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French Department Hosts International Meeting of Scholars By Deborah A. Benedetti
Four Department of French faculty members organized the 24th annual meeting of the 19th-Century French Studies Colloquium, held at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. From left are Dr. Michael E. Lane, lecturer in French; Dr. Bénédicte Monicat, associate professor of French and women’s studies; Dr. Kathryn M. Grossman, professor of French and chair of the Planning Committee; and Dr. Willa Z. Silverman, associate professor of French. Participants of the French Studies Colloquium peruse an exhibit of books devoted to 19th-century French studies. Michelle Perrot, professor emerita of contemporary history at the Université de Paris VII, presented a plenary address on “Quand les femmes accusent. . .la fronde des femmes au temps de l’Affaire Dreyfus” during the French Studies Colloquium. Robert Rosenblum, the Henry Ittleson Jr. Professor of Modern European Art at New York University, presented a plenary address on “Bouguereau versus Picasso: Art in Paris at the Century’s End” during the French Studies Colloquium. Dominique Malicet of the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., spoke to colloquium participants. The French Embassy provided funding for the conference.	In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a French officer, was convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island. Throughout the trial, he maintained his innocence. When information proving his innocence came to light in 1898, but did not result in his exoneration, one of his supporters, Émile Zola, published an open letter—“J’Accuse!”—to the president of the French republic. Dreyfus was later pardoned and eventually exonerated. These events became known as the Dreyfus Affair. One hundred years later, Penn State’s Department of French used the Dreyfus Affair as the catalyst for an international conference: the 24th annual meeting of the 19th-Century French Studies Colloquium, titled “J’Accuse…! Offensive Moves, Defensive Modes.” Two hundred and thirty historians, art historians and literary scholars from the United States, France, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, the United Kingdom and other countries gathered at Penn State last fall to examine the many forms of accusational and defensive issues that marked the French 19th century. Colloquium topics covered literary, cultural, political, scientific and artistic phenomena in 19th-century France, including journalism, caricature, propaganda, women’s rights, anti-Semitism, gender transgression, trials, abolitionism, public demonstrations, and artistic and poetic engagement. “We started planning the colloquium in 1995,” Dr. Kathryn M. Grossman, professor of French at Penn State and chair of the local Planning Committee, explained. “As scholars exploring the history and literature of 19th-century France, we wanted to focus the conference on polemics. We used Emile Zola’s famous manifesto of 1898 protesting the wrongful conviction of Dreyfus by the French establishment, as well as the centenary of the death of symbolist poet Stephane Mallarme as our guiding events for the conference.” The Penn State Planning Committee included Department of French faculty members Dr. Michael E. Lane, lecturer in French; Dr. Bénédicte Monicat, associate professor of French and women’s studies; and Dr. Willa Z. Silverman, associate professor of French. Planning Committee members all specialize in 19th-century French studies. Grossman’s research and scholarship centers on Romanticism and the French novel, including the works of Victor Hugo and other utopian, visionary and poetic prose fiction. Monicat’s scholarly interests include travel narratives, French and Francophone women writers, children’s literature and literary and feminist theory. Silverman focuses on the cultural and intellectual history of Third Republic France, the Dreyfus Affair, anti-Semitism and the history of the book. Lane, who earned his Ph.D. from Penn State in 1998, focuses on French poetics and gender theory. “Having several faculty members in the same department who specialize in 19th-century France is rare,” Grossman said. “Because of our shared scholarly interests, we developed a highly productive relationship that drew on a widespread professional network. This was invaluable in planning the colloquium.” To carry out their strategy for the conference, Penn State’s French scholars organized sessions around themes, instead of authors, to enhance opportunities for cross-disciplinary discussion. The committee also used information technology to design the colloquium and to communicate with presenters and participants. The colloquium earned warm praise from participants, as these comments illustrate: “My compliments on a superb and superbly organized conference! And I know that I am not the only one wishing to express such gratitude to you.” “This conference was one of the best I attended thanks to its perfect, outstanding organization. I wanted to let you know that you and your colleagues did a great job in organizing the event.” “Thanks for a wonderful conference…great food, great papers, wonderful surroundings, and an impressive conference center.” “It was so well organized, the quality of the papers so good…. It was really a coup…. I would like to congratulate you and thank you for the excellent organization of the colloquium this year. This was the first time I had been a part of a colloquium of this magnitude, and every detail was attended to.” “I am sure you have heard this many times over by now, but I too wanted to say how impressed I was with this year’s conference. Everything was extremely well organized, and I found the quality of the presentations particularly good! …It was intellectually enriching and perfectly organized.” “…Thanks for the best organized conference ever. Everyone was talking about it. You made an A+ impression for yourself and for Penn State.” In addition to scholarly presentations, the colloquium featured an exhibit of satirical prints by Honoré Daumier at the Palmer Museum of Art; a display of an original edition of Emile Zola’s “J’Accuse!” (1898) and other related works by the Rare Books Room of Penn State’s University Libraries; and a performance of 19th-century French poetry set to music by French composers Debussy, Duparc and Faur and performed by singer Norman Spivey, associate professor of music at Penn State, and pianist Marylène Dosse, professor of music at Penn State. The 24th annual meeting of the 19th-Century French Studies Colloquium received support from the French Embassy and the following Penn State units: the College of the Liberal Arts, the College of Arts and Architecture, the College of Communications, the Commonwealth College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley, Penn State Worthington Scranton, the Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies, 11 Penn State departments, and Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension.