L’ESSOR
newsletter of the professional french masters program University of Wisconsin-Madison Volume 12, Issue 2
ALUMNI PROFILE : ELAINE CLARK
FALL 2015
PFMP graduate reflects on French, Africa and work in a private international development company special points of interest WHAT DO YOU DO NOW FOR A LIVING ?
Lettre d’une stagiaire: les relations internationales à la nouvelle Aix-Marseille Université
I work at a small private international development company and am celebrating my first year with them. The company, The Mitchell Group, was founded by Lloyd Mitchell many years ago as a response to the expanding mission of US government development assistance and his experience in Africa and globally. We provide support services and monitoring and evaluation to mostly US government funded projects in many countries.
Alumna Elaine Clark talks about Africa, her work for the Mitchell Group, and how the PFMP prepared her for work in international development What did France learn from the deadly 2003 heat wave? Current Students and Alumni : what are they doing now ?
We have some projects that are for NIH and have worked on the ground-breaking Ebola vaccine development managing a project for NIH in Mali and Liberia.
in this issue Alumni profile : Elaine Clark on Africa, international work and the PFMP
1
Lettre d’une stagiaire: Aix-Marseille Université, Relations internationales
2
From the Director
3
Recent books: Fatal Isolation
4
Current students & alumni
5
The PFMP names an Assistant Director 11
The projects we are implementing currently are in Frenchspeaking West Africa, and I use French daily.
Elaine Clark (MFS 2007, international development)
The main projects we are implementing currently are in French-speaking West Africa and I use French daily. In fact, without the ability to read and write and understand business French I would have been lost at working with contracts, payments, accounting and banking in French.
the development of the Annual Work Plan (a plan of all the activities we will undertake in the coming program year) which we submitted to USAID for review and approval. My role was to discuss in detail the activities and the cost and level of effort implications for each activity. I then created a budget.
We do the majority of our business in the field offices and I am a program assistant to a project whose main office is in Niger. As the program assistant and as a program manager, I have to be able to get involved with every level of the process of hiring, contracting, procurement, travel with the program office and we correspond mostly in French. I recently went to Niger to assist with
I am very thankful for having had the experience interning in the PFMP to help me take on these tasks and dive into a new technical context and survive linguistically. I am happy to say that due to all that hard work in the PFMP, it is relatively easy to work in a professional francophone environment. I have worked in Francophone environments before in international development but had not had (continued on p. 3)
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LETTRE D’UNE STAGIAIRE
Sarah Schwartz (Aix-Marseille Université) Mon premier mois en tant que stagiaire aux Relations Internationales d’Aix-Marseille Université a commencé d’une manière très idyllique. Je suis arrivée en fin d’après-midi, chargée de valises et fatiguée de mon voyage. En voyant mon nouveau studio vide et mon matelas toujours couvert en plastique, une de mes collègues a tout de suite offert de me ramener chez elle pour la nuit, mais avec une précision : d’apporter un maillot de bain. Une heure plus tard, je me trouvais dans sa piscine, entourée de cyprès sur une colline provençale. C’est ainsi que j’ai passé ma première nuit ici dans un petit village au bord de la Méditerranée, buvant du rosé de la région. En arrivant au travail le lendemain, je me suis rendu compte que je n’étais pas, en fait, en vacances. Mais mon accueil aux Relations Internationales n’était pas moins chaleureux. Ma mission principale ici consiste à faire une étude de benchmarking sur des écoles d’été internationales. Comme partie de l’internationalisation de AMU, mon département cherche à mettre en place des écoles d’été ouvertes aux étrangers. Dans le but de développer notre propre modèle de ces écoles, je fais une étude comparative sur les écoles d’été en Allemagne, au Canada, et en Chine. Le 2 décembre, je présenterai mes recherches dans un séminaire devant mes collègues et d’autres intervenants. J’ai l’impression que cette date s’approche déjà vite !
Sarah Schwartz (éducation internationale)
Ma mission principale ici consiste à faire une étude de benchmarking sur des écoles d’été internationales. Comme partie de l’internationalisation de AMU, mon département cherche à mettre en place des écoles d’été ouvertes aux étrangers.
