"course-teasers _columns-3\" style=\"--displayColumns:3;\">\t<div class=\"course-teaser-course\">\n\t\t\n\t\t<h5 class=\"course-title\" title=\"ENVR252-FRE252\">Francophone Ecopoetics: Re-Envisioning Politics of Land, Sea, and the City<\/h5>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"course-description\">Through the analysis of Francophone Sub-Saharan African and Caribbean film, literature, photography, performative art, and theory, students explore how communit&hellip;<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"course-teaser-course\">\n\t\t\n\t\t<h5 class=\"course-title\" title=\"FRE205\">Oral French<\/h5>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"course-description\">The course is designed to develop oral fluency and aural acuity, with attention to vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, syntax, and pronunciation. The course is c&hellip;<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"course-teaser-course\">\n\t\t\n\t\t<h5 class=\"course-title\" title=\"FRE235\">Advanced French Language and Introduction to Film Analysis<\/h5>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"course-description\">The course is designed to develop facility in conversing, debating and writing in idiomatic French with ease and fluency. Students review linguistic structures &hellip;<\/p>\n\t<\/div><\/aside><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:80px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-gray-light-background-color has-background-dim-100 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c3447d431100b3b4517fc9ee6c141a62\">Meet the Faculty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a2c7716649da632b844c0f3735a44473\">Faculty in French and Francophone studies hold doctorates from renowned universities and have expertise that spans a wide range of historical and geographical contexts, from early modern France to contemporary Francophone studies. Faculty members have worked across many subject areas, including directing international study programs, leading national scholarly associations, and partnering with Franco-American communities in Maine.&nbsp;The faculty works closely with students to bring current research into their classroom and demonstrate how rigorous humanities scholarship can address pressing global issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\"><div class=\"is-style-grid bates-faculty-profiles-department-list \" style=\"--columnCount:3;--columnWidth:300px;\">\t<div class=\"faculty-profile profile-row\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Laura C. Balladur\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/263\/files\/2015\/08\/302-e1706023832707-263x300.webp\" class=\"profile-image wp-image-5839\" \/>\n\t\t<h3 class=\"profile-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/faculty-profile\/laura-c-balladur\">Laura C. Balladur<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"profile-title\">Senior Lecturer in French and Francophone Studies<\/h4>\n\t\t<div class=\"departmental-associations department-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench and Francophone Studies, European Studies\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"faculty-profile profile-row\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Alexandre E. Dauge-Roth\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/263\/files\/2015\/08\/IMG_3418-e1761432231455-282x300.webp\" class=\"profile-image wp-image-7647\" \/>\n\t\t<h3 class=\"profile-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/faculty-profile\/alexandre-e-dauge-roth\">Alexandre E. Dauge-Roth<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"profile-title\">Professor of French and Francophone Studies<\/h4>\n\t\t<div class=\"departmental-associations department-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench and Francophone Studies <span class=\"chair-flag-inline\">Chair<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"faculty-profile profile-row\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Kirk D. Read\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/263\/files\/2015\/08\/new-Kirk-241x300.jpg\" class=\"profile-image wp-image-283\" \/>\n\t\t<h3 class=\"profile-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/faculty-profile\/kirk-d-read\">Kirk D. Read<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"profile-title\">Professor of French and Francophone Studies<\/h4>\n\t\t<div class=\"departmental-associations department-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench and Francophone Studies\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\t<div class=\"faculty-profile profile-row\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Mary T. Rice-DeFosse\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/faculty\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/263\/files\/2015\/08\/IMG_1589-257x300.jpg\" class=\"profile-image wp-image-3576\" \/>\n\t\t<h3 class=\"profile-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/faculty-profile\/mary-t-rice-defosse\">Mary T. Rice-DeFosse<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t<h4 class=\"profile-title\">Professor of French and Francophone Studies<\/h4>\n\t\t<div class=\"departmental-associations department-meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFrench and Francophone Studies\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:60px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignfull has-parallax\"><div class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-9128 size-full has-parallax\" style=\"background-position:50% 50%;background-image:url(https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/files\/2026\/02\/french_3.webp)\"><\/div><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<style data-is=\"custom-styles\" class=\"wp-block-bates-page-specific-css-css\">.contact-information h5 {margin-top: 0; !important }<\/style>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"aside-stories-wrap\" data-nosnippet>\n\t\t\t\t<h1>News &#038; Events<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"aside-stories news-updates is-style-grid\"><article class=\"aside-story\"><a class=\"aside-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/student-led-festival-brings-world-class-film-to-maine\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"173\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234-400x173.