Major: French
Minor: French
Program Director: Sarah Jacqueline Harrell DeSmet, Associate Professor of French and Spanish
Study Abroad | Special Opportunities | Outcomes | Faculty
Wesleyan’s Foreign Language Department offers both a major and minor in French. And that’s good news – because during the last decade, career opportunities for people who speak French have increased considerably, with the emergence of the European community as the world’s largest trading block and with the growing importance in world affairs of the African Francophone nations. The French minor may be combined with numerous majors in humanities, fine arts, math, international business relations and science. For information about specific courses offered, please see our Academic Catalogue.
Study Abroad
Wesleyan College maintains cooperative agreements through the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) which provides access to a wide range of institutionally approved national and international colleges and universities in popular destinations that include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Japan, China, Australia, Austria and Argentina.
In addition to these cooperative agreements, Wesleyan College has direct exchange agreements through the Business Education Initiative with various schools in Northern Ireland and with the following schools: Ulyanovsk State University in Russia, Sookmyung Women’s University in South Korea, Ewha Woman’s University in South Korea, and Osaka University in Japan. Wesleyan also offers faculty-led special study abroad courses in various locations. Questions about study abroad may be referred to Dr. Karen Huber, chair of the Study Abroad Academic Advisory Committee. Click here for additional Study Abroad information.
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Special Opportunities
The department encourages internships and volunteer projects which tap the language skills acquired in the classroom. Some of these activities may, at the discretion of a faculty sponsor, be applied for credit in the field studies category. Wesleyan language students have the opportunity to work as tutors in local schools, volunteer in library reading programs, and intern with multinational businesses. Students also have the opportunity to be inducted into the Phi Sigma Iota Honor Society.
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Outcomes
Students who major or minor in French often continue to graduate and professional studies in education, international business or relations, journalism, medicine, biology or chemistry. During the last decade career opportunities for people who speak French have increased considerably with the emergence of the European community as the world’s largest trading block, and with the growing importance in world affairs of the African Francophone nations. The French major or minor may be combined with numerous majors in humanities, fine arts, math, international business relations and science.
See our departmental newsletter for details about recent activities on campus and about our graduates.
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Faculty
 Sarah Jacqueline Harrell DeSmet Associate Professor of French and Spanish. B.A. (French and Spanish) Vanderbilt University 1990; M.A. (French Literature) Indiana University 1993; Ph.D. (Romance Languages) University of Georgia 2001. My professional interests include 18th-century women’s epistolary novels in French, especially Isabelle de Charrière, translation, and foreign language education. Tate 209. sdesmet@wesleyancollege.edu
 Gladys M. Francis Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies. B.A. (Humanities and [French] Second Language Acquisition) University of the French West-Indies and Guiana Martinique, France 2000; M.A. (Education/[French] Second Language Acquisition), Francophone Institute of Higher Education, University of the French West-Indies and Guiana Martinique, France 2002; M.A.(French/Francophone Studies and [French] Second Language Acquisition) Purdue University 2003; Ph.D. (French and Francophone Studies) Purdue University 2008. My primary research interests focus on French/Francophone literatures, theory and cultural studies. I concentrate on post-Colonial studies, women and gender studies, literatures of the African diaspora and film studies. Tate 210. gfrancis@wesleyancollege.edu
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