The Future of French and Francophone Studies. Revitalizing Programs for Relevance and Resilience

The Future of French and Francophone Studies:

Revitalizing Programs for Relevance and Resilience.

Co-edited volume: 

Marie-Line BRUNET (Ball State University)

Flavien FALANTIN (Colby College)

Jennifer MISRAN (University of Southern California) 

Language: English

Aim of the book:

Develop a comprehensive reference book to support French and Francophone Studies programs, many of which are facing significant challenges or are at risk of closure.

The goal is to create a book that:

• Provides concrete tips/strategies for strengthening programs;

• Provides innovative recruitment assistance;

• Offers pedagogical and curricular innovations;

• Draws on the expertise of recognized researchers;

• Relies on the strength of a leading American publisher;

• Becomes a reference book for professors of French and Francophone studies.

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Call for Papers:

"La langue française est aujourd’hui menacée non pas par d’autres langues, mais par notre propre renoncement."

Speech by Emmanuel Macron to the Académie française - March 20, 2018

 While language departments in the United States are experiencing an unprecedented contraction—with a 16.6% drop in enrollment between 2016 and 2021 according to the latest MLA census (a decrease of 236,000 students) (1)—the situation of French and Francophone studies programs stands out as a particularly telling symptom of a systemic crisis. This decline, far greater than the overall decline in university enrollment (8%), signals an institutional, cultural, and political disengagement that threatens the very future of foreign language programs.

 Adding to this already alarming situation are the unprecedented technological transformations of our time. The meteoric rise of artificial intelligence and machine translators is calling into question the role of humans in learning and communication processes. As Bill Gates recently pointed out: "Within the next decade, AI will dramatically reshape society, reducing human roles in critical areas such as medicine and education" (2). What space then remains for linguistic and cultural humanities?

 Positive political signals are emerging. The "French for All" strategy, launched in 2022 at the initiative of President Emmanuel Macron in New Orleans, demonstrates a political desire to recast French language teaching on a more inclusive, accessible basis, and connected to current geopolitical realities (3).

 The volume addresses this tension between declining faculty numbers and potential for innovation. This project aims to become a reference resource—simultaneously a strategic advocacy tool, a methodological guide, and a laboratory for experimentation—for French and Francophone studies. This volume aims to offer a roadmap for collectively considering departmental resilience and transformation, in a spirit of interdisciplinary openness, community engagement, and pedagogical boldness.

We invite original, critical, and visionary contributions based on concrete experiences, pilot initiatives, and adaptation strategies, in relation to pedagogy, institutional structure, academic leadership, and the cultural positioning of French in the post-2020 world.

Thematic axes (non-exclusive): 

● Rethinking recruitment: innovative approaches to recruitment and retention; 

● Creating career paths: dual degrees, relevant sub-specializations (e.g. business, health, law, diplomacy), certifications, digital badges, internships with credits;

● Engaging alumni and local partners (e.g. businesses, consulates, cultural institutions); 

● International exchanges and immersion (e.g. bilateral cooperation, student mobility, short or long format, partnerships with the OIF, Campus France);

● Curriculum reforms: deconstruct specializations by century to move toward specialization by theme (e.g. environment, digital arts, sci-fi, migration, medical humanities);

● Innovative teaching formats (e.g. French for Social Justice, Francophone Sci-Fi, Voix féminines d'Afrique, micro-seminars, bootcamps, short formats); 

● AI technology and digital pedagogy (e.g. interactive tools, virtual reality, digital humanity, AI ethics in the classroom);  

● External communication (e.g. departmental websites, program window, social media, program branding);

● Student life and sense of belonging (e.g. reinvigorating a vibrant student community: clubs, cultural events, film debates, Pi Delta Phi, current scholarships for programs, academic recognitions);

● Addressing academic leadership (e.g. resource management, future proofing education, professional development, diversifying revenue streams); 

● Advocacy for French in the university environment (e.g. How to articulate the arguments in favor of your department to administrations? What strategies should be implemented to achieve visibility at the institutional level?).

