Greetings from Paris!
I’m Elizabeth Lambert, and I’m currently teaching and doing research in Paris thanks to The College of Charleston’s Versailles Fellowship Program. The first few months of my fellowship have been a whirlwind filled with teaching, researching, and traveling. Here is a picture of me standing in front of the Elisabeth bridge in Budapest.
Through the fellowship, I been teaching conversational English classes at the University of Versailles twice a week. My students have been great so far—they are eager to participate in our activities and they seem genuinely interested in American culture. Their enthusiasm has made slipping into the role of teacher a lot easier for me, and I’ve enjoyed teaching even more than I thought I would.
Besides teaching, the fellowship has given me a wonderful opportunity to conduct my own research. I’m currently researching the French author Boris Vian. During his life, Vian was a bit of a Renaissance Man—he played the trumpet, wrote songs and essays, invented new gadgets, and was an artist. Today, though, Vian is primarily known for his coming-of-age novel, L’écume des jours. Because Vian lived and worked in Paris for much of his life, I’ve been able to make connections with people who actually knew him, including his first wife, Michelle Léglise. Madame Léglise was nice enough to let me interview her for my research, and to my surprise, after the interview was over, she invited me back so that we could continue discussing Vian’s life and work. Now, I meet with Madame Léglise almost once a week, and, as we read L’écume des jours together, she supplements our reading with her own memories and explanations of the book. Meeting with Madame Léglise has been a wonderful way to get a firsthand account from someone who actually knew Vian, and it’s an experience that would have never been possible without CofC’s fellowship program.
Despite all the wonderful experiences my time in Paris has brought me, it would be impossible not to mention the November 13th attacks in Paris. The attacks were harrowing for anyone who was living or working in Paris, but I’ve been immensely impressed with the French reaction to the attacks. Rather than retreat, French citizens seem determined to continue to live as normally as possible. After the attacks, I struggled with what to say to my French students, but it turned out that I didn’t have to say much. My students, like many of the French citizens I came into contact with, were resolved to move forward despite the tragedy. Today, things are getting back to normal in Paris, and the City of Lights is moving forward.
After all the events of the last four months, I’m excited to see what my next semester in Paris brings!
The Graduate School of the University of Charleston, S.C. and the Université de Versailles – Saint Quentin have an exchange program which affords a unique opportunity for graduate students to teach and conduct independent research at a university in the southwest suburbs of Paris. Established in 1994 by Dr. Olejniczak of the History department, the Graduate School has sent nearly 20 College of Charleston students to France with great success.
