News from the Director, Dr. Gayle Zachmann, Fall 2007

I am delighted to share news of the past year’s symposia, scholars-in-residence and study abroad programs at the University of Florida Paris Research Center. A unit expressly designed to create and facilitate international initiatives across campus and across the disciplines, the Paris Research Center is an integral and exciting new European component in the University of Florida’s commitment to international education and academic excellence.

The creation of the center presents unique opportunities. With a primary mission to foster and facilitate international research and exchange, the Paris Research Center welcomes ideas for new international research endeavors, international partnerships and exchanges, the development of colloquia, workshops, independent research projects and study abroad programs from all levels and corners of the University of Florida community.

The Paris Research Center offers UF scholars an international home office for communications and consultation, administrative and networking services, event and program organization, assistance with study abroad program development, as well as reading rooms, classrooms, meeting rooms, and limited office space for program directors and/or scholars in residence.

It is a pleasure to announce that the Paris Research Center has now welcomed over 100 UF scholars, hosted nearly 900 international scholars at UF-sponsored research events and facilitated study abroad development from all corners of the campus. The facilitation of research for developing individual and group publications and projects significantly fosters the creation of new courses for UF students. Since the 2004 initiation of our innovative course programming, we have brought well over 700 students to Paris for study and research. The range, quality, level, breadth and number of Paris Research Center activities remain at the top of programming by US public institutions in Paris: in the 2007-08 academic year we expect to organize and facilitate 14 study abroad programs, well over 50 guest lectures, 4 workshops, and numerous research meetings and projects. We are also delighted to announce a student exhibition on view this semester on the UF Campus. “Ground Truth: Evidence of Paris Through Drawing and Digital Media,” organized by Prof. Lauren Garber Lake, which features a selection of work produced by students enrolled in the May Intersession 2007 art and digital media course co-taught by Lauren Garber Lake and Katerie Gladdys (Focus Gallery: October 2007 - January 2008).

It has been a pleasure to work with such positive energy and to see the result of faculty and student enthusiasm. In this regard, numerous activities are forthcoming at the Paris Research Center, including new curricular development for the UF community and several conferences and workshops set to run in Spring and Summer 2008.

For further information on PRC membership, to learn more about how you or your unit may benefit from the Paris Research Center, to propose workshops and activities, or to set up an information session about opportunities at the PRC for your unit, please contact us at paris-research@clas.ufl.edu or visit our website at www.clas.ufl.edu/PRC.

Workshops, Symposia and Expositions 2007

In the past year, the Paris Research Center was delighted to facilitate the following international initiatives:

Jules Verne’s Paris Roundtable

• (March 2007) Organizer: Terry Harpold (University of Florida).
• Scholars featured: This mini-symposium featured the two top scholars of Jules Verne’s works: Daniel Compère, (Paris III and Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle), founder of the Centre de Documentation Jules Verne (Amiens); and Jean-Michel Margot (President of the North American Jules Verne Society), the foremost bibliographer of Verne’s studies, whose personal collection of Verne criticism is the most extensive in the world.

Reconsidering Relationality.

• (April 2007) Organizers: Alexander Alberro (Art History) and Nora Alter (German/Film & Media Studies), revisited the concept of relationality, questioning its social dimensions and political density in the contemporary moment. The conference was structured around the work of Jacques Rancière. Keynote address by Jacques Rancière.
• Participants included: Alex Alberro (University of Florida), Nora Alter (University of Florida), Christa Blümlinger (Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle), Wouter Davidts (Ghent University), Diedrich Diederichsen (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna & Merz-Akademie, Stuttgart), Lutz Koepnick (Washington University-St. Louis), Birgit Pelzer (Ecole de Recherche Graphique, St. Luc, Brussels), Chantal Pontbriand (Parachute magazine), Sébastien Pluot (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Bourges), Jacques Rancière (Professor Emeritus, Université de Paris VIII), Juliane Rebentisch (Universität Potsdam), Constanze Ruhm (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna), Carsten Strathausen (University of Missouri-Columbia), Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein (Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna), Stephen Wright (Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, Paris), Gayle Zachmann (University of Florida)

Cultural Production in the 19th Century: Intersections, Collaborations, Confidences.