A part mes recherches sur les écoles d’été, c’était un mois chargé d’activité, avec des visites de deux ambassadeurs, l’Ambassadeur de Thaïlande et l’Ambassadeur de l’Australie. J’ai pu assister aux deux visites, qui étaient différentes et aussi instructives sur le côté diplomatique de ce travail. La semaine dernière, j’ai aidé avec nos deux soirées d’accueil pour les étudiants internationaux, l’une à Marseille, et l’autre à Aix-en-Provence. Les deux villes sont très distinctes l’une de l’autre, et cette différence se voyait même dans le contexte de ces soirées. Mes collègues m’avaient prévu qu’à Marseille, les étudiants dansent plus et la soirée dure plus longtemps, tandis qu’à Aix, les étudiants sont plus réservés et la soirée finit plus tôt. En effet, les soirées se sont déroulées exactement comme prévu. Finalement, hier, j’ai assisté à la CORI (Commission de Relations Internationales), ou des acteurs AMU des relations internationales discutaient dans la présence d’acteurs régionales sur la direction stratégique et globale de l’université dans ce domaine. J’étais intéressée d’entendre qu’AMU et la région PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) travaille ensemble actuellement pour accueillir des étudiants francophones de Syrie. C’est tout pour le moment! Avec une grande pensée d’Aix-enProvence à Madison,
Sarah
Volume 12, Issue 2
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From the Director : Deepening the individual internship Stages et réseautages… if the demanding academics of coursework are the mind of the PFMP experience, networking and the internship are its heart and soul. Taken together, they are what make for such hirable graduates. But what distinguishes these things from other opportunities out there for French-speaking Americans? And how do networking and the internship work in the PFMP? First and foremost, our students and alumni are unique individuals. After 26 years teaching college French, I have yet to experience a more student-centered French program. Our students build their own research plans, use their coursework to learn as much as they can about their field and opportunities in it, and use it all to get jobs. Networking is part of this from day one. Increasingly, entering students start the PFMP having spent time talking with alumni about the program, their fields, and their use of French in the world. Alumni are among our students’ best mentors, and of course alumni connect with and mentor each other, too. Just last month I exchanged emails with a PFMP alum in international development, whose NGO was looking to recruit a new French-speaking program manager. A relatively recent hire himself, he reminded me that two of his current colleagues are also PFMP alumni. Networking takes place on campus, at lectures, workshops, and professional events in the region. This semester, two different groups of PFMP students in French and international
education have taken road trips to regional conferences of NAFSA (Association of International Educators), in Des Moines and Chicago, sitting in on presentations by professionals likely to become our students’ future colleagues in the field. Another student heads in a couple of weeks to a Chicago event hosted by the French American Chamber of Commerce. Still others, too numerous to mention, attend talks, conferences, and one-on-one coffee chats around the world, with experts and alumni and other French-speaking professionals whose work and advice become a unique part of our students’ graduate experience. And of their training… which finds its most personalized form in the required internship our students all do, in their field and in the French-speaking world. We continue to deepen the process around each student’s internship hunt, centered on the student and current opportunities in the field, but with structured support from our internships team. We have seen an important change in that team. Our good friend and longtime France-based internship coordinator (and 2015 PFMP Honorary Fellow) Patrizia Volclair has returned to full-time teaching at the Université de Strasbourg’s Institut de Traducteurs, d’Interprètes et de Relations Internationales. We wish her the best in her next chapter. Taking the reins is our new Assistant Director, program alumna Mandi Schoville (see story on p. 11), now meeting monthly with all students as they move through this critical part of their studies and training.
Ritt Deitz Students network at talks, conferences and one-on-one coffee chats around the world, with experts and program alumni.
Clark, continued (from p. 1) the opportunity to work in depth with technical staff or with accounting and finance teams where details and precise communication mattered. HOW DID THE PFMP HELP YOU GET THERE? The PFMP prepared me to work in multiple jobs that I’ve held in international development since I graduated, starting with a humanitarian consulting firm InterWorks, in Madison. While I expected the program’s high standards for oral and written communication in French, I was also extremely happy to have found a very encouraging environment where I could push myself. The professors were sticklers but gave me very positive guidance, helping me break through challenges and improve my ability to both speak in French in front of people and improve my writing. I was also prepared by the program’s flexibility, which allowed me to focus on Africa—which has been a big
part of my current and my past job opportunities in development. The required research methods class, while initially challenging, has also helped me understand the data collection and analysis that we do every day as part of program implementation. While my understanding remains notional, the fact that I was required to delve into types of research and be able to describe the methodology and converse about the process has enabled me to interact more easily with our technical experts in monitoring and evaluation. WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN THE KIND OF WORK YOU DO NOW? The biggest challenge in my present-day position as a program manager is good time management. For example, I worry less about grammar when writing an email in French – sometimes I just need (continued on p. 8)
In the PFMP, professors’ positive guidance helped me break through challenges and improve my ability to speak French in front of people .