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(1) Modern Language Association (MLA). Enrollments in Languages Other than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Summer 2021 and Fall 2021: Preliminary Report. New York : MLA, 2023. [https://www.mla.org]

(2) Fallon, Jimmy, interviewer. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. NBC, 15 March 2023.

(3) Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères. Stratégie « French for All » : renforcer l’enseignement du français aux États-Unis. Communiqué de presse, 2 décembre 2022. [https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr]

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Calendar:

We are seeking original, critical contributions rooted in concrete experiences (teaching, administration, pilot projects, student initiatives, leadership, etc.) on the challenges and possible solutions for revitalizing French and Francophone studies programs in an Anglo-Saxon context.

Proposals (300-500 words) are expected by October 15, 2025, accompagnied by a short bio (100 words). Please send your proposal via email to frenchstudies.future@gmail.com

Responses to authors: November 1st, 2025.

After deliberation by the committee, articles in English of 6,000-8,000 words will be due by June 1st, 2026.

Book to appear 2027.

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Scientific committee:

Marie-Line Brunet

Flavien Falantin

Michel Gueldry

Joyce Johnston

Jennifer Misran

Edward Ousselin

Suggested bibliography:

DeBoer, Freddie. "Pick a Practical Major, Like French." New York Magazine, 18 Apr. 2023, nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/pick-a-practical-major-likefrench.html.

Forsdick, Charles. “Why French Studies Matters: Disciplinary Identity and Public Understanding.” French Studies in and for the 21st Century, 30 June 2011, pp. 37–57, https://doi.org/10.5949/upo9781846316692.006.

Looney, Dennis, and Natalia Lusin. “Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Summer 2016 and Fall 2016: Final Report.” Modern Language Association of America, 2019, https://www.mla.org/Resources/Research/Surveys-Reports-and-Other-Documents/Teaching-Enrollments-and-Programs/Enrollments-in-Languages-Other-Than-English-in-United-States-Institutions-of-Higher-Education.

Loucif, Sabine. “French in American Universities: Toward the Reshaping of Frenchness.” Yale French Studies, no. 113, 2008, pp. 115–131.

McCann, Benjamin, and Charles Sitbon. “Voicing Resilience: Emerging Voices in French and Francophone Studies.” Australian Journal of French Studies, vol. 59, no. 3, 2022.

Merfeld-Langston, Audra. "Building Bridges from K-12 to Higher Education in French and Francophone Studies." Contemporary French Civilization, vol. 45, no. 3–4, 2020, pp. 365–379.

Meyer, E. Nicole. “Communicating Our Value: Strategies to Save French and Francophone Studies.” South Atlantic Review, vol. 90, no. 1–2, 2025, p. 7, https://go.exlibris.link/x6BYJ8Wr.

Meyer, E. Nicole, and Joyce Johnston. Rethinking the French Classroom: New Approaches to Teaching Contemporary French and Francophone Women. Routledge, 2019.

Parker, Jerry L., and Amany Saleh, editors. The International Handbook of French Education: Language Learning, Teaching and Advocacy. STAR Scholars Press, 2024, https://doi.org/10.32674/p4nppf33.

Smith, Kathleen Stein. "The Appeal of French: Leveraging the Soft Power of French Language and Francophone Culture Globally and Locally in the Classroom and Beyond." International Journal of Contemporary Education, vol. 6, no. 2, 2023, pp. 26–36.

Stafford, Andrew. "See Thyself, Hear Thyself, Speak Thyself: Promoting French and Francophone Studies in American Higher Education by Amplifying Francophone Voices." The French Review, vol. 98, no. 2, 2024, pp. 33–48. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/tfr.2024.a947599.

Stein-Smith, Kathleen. "The Significance of the French and Francophone Presence in North America in French Language Learning and Advocacy in the United States." Theory & Practice in Language Studies (TPLS), vol. 14, no. 3, 2024.