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Lewiston, ME, United States  -- Guest lecturer Chris Schiff, the Music and Arts Librarian at Bates, watches the film \u201cSay Cheese!\u201d by Bates alum Amy Geller `96, during a Film Festival Studies taught by Professor Jonathan J. Cavallero in Olin Arts Center 105 at Bates College in Lewiston, ME on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. Schiff was there to talk about potential copyright issues with the music that is used in the film. Students discussed whether they should show the film at the upcoming festival. (Photo by Yoon S. Byun) \u00a9 2026 Strewn Wonder, LLC\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234-400x173.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234-900x389.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234-1200x519.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234-1536x664.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234-200x87.webp 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/cropped_260325_FilmFestivalStudies_Cavallero_0234.webp 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><div class=\"aside-text-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"aside-date\">April 9, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"aside-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/student-led-festival-brings-world-class-film-to-maine\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent-led festival brings world class film to Maine\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"aside-text\">The Bates Film Festival might at first seem like any other film festival. There are screenings, facilitated panel discussions, and featured guests. Running May 12-17,&hellip;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/article><article class=\"aside-story\"><a class=\"aside-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/bates-announces-2026-commencement-honorands-including-writer-deborah-harkness\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP-400x267.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Opening Convocation at 11 a.m. Sept. 2, 2025, on the Historic Quad, followed by In Memoriam: Tree Planting Service. Processional Welcome by President Garry Jenkins Mace Bearer Mary T. Rice=DeFosse Greetings by Zach Richards \u201926 and Mohammad Zayd \u201927, Co-Presidents Convocation Address \u201cA College for Coming Times\u201d Rebecca Herzig, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Benediction Raymond Clothier, Interim Multifaith Chaplain Memorial Tree Planting Alongside Gomes Chapel on College Street, in memory of those in the Bates community who died during the past year. The tree was designated with a yellow bow.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP-200x133.webp 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/250902_Convocation_0009_WP.webp 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><div class=\"aside-text-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"aside-date\">April 9, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"aside-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/bates-announces-2026-commencement-honorands-including-writer-deborah-harkness\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBates announces 2026 Commencement honorands, including writer&hellip;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"aside-text\">Bates will recognize four honorary degree recipients during Commencement on May 31, including Commencement speaker Deborah Harkness.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/article><article class=\"aside-story\"><a class=\"aside-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/record-breaking-applications-for-the-class-of-2030\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095-400x267.webp\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Moments from this year\u2019s Bates Beginnings at Bates College on March 27th, 2026. (Theophil Syslo | Bates College)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095-400x267.webp 400w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095-900x600.webp 900w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095-942x628.jpg 942w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095-200x133.webp 200w, https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/174\/files\/2026\/04\/260327_Bates_Beginnings_0095.webp 1919w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><div class=\"aside-text-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"aside-date\">April 9, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"aside-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/record-breaking-applications-for-the-class-of-2030\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRecord-breaking applications for the Class of 2030\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"aside-text\">The application pool for the Class of 2030 is the largest in Bates\u2019 history with a total of 12,009 applicants seeking admission for the 2026-2027&hellip;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/article><\/section><!-- .aside-stories -->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--.aside-stories-wrap-->\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of French and Francophone Studies focuses on developing French language&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9119,"parent":7912,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/dimp.php","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_prepend":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_append":false,"_batesModPostContentOverride_append_before_footer":false,"_dimp_site_id":"18","_dimp_override_contact":true,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-8790","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8790"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10399,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8790\/revisions\/10399"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}