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Recent books: a tale of weather and vulnerability in France by Rachael Cooper (MFS 2014)
Keller’s tale, with its political analyses and demographic breakdowns, is a fascinating, emotionally taxing read.
The most compelling aspect of Fatal Isolation is Keller’s examination of the marginalization experienced by those most at risk during the heat wave.
KELLER, RICHARD. Fatal Isolation: The Devastating Paris Heat Wave of 2003. Chicago and London : University of Chicago Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-22625-1110. 240p. $35. The early weeks of August 2003 marked an unanticipated and unprecedented confluence of events in France and across Europe: meteorological conditions that created an unrelenting heat wave that settled over the already drought-stricken region, the beginning of the traditional vacation month of France (meaning that the many were gone on vacation, including the President, the Health Minister, and other government officials—resulting in a failure to respond quickly), and previously invisible social, economic, and political factors that rendered populations who were already physiologically at risk even more vulnerable to heat. Nearly 15,000 people died between August 2 and August 12— 12,000 of whom were elderly. The remaining 3,000 were living in precarious situations, suffering from addiction, mental illness, and disabilities. Many of them were also homeless. Among the deaths were a hundred-odd individuals “abandoned” to public burial in Thiais (a suburb just outside of Paris). Their families never claimed them. These individuals became the most public victims of the disaster, symbols of the “mismanagement of the heat wave and the social and political dysfunctions it revealed.” In five chapters, Keller explores their stories, in addition to the themes of physical and social isolation, the responsibility of the state for those most vulnerable, and how political, social, and economic determinants had already created an existence of marginalization, dehumanization, and vulnerability for those most at risk. Keller’s tale, with its political analyses and demographic breakdowns, is fascinating. Yet the most compelling aspect of Fatal Isolation is his examination of the marginalization experienced by those most at risk during the heat wave. In some ways, it is an emotionally taxing read, delving into the day-to-day lives of those who exist in isolation, without societal, cultural, or family ties. Keller argues that, for those already most at risk physiologically beneath the deadly effects of the heat wave, “a rhetoric of dehumanization exists in tandem with economic disaffiliation and the fracturing of social protections.” The consequence of this, according to Keller, was that it defined marginalized people by their deaths instead of their lives, by their flaws instead of their humanity. This way of seeing them cast them as agents of their own deaths, demoting them into stories of pity and shame, instead of seeing them as people who lost their lives for no reason. For Keller, attributing their deaths (continued on page 10)
Professor Richard Keller teaches in the Department of Medical History and Bioethics at the UW-Madison, where he is also currently Associate Dean for the International Division.
Volume 12, Issue 2
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Current Students & Alumni Jamie Adler (MFS 2014, international education) has expanded her role as study abroad advisor at The College of Wooster, and is now the primary advisor for all programs in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Chloe Bade (international education) is currently teaching French at Stevens Point Area Senior High while working on her master’s in international education through the Summer Institute Track. She is looking forward to her internship abroad this coming summer in the international education field.
Chris Beaver
Chloe Bade (orange shirt), with her students in the French Club at Stevens Point Area Senior High
After nine years at Trek Bicycle Corporation, Christopher Beaver (MFS 2005, EU affairs) has begun additional graduate studies in environmental conservation, at the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. He was recently selected to join the prestigious Pathways Program, which will allow him to work for a year as a National Park Guide along the Namekagon River, a unit of the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, beginning this fall. Serena Berkowitz (éducation internationale) a obtenu son B.A. en littérature française à l’University of Puget Sound à Tacoma, Washington en 2012, après quoi elle a travaillé comme assistante d'anglais à Pau. Les deux années passées, elle était professeur de français et espagnol dans un lycée catholique à Washington, D.C. Elle est ravie d'être de retour dans sa ville natale pour le PFMP. Angela Bublitz (éducation internationale) est en plein milieu de son stage à HEC (Hautes Etudes Commerciales) Montréal, où son grand projet consiste à analyser et à produire des recommandations sur une nouvelle résidence pour étudiants étrangers.
Kathleen Campbell is Program Coordinator of International Partnerships and Agreements at Georgia State University.
A native of France, Yoann Buidin (international education) recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from the Université de Lille 3. He is currently a graduate student coordinator in the Wisconsin School of Business Office of International Programs. Midwest Food & Beverage Trade Advisor for Business France, the French government’s international business development agency, John Brunner (MFS 2012, business) recently joined global wine colleagues at Vinexpo 2015. Vinexpo is the world’s largest wine trade show, held every two years in Bordeaux. John was sent to assist wine, spirits and beer producers in understanding the United States market. Recently, John introduced Cognac Mery and Champagne Marc into the Illinois market through US partners.
