17th Annual Student Research Conference
Interdisciplinary
Une lettre à Grandpère (a letter to grandpa)
Abigail V. Swetz
Dr. Becky Becker and Ms. Danielle Farrineaux (Université de Lille III), Faculty Mentors
I spent last year in France, living among French students, eating their food, speaking their language, taking their classes. Half a century earlier, my grandfather, a military policeman in the U.S. Army, lived among French people, ate their food, tried to speak their language, taught a few of their classes. And as I walked the street of Caen and Paris and Nice, I could almost feel him taking the same steps of self-growth as I did thanks to the experience of this country and its people. Inspired by oral history interview tapes of my grandfather’s and techniques I learned in the documentary film class I took at the Université de Lille III, I pieced together a documentary script, in French, weaving together my story with that of my grandfather’s. I would like to further explore how a year spent studying abroad brings about such self-realization through this documentary combined with digital photographs and film I have at my disposal.
Keywords: France, study abroad, oral history, documentary
Topic(s):Interdisciplinary
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 6-5
Location: VH 1408
Time: 9:30