• (June 2007), the third edition of the annual Paris Research Center workshop series in French Studies, organized by Gayle Zachmann (Paris Research Center) and Charles Stivale (Wayne State University), welcomed approximately 30 Scholars from Europe and the United States.
• Participants included: : Xavier Bourdenet (Université de Franche-Comté), Vincent Duclert (EHESS), Elizabeth Emery (Montclair State University), Lucienne Frappier-Mazur (University of Pennsylvania), Melanie Hawthorne (Texas A & M University), Sharon Johnson (Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University), Elisabeth Ladenson (Columbia University), Marshall Olds (University of Nebraska), Jaymes Ann Rohrer (Randolph College), Jean Marie Roulin (Université Jean Monnet, St. Etienne), Richard Shryock (Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University), Sonya Stephens (Indiana University, Bloomington), Charles J. Stivale (Wayne State University), Gayle Zachmann (University of Florida)

Interfacial Fluid Mechanics and Phenomena

• (June 2007), organized by Ranga Narayanan (University of Florida). This truly international two-day conference welcomed approximately 20 scholars from across the United States, Europe, and around the world.
• Participants included: Sakir Amiroudine, (ENSAM, Angers), Pierre Colinet (Université Libre, Bruxelles) Claudine Dang-Vu Delcarte, (LIMSI Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Frederic Doumenc, (FAST Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Beatrice Guerrier (FAST Université de Paris XI, Orsay) Serafim Kalliadasis (Imperial College, London), Guillaume Kasperski, (FAST Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Gérard Labrosse (LIMSI Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Marc Medale, (IUST, Université de Provence, Marseille), Denis Melnikov (Université Libre, Bruxelles), Sasha Mialdun (Université Libre, Bruxelles), Ranga Narayanan (University of Florida), Stephane Popinet, (NIWA, Wellington, New Zealand), David Quéré (ESPCI, Université de Paris IV), Alexis Redondo (LIMSI Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Christian Ruyer-Quil, (FAST Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Dominique Salin (FAST Université de Paris XI, Orsay), Neelu Singh, (ENSAM, Angers), Farzam Zoueshtiagh (Université de Lille)

Energy Flow Dynamics in Biomaterial Systems

• (October 2007), organized by David Micha (University of Florida, Physics), Irene Burghardt (Ecole Normale Supérieure), Eric Bittner (University of Houston), and Volkhard May (Humboldt-Universitaet Berlin, Germany). This exciting international conference, the second of the “Quantum Dynamics” series hosted at the PRC, will welcome over 40 leading scholars from nine countries across the globe.
• Participants Included: Federica Agostini (Universita di Roma, Italy), Biman Bagchi (Indian Institute of Science, India), William Barford (Oxford University, UK), Victor Batista (Yale University), Sara Bonella (Universita di Roma, Italy), Daniel Borgis (Universite d'Evry, France), Steve Bradforth (University of Southern California), Alexandra Olaya Castro (University of Oxford, UK), Giovanni Ciccotti (Universita di Roma, Italy), David Coker (Boston University), Gianaurelio Cuniberti (University of Regensburg, Germany), Dassia Egorova (Technical University Munich, Germany), Francesca Fassioli- Olsen (Oxford University, UK), Hiroshi Fujisaki (University of Frankfurt, Germany), Sophya Garashchuk (University of South Carolina), Marco Garavelli (Universita di Bologna, Italy), Eitan Geva (University of Michigan), Anne Goj (University of Houston), Emmanuelle Hennebicq (University of Mons Hainaut, Belgium), Laura Herz (University of Oxford, UK), Casey Hynes (ENS Paris, France), Francesca Ingrosso (ENS Paris, France), Raymond Kapral (University of Toronto, Canada), Ulrich Kleinekathofer (Jacobs University Bremen, Germany), Oliver Kuehn (Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany), Zhenggang Lan (Technical University Munich, Germany), Andrew Leathers (University of Florida), Dimitra Markovitsi (Laboratoire Francis Perrin, CEA, France), Shaul Mukamel (University of Califoria at Irvine), Eran Rabani (University of Tel Aviv, Israel), Suyong Re (ENS Paris, France), Peter Rossky (University of Texas at Austin), Peter Saalfrank (University of Potsdam, Germany), Greg Scholes (University of Toronto), Carlos Silva (Universite de Montreal, Canada), Masanori Tachiya (AIST, Japan), Hiroyuki Tamura (ENS Paris, France), Yoshitaka Tanimura (Kyoto University, Japan), Michael Thoss (Technical University Munich, Germany), Oriol Vendrell (University of Heidelberg, Germany), Hui Zhu (Humboldt-Universitaet Berlin, Germany)

Upcoming Critical Discussions and Workshops

• Cultural Production in the 19th Century: Le Quotidien à la lettre
  (June 2008), the fourth edition of the annual Paris Research Center workshop series in French Studies, organized by Gayle Zachmann (Paris Research Center) and Charles Stivale (Wayne State University), will welcome approximately 30 Scholars from Europe and the United States.