Kristen (Murphy) Caldecutt (MFS 2009, EU affairs) works at SevenFifty, a B2B platform in the wine & spirits industry in New York City. She had the pleasure recently to work with fellow PFMP grad, John Brunner (MFS 2012, business), promoting Business France trade tastings. Kristen is planning a Christmas vacation to Vienna with her husband and parents, and loves living in New York.
Yoann Buidin (international education)
Founding President & Creative Director of Soleil Media, Liliane Calfee (MFS 2008, international development) is also now a lecturer in DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media. She lives in Chicago. Kathleen Campbell (MFS 2015, international education) is Program Coordinator of International Partnerships and Agreements at Georgia State University, located in downtown Atlanta. She works primarily with international faculty participating in GSU's Faculty Mentoring Program and the internal review process for GSU's international agreements. Elaine Clark (MFS 2007, international development) is a Program Manager at The Mitchell Group, a longtime international development company that provides support services and monitoring and evaluation to mostly US government funded projects in many countries around the world and extensively in Africa. She lives in Washington, D.C. (See Alumni Profile, page 1.) Lindsay Colbert (MFS 2008, international development) is now in her third year at Northwestern University as the Associate Director for Reunion Programs and Annual Giving. Diana Cruz (business) a obtenu son B.A. en relations internationales à l’Université de Californie à Davis en 2011, après quoi elle a travaillé, entre autres, comme assistante d’anglais à Angoulême, France. Elle s’intéresse au marketing. Nicole D'Amour (MFS 2004, international development) is now Manager of Partner Programs at CNH Industrial Capital in Racine, WI. She is responsible for managing both the insurance and credit card products in North America. Nicci also continues to volunteer/fundraise for St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Haiti. (continued on page 6)
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Current
(continued from page 6) Chris Fuglestad Chris Fuglestad (international education) earned Bachelor degrees from the University of Oregon, in French and International Studies, concentrating on Cross-Cultural Communication and Ethnic Identity in Africa, . He is particularly interested in study abroad programs in Africa.
Jessica Dean (R) and colleagues Caitlin Dawson (MFS 2014, international education) has left her position as Advisor in Student Life at Hautes Etudes Commerciales Montréal and is now an Advisor in the Office of International Student Services at UWMadison. Emily Davies (développement international) a obtenu son BA en littérature française et en études interdisciplinaires en médecine, société et santé de Vanderbilt University. Elle s'intéresse à la santé publique en Afrique. A UW-Madison, elle travaille à temps partiel pour la Central Africa Initiative, comme traductrice et assistante de recherche. Jessica Dean (Certificate 2014, business) is newly married and living in Wichita, KS. After her internship at Nouvelle Cour in Paris, she was hired at local branding agency Apples & Arrows. As Associate Strategist, Jessica creates big ideas for clients and coordinates agency events. Sarah (Eskridge) Demetz (MFS 2005, education) works in the international education office at Baruch College, City University of New York, where she recruits and prepares students for internship experiences abroad and runs a co-curricular global student program. She is currently establishing several new partnerships for tailored internship programs in seven key cities around the world, focusing on international business. Andrea Ferrer (éducation internationale) a obtenu son B.A. en français à Christopher Newport University à Newport News (Virginie) en 2009. Elle a reçu son certificat en TESL après quoi elle a été assistante d’anglais à Romans-sur-Isère. Elle s’intéresse aux programmes d’études étrangères au niveau universitaire.
