The rhythm of the Georgetown World Percussion Ensemble resonated throughout the fifth floor of Lauinger Library on Monday night during an event to celebrate French studies and the Francophone collection at Georgetown.
Hosted by the Georgetown University Library and the department of French, “Voices of Diversity: Francophone Literature at Lauinger Library,” drew about 35 students, faculty members and friends of the French department. Attendees enjoyed student and faculty readings and looked at books on display, including “Mothers of Invention,”Judging Mohammed” and “Fictions De L’Integration,” all written by various Georgetown faculty members. Georgetown collects French literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as literature from North Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, according to the display.
The event was initiated “to raise visibility about French and Francophone studies at Georgetown and also to continue momentum for fundraising for the French and Francophone collections,” associate professor and chair of the French department Andrew Sobanet said.
“[The collection] continues to grow according to our research specialties. It’s a solid collection as it is, but it continues to keep up with current trends, and it continues to also nourish and render more complete the collection around Lauinger,” Sobanet added. Georgetown is able to finance this collection through a variety of funds.
“We fortunately have a decent budget to buy French literature,” said Mark Muehlhaeusler, foreign language and literature cataloger at Lauinger. “The only thing is it’s a very large field, and we’re quite lucky in that we have quite a few donors who regularly give us some of their books . and it’s sort of supplemented by significant quantities of donations.”
In addition, Lauinger recently received a grant from the International Council for Canadian Studies at the Canadian Embassy, which helped it to purchase French-Canadian literature and increase the diversity of their Francophone collection, according to Muehlhaeusler.
French professor Sylvie Durmelat, who co-organized the event together with Muehlhaeusler, said that Georgetown’s collection was reflective of the quality of French literature.
“The French speaking world produces a diverse, vibrant and expanding literature,” Durmelat said in an email. “We need to keep our collections current to reflect the richness and breadth of this production.”
The presence of the percussion ensemble, comprised of four Georgetown students, reflected the range of Francophone artifacts present in Lauinger.
“They’re Afro-Carribbean rhythms, so there’s a significant Francophone component there. Of the 20 or so Francophone countries in world, many of them are in the Carribbean or sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa,” Sobanet said, when asked about the presence of the World Percussion Ensemble.
Readings performed by French students Stephanie Clark (COL ’13), Miranda Hall (COL ’11) and Alexander Porcelli (COL ’10) drew laughter from attendees, and a reading from Christine Sawyer, foreign language literature acquisition specialist at Lauinger, rounded out the evening.
“Thanks to [student and faculty] contributions, the event went very well,” Durmelat said. “This confirmed [for] me that you can count on Georgetown students to rise up to the occasion and give the best of themselves.”
The presence of the French department has been expanding in other ways recently, as it is seeking a new tenure-track faculty member, in order to enrich its course offerings and scope of research, according to Durmelat.
The Dorothy M. Betz French Floor in Copley Hall may be established next year as reported in THE HOYA Nov. 16.]
“[Plans for the floor are] still moving forward, and we’re still waiting to hear the final word,” Sobanet said.
“And I’m very happy about it. We now have 10 students who are interested, and we’re going to be probably recruiting other students from around the College, SFS and MSB.”