Distinguished Guest Lecturers 2006-2007

• Jean-Francois Authier, Architect, Reichen et Robert
• Pip Chodorov, Filmmaker, co-founder and co-director of The Film Gallery
• Daniel Compère, Professor, Paris III, Université de la Sorbonne nouvelle
• Ziad Elmarsafy, Professor, University of York
• Rabbi Daniel Farhi, Author and senior rabbi for Le Mouvement Juif Libéral de France
• Sébastien Fath, Researcher, National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS); recipient of the Chateaubriand History Prize
• Holly Fischer, Filmmaker, producer, director, camera, editor
• Dean Inkster, Professor of art history and theory, Ecole de Beaux-Arts de Valence
• Lynda Kaid, Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, University of Florida
• Clifford Jones, Professor, Levin College of Law, University of Florida
• Jake Lamar, Novelist, author of Ghosts of Saint Michel
• Eleanor LeVieux, British Institute in Paris
• Jean-Michel Margo, President, North American Jules Verne Society
• Daniel Maximin, Poet, novelist and essayist; recipient of the Grand Prix de l’Académie Française Maurice Genevoix in December 2004
• Florence Mercier, Landscape Architect, conseil des Yvelines
• Claudia Phillips, Chair of Landscape Architecture, Philadelphia University
• Armelle Pradalier, Université Rennes 2, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art
• Sébastien Pluot, Film director; professor of art history and theory at Ecole Nationale Supériur des Beaux-Art
• R. Terry Schnadelbach, Distinguished Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Florida − Bob Swaim, Producer, screenwriter, actor

Scholars-in-Residence 2006-2007

UF Scholars-in-Residence

The Paris Research Center provides logistic, consultative, research and administrative services to member unit faculty. In 2006-7 we were pleased to welcome many UF faculty members as Scholars-in-Residence, each of whom benefited from the Paris campus facilities in diverse and discipline-specific ways.

Scholars-in-Residence this year include: Alexander Alberro (Art History), Nora Alter (Germanic & Slavic), Anita Anantharam (Center for Women’s Studies), Roger Beebe (English), Hélène Blondeau (RLL), William Calin (French), Nancy Clark (Architecture), George Dawson (Levin College of Law), Stephanie Evans (Women’s Studies), Lauren Garber Lake (Art and Art History), Katerie Gladdys (Art and Art History), Andrew Gordon (English), Terry Harpold (English), Robert Hatch (History), Richard Heipp (Art and Art History), Jonathan Helton (Music), Amy Ongiri (English), Peter Hirshfeld (Physics), Melissa Hyde (Art History), Gary Ihas (Physics), Mark Jamison (Public Utility Research Center), Abdoulaye Kane (Anthropology), Elizabeth Lowe (Translation Studies), Brian McCrea (English), Juan-Carlos Molleda (Public Relations), Ranga Narayanan (Physics), Vasudha Narayan (Religion), Scott Nygren (English/Film & Media), Mark Orazem (Industrial & Systems Engineering), Victoria Rovine (Art & Art History), Christopher Slobogin (Levin College of Law), Alioune Sow (Romance Languages and Literatures), James Sterns (Food and Resource Economics), Henry Tosi (Warrington College of Business Administration), Maureen Turim (English/Film & Media Studies), Sergio Vega (Photography), Leonardo Villalòn (Center for African Studies), Patricia Woods (Jewish Studies) . This fall we are pleased to welcome Robert D’Amico (Philosophy), Angel Kwolek-Folland (History), Virginia G. Maurer (Warrington) and Terry Schnadlebach (Landscape Architecture) as Scholars-in-Residence.

Study Abroad Initiatives

Since the 2004 initiation of innovative course programming, the Paris Research Center has welcomed over 600 students to Paris on a wide array of discipline-specific high motivation programs from units across campus.