Laura Gross (MFS 2012, Media/Art/Cultural Production) is Director of Operations for the Children's Chorus of Washington in Washington, DC. Since her PFMP internship at Ciné-Tamaris, Laura continues to follow the work of Agnès Varda, engaging with the French Embassy's retrospective of her films in DC, and the University of Chicago's CinéVardaExpo, both this fall. Karen Dawes Hamdad (MFS 2004, international development) recently celebrated her 3-year anniversary as Senior Cost and Pricing Officer at the public-health organization Population Services International, where she provides budgetary compliance support and capacity building and counts PFMP graduates Meghan Butler and Patrick Malarkey among her PSI colleagues. Karen is currently developing a francophone budget training, using adult learning techniques, which she'll facilitate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this November. Retirement has allowed Lynn Dosch (Certificate 2003, education) to spend extended time in France every year or two. Most recently, Lynn spent 2 months living in a small village near Sarlat, along the Dordogne River, where she and her husband acted as tour guides, French cooks, and interpreters for the many friends and family who visited. When at home in Madison, Lynn reads lots of French storybooks to her two grandchildren. Susan (West) Feess (MFS 2012, international education) has recently moved to New York City and is now Assistant Director of Student Affairs in the Executive MBA program at Columbia Business School. Jonathan Gatke (développement international) fait actuellement son stage à l’Association d’AZUR Développement, en République du Congo. Il assiste dans plusieurs projets dans les domaines de la santé publique, de l’éducation,
Middle: Anika Smith with Christopher Berry (Chairman, Mayberry Investments, L) and Peter Phillips (Jamaican Minister of Finance and Planning, right) Bottom: Program Director Ritt Deitz with Assistant Director Mandi Schoville (center) and recent graduates (L-R) Alex Esposito, Stephanie Olson, Kathleen Campbell, and Sarah Sommerkamp
(continued on page 7)
Volume 12, Issue 2
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Current Students & Alumni (continued from page 6) de l’agriculture, de l’environnement et de l’entrepreneuriat, dans les villes de Brazzaville et Nkayi. Ashley P. Gordon (business) earned her B.A. in French and English from Oakland University (Rochester, MI). Studying abroad and the TAPIF program have allowed her to live in France for three separate school years. Although she has a passion for everything French, she has her hopes and sights set on Quebec as the setting for a brand new experience in the form of her PFMP internship in public relations or communications next year. Joseph Halaas (MFS 2009, international education) is Director of International Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business. His role has recently expanded to include managing the education abroad experiences of the Wisconsin Evening and Executive MBA programs. He continues to manage the team responsible for undergraduate study abroad and exchange in the business school. Ashley Herrick (MFS 2013, business), Assistant Director for the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, has been busy developing French immersion excursions throughout in south-central Louisiana. She also works for the French American Chamber of Commerce and, in her spare time, is directing a photo project highlighting local Francophones and Francophiles through her community initiative, Francopportunités. Amanda Hilson (MFS 2011, media/arts/cultural production) has returned to teaching at the secondary level after a brief tenure working with adults at the university and online. She is teaching French at Memorial High School in Eau Claire, WI. She also started a new job in May, when she and her husband welcomed their daughter Violette Elise. Barbara Jedele (MFS 2015, international education) is an Advisor and Program Manager at UW-Madison's International Internship Program for this academic year. She enjoys helping undergraduate students find and develop internship opportunities around the world. Following a similar position at the University of North Florida, Steph-anie Jurgens (MFS 2011, international education) is now an International Student Advisor at the University of Wisconsin-
Brynn Powell Whitewater, where she advises and programs for students on F/J Visas. Melanie Kathan (MFS 2014, media/arts/cultural production) est lectrice d'anglais à l'Université d'Avignon, où elle donne des cours d'expression orale au sein du Département d'Etudes du Monde Anglophone. Megan Lachner-Maley (MFS 2005) had an exciting summer, as she married fellow Francophile Nikolaus Lachner on the Isle of Elba in Italy. They share a love for French hip hop, culture, literature and wine. She also celebrated 10 years at Nike, where she is currently employed as Integrated Marketplace Director for Nike UK/Ireland. Joshua Marris (business) has finished his internship at INIT Marketing in Créteil, France. While honing his market research skills, Josh continued to deepen his wine expertise; after several days of study at L’Ecole (continued on page 8)
YOUR GIFT SUPPORTS PFMP STUDENTS The generosity of PFMP alumni and other donors has allowed us to create important scholarships for PFMP students. These gifts directly help our students defray important living expenses, both in Madison and while they do their internships abroad.
DONATE ONLINE.
It’s easy—go to https://secure.supportuw.org/MultiPage/processStep1.do, and make sure to
type "Professional French Masters Program Support Fund" in the "Designation” box.
TO MAKE A GIFT BY CHECK:
please make your check payable to the University of Wisconsin Foundation, write
"Professional French Masters Program Support Fund" in the memo line and send to:
MERCI
University of Wisconsin Foundation U.S. Bank Lockbox P.O. Box 78807 Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807
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Clark, cont. (from p. 3) to send it and trust that the message succeeds… and it usually does. The other challenge related to this is prioritizing about how empathetic I can be with every person or institution’s demand for an urgent response. Sometimes I have to do other things first, even if I understand and empathize with their situation. WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUR WORK WILL ACCOMPLISH? However small my role in helping support a program or win a proposal may be, I hope that the projects my company implements will help people find their own resiliency as they
withstand the challenges that nature, politics, and commerce inequalities have put before them. I hope that, in a small way, my work will help them find a path to the resources they need to improve their lives and living conditions on their own. That sounds lofty, but the international development community is responsible both for helping some find in-dependence while engendering dependency among others. I would like to be part of the side giving people the means to become independent and resilient. ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS CONSIDERING THE PFMP?
