To find out more about the Friedberg Fellowship Travel awards and how to apply, click this link: https://cgllc.williams.edu/friedberg-travel-fellowship/
Researching and Dancing a More Inclusive Parisian Ballet
Benham Cobb ’26 conducted archival, ethnographic fieldwork on the Parisian ballet scene through the lens of queer pedagogy this September. Not only did he conduct research at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and conduct in-depth interviews but he also took some dance classes himself at the Institut International de Danse Stanlowa.
“…After securing a research pass with the BnF, I spent the bulk of my time in the archives with the objective of understanding how normative institutions (e.g., whiteness, heteronormative hierarchies, body preference, funding structures) have operated throughout the evolution of French ballet in setting the precedent for the Paris Opera Ballet’s success-failure binary. Queer pedagogy revolves around resisting this notion of success and the disciplinary mastery it entails, so this archival aspect is crucial for painting the landscape in which my interviewees and I are situated.”
(Benham did a homestay in Paris in September 2024 before he started the 24-25 Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford [WEPO].)
Institutional Insights – the EU Parliament and Forced Migration
Lea Obermüller ’24 spent the summer visiting the EU Parliament in Strasbourg and various exhibitions about migration, past and present, in Paris.
“…I was especially struck by the parliamentary debate on sea rescues in the Mediterranean held in the context of the 2023 Messenia migrant boat disaster. The debate, planned to express stances taken by the political groups on a resolution from the Parliament concerning the EU’s responsibility and lack of commitment to saving lives, evolved into a clash of national interests and party-specific narratives.”
(Lea studied at CASA – the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad – in Chile.)
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Researching the Carnets of a Forgotten Front
Annabelle Svahn ’24 stayed in Paris this summer to conduct research for her thesis. She is interested in learning about the WWI Gallipoli and the Dardanelles Campaign from a French perspective. Annabelle spent many enjoyable days immersed in library archives.
“…The postwar publications from various veterans’ associations were the most unexpected yet interesting source I discovered while at the BnF (Bibliothèque Nationale de France). Reading these provided a valuable perspective on how veterans perceived themselves in the postwar period. Throughout the different newsletters and newspapers I read, many veterans wrote about their fear of being forgotten as veterans as they fought to receive the medals and pay they deserved. Other topics included book reviews, news reports of commemoration events, reminiscences of battles, literature, and even cartoons.”
(Annabelle studied at the Hamilton in Paris, France Program.)
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Exploring the Book Towns of France
Asha Sandler ’24 crisscrossed the country to talk to booksellers and writers based in French towns and villages on the literary tourism trail.
”… I embarked on my trip to both explore these book towns and to answer questions I had about them, namely how their identities as “book towns” came to be. I found that for many of these towns—Cuisery and Montolieu in particular—they began as hotspots for bookmakers, artists, and writers, and then were drawn to the “book town” label due to the role literary tourism played in saving their economies during periods of financial hardship.”
(Asha studied at the Wellesley-in-Aix Program.)
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