Four members of Wheaton’s Class of 2006 will teach English in France and its territories next year after winning French Teaching Assistantships through the Fulbright program and the Institute of International Education in Washington, D.C.

May 23, 2006

Four members of Wheaton College's Class of 2006 will teach English in France and its territories next year after winning French Teaching Assistantships through the Fulbright program and the Institute of International Education in Washington, D.C.

Anne Belz, a summa cum laude English major from Edina, Minn., will teach English in Reims, France. In her previous experience teaching and learning abroad--she completed her junior year abroad (JYA) studies in France and England and taught English at Robert College in Turkey last summer--Belz found that American culture is one of our nation's largest imports and she plans to use it in the classroom.

"I hope to instill a passion for the English language in my students," Belz said. ''Using engaging activities that will focus on aspects of American culture, I hope to bring words to life, opening the students' eyes to the histories and influences embedded in the language itself,'' Belz said. ''My French language classes sparked passions in many other academic areas, and I want to teach English in a manner that would foster these kinds of connections.''

A Wheaton Balfour and Presidential Scholar, Belz was inducted into Phi Kappa in the spring. She has been active in the French Club and as the co-editor of Rushlight, Wheaton's student literary journal. She was also a cellist in the Great Woods Chamber Orchestra and the Wheaton String Quartet. Belz worked as a research assistant to professors Evelyn Lane (French Gothic stained glass) and R. Tripp Evans (the work of artist Grant Wood) in the Art History Department. She hopes to go into journalism.

Dahlia Freudenthal, a cum laude Anthropology and French Studies double major, will teach English in Marseilles, France, starting in the fall. Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., gave Freudenthal an appreciation for the hardships faced by immigrant populations, and a sophomore semester studying in Senegal cemented her desire to combat illiteracy by teaching English.

''In New York City, I was able to witness the ongoing dearth of adequate educational opportunities for many immigrant, minority and financially-struggling communities,'' said Freudenthal, who worked as a volunteer English instructor in 2004 at New York's Association of Senegalese in America. ''In my eyes, education has the greatest potential to encourage intellect, motivation and creativity in individuals, communities and nations.''

A Davis Fellowship in 2005 allowed Freudenthal to conduct senior thesis research in France, where she also supported African immigrant arts projects as a volunteer with the Federation Nationale des Associations Franco-Africaines. She is also the recipient of the Joseph Tauber Summer Incentive Scholarship and the Lillian and Anthony Gigante Scholarship. She also has been active in campus theater productions and was a member of the college's Jazz Band. After completing her teaching assistantship in France, Freudenthal plans to enroll in the master's program in understanding and securing human rights at the University of London.

Sara Hudson, a magna cum laude Anthropology and French Studies double major from Huntersville, N.C., will teach English on Reunion Island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. She is a strong advocate of immersion in different cultures when learning a language, something she did in France during high school and Mali during college on a Davis International Fellowship.

''The panic and nervousness that gripped me during my first attempt to speak French in France came tumbling back,'' Hudson said of her experience in Mali. ''Over the course of the semester, I realized that speaking in another language is never perfect...and is more than a verbal exchange; it requires context and immediacy.''

While in Mali, Hudson studied the cultural significance of female circumcision. In Reunion, she will use her previous experience in francophone Africa to help her students better understand English language and Anglo cultures. At Wheaton, she was the recipient of the Sheila Lewis Henry '64 Scholarship for Excellence in French and was on the Dean's List for six semesters. When she returns to the U.S., Hudson plans to attend graduate school.

Emily Kapp, a magna cum laude French Studies major from Naples, Fla., will teach English in Dijon, France. This will be Kapp's third significant visit to France; in high school she spent her junior year in Rennes, and her JYA at Wheaton took her to Paris as a teaching assistant, followed by a summer conducting honors thesis research on the wine crisis in France, thanks to a Wheaton Fellowship.

''My summer at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies taught me that to understand another person or culture, you must become part of their lives,'' Kapp explained. ''I decided to take what I had learned, apply it directly, and put a face on a wine crisis only understood in numbers.''

A Dean's List student, Kapp has been active in several organizations: Students for Economic Justice, Emerson Feminist Perspective House, Sierra Student Coalition, Progressive Alliance, College Democrats, Rushlight and several theater productions. She is also a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. After she returns from France, she plans to enter graduate school.

Wheaton students have won 17 national scholarships this year and more than 50 prestigious academic awards in recent years, including three Rhodes Scholarships and four Watson Fellowships since 2001. Wheaton students also have won the British Marshall, Goldwater, Beinecke, Trumans, Fulbrights, Rotary Ambassadorial scholarships, Udalls, James Madison Fellowships and an American Council for International Education scholarship. The Institute for International Education recently recognized Wheaton as one of the top liberal arts colleges producing Fulbright scholars, and the Truman Foundation named Wheaton an Honor Institution.