My advice to PFMP students and potential students is to really reflect on your goals, lifestyle choices and how you want to use French professionally, so you can plot your way through the program smoothly, carefully tailoring the program to fit exactly what areas of burgeoning expertise and concrete skill sets you want to leave with. You can better make the most of the great resources and mentors the UW has to offer if you know what motivates to get out of bed in the morning and what you are willing to look back on and say what sacrifices you made to make this happen. Want it, own it and make it work for you!
Current (from p. 7) du Vin (Paris), he was granted Level 2 Certification by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, a London-based organization specializing in wine and spirits education and credentialing. Kristi Martin (MFS 2011, business) is the Central Region Strategy Manager at the digital startup RadiumOne in Chicago, where she manages the sales planning team across the Midwest and Canada. One of her ongoing projects includes helping grow RadiumOne’s Quebec business. Adriane Melchert (business) holds a B.A. from Lawrence University in French and Art History. Her major professional interest is the international art trade and decorative arts. She
currently works part-time for the UW-Madison Arts Institute. Jordan Milliken (MFS 2008, media/arts/ cultural production) works as a speechlanguage pathologist in public schools and a rehabilitation facility in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is currently collaborating with the district’s English as a Learning Language (ELL) program to establish best practice for distinguishing between language differences vs. language disorders in these populations. In her free time, she serves on the board of a non-profit amateur theatre company that brings the arts to underserved neighborhoods. Amy Musser (MFS 2012, business) has been
promoted twice in 2015 at Redfin Corporation in Seattle, WA, where she is currently Senior Public Relations Specialist. One of her latest “fun projects” was a piece, on Redfin’s blog, called “The 10 Best Affordable Cities Near Wine Country,” on which she partnered with Food & Wine magazine. Stephanie Parmentier (développement international) a obtenu son B.A. en français, avec des sous-spécialisations en études de genre et études filmiques, à Lawrence University (Appleton, WI) en 2015. Ses domaines d'intérêt dans le développement international comprennent les droits de l'homme, l’égalité hommes-femmes, et la réduction de la violence envers les femmes.
L-R: Fall Orientation 2015, Kate Williams
Megan Pashkevich (MFS 2014, business) recently left her position as a Bilingual Quality Editor with the market research firm BestMark and is now a Program Coordinator for Vistas in Education in Minneapolis, an educational tour company that organizes trips to France and host programs in the U.S. for French students. (cont. on p. 9)
Volume 12, Issue 2
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Current Students & Alumni (continued from page 8)
Kelley (Swanlund) Patriat (MFS 2013, éducation internationale) est maintenant directeur adjoint des admissions et de l’administration au Global Language Institute à Saint Paul, Minnesota. Elle est ravie d’avoir retrouvé sa ville natale et de continuer sa carrière dans le domaine de l’éducation internationale.
Stephanie Parmentier
Natalia Swerchowsky has been promoted to Industry Marketing Manager at BakerHostetler.
Sarah Sommerkamp
Zoe Plaugher (MFS 2009, international development) is in her second year of the Catholic University of America’s Master of Social Work program and is currently working as a Clinical Social Work Intern at the Washington Cancer Institute in Washington, DC.
ment des Services Humains, et traduit les documents officiels en provenance des pays africains.
Brynn Powell (business) fait actuellement son stage PFMP à la Paris Wine Company, un exportateur et agent qui se spécialise en vins bios et natures et qui représente des domaines ayant une production à petite échelle. Elle s’amuse à redécouvrir la ville de Paris et également les régions viticoles de la France.
Kerry Strader (international education) earned her BA in Modern Languages and Literatures (French and Spanish) from Kenyon College in 2014. She then spent a year teaching English in the Champagne region through the TAPIF program. In the future she hopes to work in study abroad administration and advising.
Abby Rue (business) a obtenu son B.A. en littérature française à Beloit College au Wisconsin en 2013. Ses intérêts professionnels comprennent les relations publiques, la stratégie de marque internationale et la commercialisation des produits cosmétiques et de luxe.
