AV俱乐部

Myl猫ne Lamoureux-Duquette
Bachelor of Arts: Honours in French

"F茅licitations, ch猫re Myl猫ne !

Myl猫ne est une excellente 茅tudiante qui r茅ussit aussi bien dans les 茅tudes que dans la vie sociale. En tant que President of the French Society, son d茅vouement, son enthousiasme et sa participation active aux activit茅s intellectuelles et culturelles du d茅partement 茅taient un atout pr茅cieux ! Je la remercie de tout c艙ur pour tout le travail qu鈥檈lle a fait au d茅partement cette ann茅e. Je suis vraiment tr猫s fi猫re d鈥檈lle !  

Je suis heureuse que son succ猫s soit r茅compens茅 de la sorte et lui souhaite encore plus de r茅ussites 脿 l鈥檃venir. Je suis bien confiante que son chemin sera un horizon plein de bonnes promesses.  

Ce fut un plaisir de faire sa connaissance et lui souhaite de belles vacances d鈥櫭﹖茅 bien m茅rit茅es." - Taghrid Abou-Hassan

"Il serait peu dire que Myl猫ne apporte, avec finesse et 茅l茅gance, un plus consid茅rable dans chacun des cours o霉 elle s鈥檌nscrit et, plus g茅n茅ralement, 脿 notre d茅partement. Il est malais茅 茅galement de savoir quoi mettre en avant entre sa maturit茅 intellectuelle, sa propension 脿 l鈥檃uto-茅valuation, sa gentillesse charmante, sa g茅n茅rosit茅 sans borne et ses dons d鈥檃nalyse litt茅raire et de traduction. Je suis fi猫re d鈥檃voir eu Myl猫ne dans ma classe et j鈥檈n garderai un souvenir inalt茅rable." - Dr. Marie Pascal

Robyn Easton
Bachelor of Arts: Major in French

"Robyn Easton began very strongly in French taking FREN 2045 (Advanced French) in her first year in parallel with the King's Foundation Year. With an A+ in 2045 and an A in FYP, she was off to a great start.  

Her work since then has been very solid indeed, she has remained continuously on the King's President's list and her work in French has been consistently of a high level.  

She took FR 2022 Language and Culture with me in the Winter semester of 2019 and she was a lively member of a very dynamic group which covered a range of French film masterpieces from the origins of cinema to today. Her work showed a sophisticated sense of the development of the art form over its history and of the functioning of each film as a text, a singular work of art. She received a well-deserved A+ in that class.  

She has taken a range of electives in Contemporary Studies, Philosophy, Law and International Development Studies.  

She has spent her third year at the Centre international d'茅tudes francophones at l'Universit茅 de Bourgogne in Dijon. Robyn finished up her year in France a little early because of the COVID situation but she made the most of her time there, as do all of our students who have the privilege of spending a term or a full academic year in Burgundy.   

We look forward to working with Robyn again beginning in September as she pursues her many interests, centred on her fourth year French requirements." - Dr. Christopher Elson

Ana-Maria Garniceanu
Bachelor of Science: Major in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and French

"Ana-Maria is an exceptionally motivated student, with a vast and genuine intellectual curiosity, both for languages and stories. Soon after leaving Romania, she decided on her own that she would learn French. She was only 4 at the time, and asked a neighbour for lessons. She is now in the Academia, still seeking knowledge, and certainly will not let the claim that 鈥渋t won鈥檛 be on the test鈥� get in her way. She has shown a keen interest, and a keen eye, for medieval and early modern literature, but that is surely only one of the many avenues opened before her, one of the many topics about which she has many questions. For instance, I expect that she will soon start asking questions about graduate studies." - Dr. Vincent Masse

"Bravo ch猫re Ana-Maria ! Tu avais 茅t茅 s茅lectionn茅e parmi de nombreux candidats et nombreuses candidates pour 锚tre la laur茅ate de AV俱乐部 au Prix d鈥檈xcellence de l鈥橝lliance Fran莽aise et pour repr茅senter l鈥檜niversit茅 au Prix du Consulat g茅n茅ral de France dans les Provinces atlantiques. Le texte que tu avais soumis au jury me remplit d鈥櫭﹎otion et de fiert茅. De m锚me, tes accomplissements dans le cours du Fran莽ais niveau avanc茅 repr茅sentent admirablement ta passion pour la langue fran莽aise et la culture francophone, ainsi que ton assiduit茅 au travail universitaire.  Je suis heureuse que le Comit茅 des affaires estudiantines t鈥檃it octroy茅e la Bourse Sabah Metlej 鈥� toutes mes f茅licitations pour cette distinction largement m茅rit茅e. Meilleurs v艙ux pour une bonne continuation dans ta voie acad茅mique." - Dr. Patricia Lee Men Chin