Honors in Paris 2007

Conceived as a four-month research seminar, the Honors in Paris program unites UF scholars from different fields to create a comprehensive academic experience for highly motivated UF students. This year’s theme, Mapping French Culture: Visual, Literary and Political Movements of 20th-Century France, joined Alexander Alberro (Art & Art History), Nora Alter (Germanic & Slavic), Roger Beebe (English) and William Calin (RLL).

Intensive Study Abroad 2007: Spring Break & May Intersession

The PRC offers a wide range of courses over Spring Break and May Intersession. This year’s courses were created by: Nancy Clark (Architecture), Stephanie Evans (English), Andrew Gordon (English), Mark Jamison (PURC), Terry Harpold (English/Film & Media Studies), Richard Heipp (Art and Art History), Lauren Garber Lake (Art and Art History), Vikram Rangala (Honors), James A. Sterns (Food and Resource Economics).

Summer in Paris 2007

The summer term brought 24 undergraduates and 1 graduate student to Paris. Teaching on the program were: Robert Hatch (History) and Scott Nygren (English/Film & Media Studies). Highlights of the program included numerous excursions and site visits, a guest lecture and film screening by the award winning filmmaker Holly Fisher, and more.

Summer Law Program 2007 in Paris & Montpellier, France

In Summer 2007, the PRC was pleased to welcome 30 students from the Levin College of Law. While on-site, students took advantage of discipline-specific visits such as the Palais de Justice, among others.

Fall Semester Landscape Architecture Studio in Paris 2006

This year, in addition to program coursework and weekly lecture tours around Paris, students participated in multiple excursions to sites such as Giverny and Vaux-le-Vicomte and presented their projects to distinguished guest jurors including renowned Landscape Architects such as Florence Mercier, Architectes Paysagistes, and Claudia Phillips, chair of Landscape Architecture at Philadephia University.

Study Abroad: Upcoming

Introducing International Affairs and the Public Sphere, Fall Term

The UF Paris Research Center is pleased to announce the inauguration of International Affairs and the Public Sphere (IAPS), a program designed to promote cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary understanding for students of all majors. In the Fall of 2007, students enrolled in coursework in business, law, journalism, cultural studies, language, and political science. Courses offered in cooperation with the Warrington College of Business Administration, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, and the College of Journalism & Communications. Highlights of the program include a visit to the Prime Minister’s residence at the Hotel Matignon, visits to UNESCO and the European Commission in Brussels, a visit to Le Monde, numerous guest lectures by distinguished speakers such as Ambassador William Ramsay, journalist Mort Rosenblum, Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Chapman, and much more.

Fall Semester Landscape Architecture Studio in Paris, 2007

In addition to touring the gardens and architectural sites of Paris, students will have the opportunity to visit places such as Giverny and Versailles. Students will also present their projects to a panel of notable guest jurors, such as Ariela Katz, Paris Director of Urban Studies, Columbia University and Adel Robert, Director of Pedegogy, Musée des Arts Decoratifs.

Honors in Paris 2008

The Spring 2008 program, whose theme is Engagements with Modern France: Arts, Poetics and the Social, will bring together Scott Nygren (English/Film & Media Studies), Maureen Turim (English/Film & Media Studies), Elizabeth Ross (Art and Art History), and Gayle Zachmann (Paris Research Center). The program will be supplemented with site visits and excursions.

Intensive Study Abroad 2008: Spring Break & May Intersession

Students can choose among a wide array of courses during Spring Break and May Intersession. Next year’s courses have been proposed by: Anita Anantharam (Center for Women’s Studies), Nancy Clark (Architecture), Stephanie Evans (English), Lauren Garber Lake (Art and Art History), Richard Heipp (Art and Art History), Jonathan Helton (Music), Agnes Leslie (English), Amy Ongiri (English/Film & Media Studies), Vikram Rangala (Honors), and James A. Sterns (Food and Resource Economics).

Summer in Paris 2008

The Summer 2008 program will bring together: Scott Nygren (English/Film & Media Studies), Sheryl Kroen (History) and Clifford A. Jones (Levin College of Law).

Summer Law Program 2008 in Paris & Montpellier, France

In Summer 2008, the PRC will welcome students from the Levin College of Law, who will participate in disciplinespecfic visits such as the Palais de Justice.

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Director's News

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