Natalia Swerchowsky (MFS 2010, business) has been promoted to Industry Marketing Manager at BakerHostetler. In her new role, Natalia is responsible for guiding and supporting the business development efforts of various industry groups throughout the firm. She lives in Cleveland.
Kelly Silvers (business) graduated in 2013 with a B.A. in French, Foreign Languages, and International Studies with a minor in Accounting from Augustana College in Sioux Falls (now Augustana University). After graduating, she worked as a payroll specialist at Life Time Fitness for two years before enrolling in the PFMP.
Cassandra Tant (international education) recently received her bachelor’s degree in French and Studio Art from the University of Northern Iowa, which granted her opportunities work, study, and teach internationally. Captivated by global education, she hopes to continue working with students interested in studying abroad.
Anika Smith (MFS 2009, business) is the Assistant VP of Marketing at Mayberry Investments Limited, a boutique investment bank in Kingston, Jamaica, where she heads the marketing department. She is responsible for developing and implementing the firm’s marketing strategies and programs, managing corporate communication as well as media and public relations.
Nicole Udriot (MFS 2013, business) is the French Instructor and program leader at Midtown International School in Atlanta, GA. She is also a private tutor and designs customized courses for students interested in francophone arts, culture and travel. A singer-songwriter and composer, Nicole also performs at weddings and special events. Inspired by Carla Bruni and Madeleine Peyroux, her French covers are often the crowd favorites.
Sarah Sommerkamp (MFS 2015, développement international) est actuellement stagiaire à l'United African Organization à Chicago, où elle navigue le système légal de l'immigration aux Etats-Unis, enseigne l'anglais, interprète pour le Départe-
L-R: Maud Ridony, François Blanc, Joshua Marris, Michelle Ziarko
Gordon Walker (média/arts/production culturelle) a terminé sa maîtrise en littérature française en (continued on p. 10)
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Isolation (continued from p. 4) to solely physical factors rather than to the weather or is to define these individuals in a way that erases the significance of their deaths and therefore of their lives. He notes that “the marginalization of the elderly, the mentally ill, the homeless, the addicted, and the disabled follows a rhetoric of political, social, and economic exclusion”, concluding that “it is less old age than a combination of social marginalization and physiological vulnerability- owing to poverty, old age, dependency, disability, infectious disease, addiction – that rank among the most significant risk factors for dying during a heat wave.” Since 2003, mechanisms have been put in place to prevent heat-related deaths from occurring at that level. There are social workers who call those most at risk during times of extreme heat, and France now has a better method of alerting public authorities as meteorological conditions become dangerous. But, for Keller, these are only partial solutions, because they do not address a culture that creates and maintains a barrier of isolation between the vulnerable and the rest of society. Nor do they address the mechanisms that dehumanize those most in need of aid. In this riveting and unsettling tale, Keller not only delves into the cultural and political “why” of the 2003 heat wave. He also asks questions that do not have answers, questions about our own humanity, vulnerability, and the isolation of those most in need of support. Keller’s Fatal Isolation is a compelling read with humanitarian and cultural implications on individual, community, and national levels. It is recommended reading for anyone interested in the social determinants of health and death, the increasingly important culture of aging, and the “hows” of this tragedy that claimed almost 15,000 in ten days.
Current
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août à Louisiana State University, à Bâton Rouge. Son mémoire a traité une trilogie de films réalisés par Jean Cocteau. Il s'intéresse surtout à la réception du théâtre américain à Paris. Elizabeth Wautlet (MFS 2012, média/arts/production culturelle) vit à Paris où elle travaille dans la production et distribution de films indépendants. Elle est comedienne, active dans la troupe théâtrale The Big Funk Company et directrice de projets pour New Voices New Projects, une plate-forme internationale pour le développement de projets innovateurs de théâtre. Kate Williams (MFS 2013, international development) is the International Education Coordinator for the North Carolinabased travel education company, Broadreach. This summer, she managed three educational programs in St. Martin, Guadeloupe, and Dominica where she helped facilitate courses in French immersion, Caribbean cultural anthropology, diving, sailing, and marine biology. She is grateful to share learning experiences in the Caribbean's francophone islands and benefit from copious ripe mangoes—two passions inspired by her PFMP internship at Montreal's La Maison d'Haïti.
In the PFMP, alumna Rachael Cooper (MFS 2014, international development) focused her research on public health questions, doing two PFMP internships at AIDES and RuptureS, HIV/AIDS support agencies in Lyon, France. She now works as a Prevention Specialist at the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin.