"F茅licitations,  ch猫re Ana-Maria! Vous m茅ritez richement les prix que l'on vous d茅cerne: votre 茅thique de travail, votre curiosit茅 intellectuelle, votre s茅rieux font de vous une 茅tudiante  magnifique dans chacun des cours que vous suivez. Bonne chance dans tout ce que vous entreprenez." - Dr. Ir猫ne Oore

Layla Gibson
Bachelor of Arts 2020: First Class Honours in French and Early Modern Studies

Comments on Layla's achievements from Dr. Iris Black and Dr. Driss Aissaoui:

"After the Foundation Year at Kings, Layla started her French studies as an absolute beginner in 2016, with the clear goal of one day reading Rousseau in his native language.  I had the privilege of teaching Layla in several courses as she advanced steadily and surely ; her progress in oral French, in particular, was astounding.  Her passion for study has only deepened over the years, and we have had lively conversations about her programme at Dal and her goals for a career in university teaching. She took her dreams to a summer course in Neuchatel, and has inspired many other students to expand the limits of their world.  Bravo, Layla 鈥� your goals, achievements and aspirations are truly outstanding!" - Dr. Iris Black

"C'est toujours un plaisir d'encadrer des 茅tudiants appliqu茅s et d茅vou茅s, non seulement parce que le travail de supervision en devient plus facile et agr茅able, mais aussi et surtout parce que, en termes de r茅sultats, tous les r锚ves sont alors permis. Diriger le travail de Layla Gibson m'a donn茅 l'occasion de d茅couvrir que le r么le de directeur de th猫se peut nous propulser vers des hauteurs jusque l脿 insoup莽onn茅es quand la diligence, la sagacit茅 et la rigueur de l'茅tudiante sont doubl茅es et enrichies par un amour pour la litt茅rature et une passion d茅bordante pour l'auteur 茅tudi茅, en occurrence Jean-Jacques Rousseau. La collaboration prend alors sa pleine mesure, tant elle est faite d'茅changes suggestifs, de commerce fructueux d'id茅es et d'inspirantes discussions. Layla Gibson m茅rite amplement le prix de l'ambassade de Suisse dans la mesure o霉 elle vient de compl茅ter un remarquable travail de r茅flexion et d'analyse sur l'usage de l'animal dans l'艙uvre du plus c茅l猫bre citoyen de Gen猫ve." - Dr. Driss Aissaoui

Elizabeth Scott-Black
Bachelor of Arts 2020: First Class Honours in Spanish and French, University Medal in French

A note about Elizabeth's achievements from Dr. Christopher Elson:

"It is so fitting to see Elizabeth Scott-Black recognized with the Marcelle Sandhu prize as a student "who [has achieved] excellence in third (FR3045) or fourth (FR4046) year French grammar courses". She is a most worthy recipient, with an A+ grade in both FR 3045 and 4046 in the same year!  

On a personal note, as a former student of the Department myself, I took Marcelle Sandhu's famously demanding Composition class in the 1980s and can say without a doubt that the quality of Elizabeth's work situates her firmly in that tradition of departmental excellence.  

Having taken King's Foundation Year and then combining Spanish and French classes along with a clearly focused group of King's Contemporary Studies and Early Modern Studies electives in her subsequent years (not to mention a term abroad in Salamanca and a summer class in Berlin), Ms. Scott- Black's transcript reads as an exemplary undergraduate humanities trajectory. She has attained the rare level of a 3,93 cumulative GPA.

Her Honours essay, Notre-Dame de Paris: La flamme patrimoniale, undertaken with my supervision, emphasized the interweaving of the religious, literary,  architectural and art-historical, social and political factors which make of Notre-Dame Cathedral at one and the same time a supremely powerful and concentrated site of French culture and the site of a specifically contemporary universalism-- 狈辞迟谤别-顿补尘别-诲别-濒'贬耻尘补苍颈迟茅, as one of the authors she considered puts it. Set against the backdrop of the April, 2019 fire, she achieves a high level of synthesis regarding a range of very pertinent questions with respect to restoration, authenticity, belonging, heritage etc. I found her conceptualization of this project and her commitment to it through the unsettling conditions we have all experienced since March to be very promising for her future studies and indeed for all of her future endeavours. Bravo, Elizabeth"