Erin (Lieg) Woodard (MFS 2004, business) has left her position as Regional Grants Manager after 10 years at Rotary International and moved with her family to Madison, WI. She is currently working as a freelance translator with specializations in international development, sustainable development and life sciences. Suivant son stage PFMP à la Maison d’Haïti à Montréal et son diplôme au programme, Kirstie Yu (MFS 2015, média/arts/production culturelle) est de retour à Madison, où elle travaille au Schools of Hope Project, comme coordinatrice des tuteurs. Cette organisation a pour but de combler la réussite scolaire (cont. p.11)
These are only partial solutions, because they do not address a culture that creates and maintains a barrier of isolation between the vulnerable and the rest of society.
Volume 12, Issue 2
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PFMP alumna Mandi Schoville named new Assistant Director In July, the PFMP welcomed Mandi Schoville (MFS 2005, international education) as the program’s new Assistant Director. A native Texan, Mandi is an international educator who has lived in the Madison area since 2003, when she arrived to study in the PFMP after a year of studies at the Institut international d’études françaises (IIEF) in Strasbourg, France. While a student in the PFMP (international education), Mandi worked in many areas of the field, including the UW-Madison Office of International Student Services, International Engineering Studies and Programs, and the PEOPLE Program, in which she tutored program participants (UW-bound high school students) in their French coursework. Before leaving for her internship, she also did a one-semester international education practicum at Edgewood College, a small Dominican liberal arts college in Madison. Mandi did her PFMP internship in Toulouse, France, at what was then called ENSICA (École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Construction Aéronautique). There, Mandi managed parts of a new summer study abroad program, working on program evaluation tools and most of the logistical and administrative tasks having to do with visiting international students in that program. Upon completion of her Master of Professional French Studies degree in the PFMP (2005), Mandi worked as a Study Abroad Advisor at the UW-Madison International Academic Program office, where she ran a portfolio of 22 different study abroad programs and internships in France and other European destinations, including Scandinavia. After a brief period of working at home, as a stayat-home mom, Mandi returned to international
Assistant Director Mandi Schoville (MFS 2005, international education) education part-time, as Internships Liaison consultant to the PFMP, working with program leadership to help PFMP students with the paperwork required for their internships abroad. In her new position as Assistant Director, Mandi now coordinates important administrative aspects of the PFMP, including budget planning and reporting, alumni and donor development, and employee relations. But the biggest part of her new position is our new individual internship development program, which combines the PFMP tradition of individual internship hunting for every student with a new level of individual research and advising involving monthly individual meetings between Mandi and every program student. When asked how it has been going so far, Mandi responded enthusiastically… and in French, of course. "Je suis tellement contente d’avoir cette occasion d’accompagner nos étudiants dans leur développement professionnel,” she said, “et dans le programme où j’ai fait ma maîtrise, aussi—ce PFMP dont je suis si fière.”
Mandi managed parts of a new study abroad program, working on program evaluation tools and most of the logistical and administrative tasks having to do with visiting international students in that program.
Current (continued from p. 10) des élèves venant des populations marginalisées, tels que les immigrants, les minorités et les personnes à faible revenu. Michelle Ziarko (international development) is currently interning at Urgence Afrique in Burkina Faso, where she is working at a rural health clinic in the village of Niou. Some of her roles at the clinic and adjacent maternity ward include performing rapid malaria testing and giving newborns their first polio vaccinations.
Sara (Meador) Zielke (MFS 2010, EU affairs): Sara recently moved into a new role at her current employer, Johnson Controls Inc., as a Supply Chain Best Business Practice (BBP) Leader focusing on process improvement initiatives within the North American supply chain. She recently earned her Six Sigma Green Belt certification, a data-driven, problem solving methodology. Sara lives in Milwaukee with her husband.
L’ESSOR Newsletter of the Professional French Masters Program
Professional French Masters Program University of Wisconsin-Madison 618 Van Hise Hall 1220 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706 Tel: 608-262-4090 Fax: 608-265-3892 E-mail: mdeitz@wisc.edu
@ThePFMP
http://pfmp.wisc.edu
UW-Madison Memorial Library Francophone bibliographer and PFMP program collaborator Emilie Songolo starts her PFMP research methods seminar visit in September with a group selfie.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Professional French Masters Program is an interdisciplinary master’s degree program for college graduates who want to use their French to build careers outside the academic classroom. The PFMP has concentrations in business, French education, international education, European Union affairs, international development and media/arts/cultural production, all culminating in a personalized professional internship abroad and a professional portfolio. We also offer the Capstone Certificate of Professional French Studies, which includes partial master’s coursework and the full internship in all six concentration areas.