Our Graduate Alumni Heading link
I moved from my home country of Tunisia to Chicago to pursue my M.A. in French at UIC, exploring the image of Muslims in Francophone literature and arts. My experience at UIC was the starting point for my academic trajectory in the US. After graduating in 2019, I joined the Romance studies department at Duke University as a PhD student. Today, my main interests are: postcolonial studies, feminist studies, and resistance and social movements in Tunisia and the Maghreb. I published my first book of poetry in 2020: Tunisie sucrée-salée.
| Poet and PhD Candidate, Duke University
After graduating with the M.A. and spending a few years teaching French, I pursued a master’s in international higher education and took a position at an international organization overseeing its youth protection efforts in over 150 countries around the world. Now I oversee youth protection for the University of Southern California. French has been essential in every position I’ve held – from holding presentations or conducting onsite audits in French, to using the intercultural competencies I developed to work with people from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures.
| Director of Youth Protection Program, USC
I grew up in Benin then attended La Sorbonne before moving to Chicago to complete my M.A. at UIC. Following my graduation, I started working for a private language school, culture center, and translation agency as a French ambassador. I use my free time to volunteer as a French interpreter at the Marjorie Kovler (part of Heartland Alliance), center for the treatment of the survivors of torture. I mainly worked in collaboration with West Africans. I am now back in Benin where I preserve and promote African cultural heritage for the MEWIHONTO Association, and also produce the television show “Mon Patrimoine Ma Richesse”.
| CEO, MEWIHONTO & TV Producer | Cotonou, Benin
M.A. French Alumni Heading link
Ana Sekler
Ana is a Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for North Park University.
Julie Hugonny
Julie received her PhD in French Literature from NYU. She is now a Lecturer of French at the University of Glasgow.
Polly T. Mangerson
Polly went on to get her PhD at the University of Georgia. She is now the Director of the French Program and Associate Chair of Modern Languages at DePaul.
Sarah (Kaye) Whalen
Sarah has worked for various French language schools in the Chicago area, including the Lycée Français de Chicago and the French Institute of the North Shore.
Pedro Antonino
Pedro went on to join the Fulbright program after completing his M.A. He is the U.S.-Mexico Program Coordinator for Global Nomads Group in Mexico City.
Skye Rust
Skye is the Associate Director of International Admissions and Global Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago, where she oversees outreach for China, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Janée Allsman
Janée received her PhD in French at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is now a postdoctoral research fellow at University College Dublin.
Julianne Angeli
Julianne now works at Beloit College as Associate Director of Global and Immersive Learning and a Visiting Instructor with the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
Valentine Balguerie
Valentine, after receiving her PhD at Brown, went on to work in several visiting lecturer positions on the east coast. She is now a training specialist with Dominion Energy.
Amairani (Amy) Rosario
Amy went on to be a research assistant at Princeton. She is now a French teacher in New Jersey.
Kevin Orr
Kevin went on to work in higher education administration. He is currently an International Student Services Officer and Advisor at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).
Julianne Brooks
Julianne worked many years as a teacher in secondary education. Currently, she is a Program Assistant for UIC’s Language and Culture Learning Center.
Sarah Schaefer
Sarah went on to be an Assistant de Langue with TAPIF for two years. She is currently pursuing doctoral studies in French at NYU.
Jessica (Thornton) Hoselton
Jessica is a senior lecturer of French at the University of Illinois of Chicago.
Mary Guidone
Mary is a Lecturer of French at the University of California, Merced.
Dalton Day
Dalton went on to study information sciences at UIUC. He resides in Chicago where he is a French lecturer, labor activist with the Chicago Teachers Union, and a professional beekeeper.
Kolade Kenneth
Kolade is graduating with his MA this year and is already accepted into a PhD program where he will continue his French studies.
Jared Richardson
Jared is an Instructor of French at Western Michigan University, as well as a SEND Data Analyst with Charles River.
Jane Battison
Jane went on to receive her PhD in French at Emory University. She is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of French at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Raphaël K. Nonin
Raphaël is currently pursuing his PhD in French at the University of Texas at Austin, where his research interests include self-fashioning, nation-building, and sociology of culture.
Esther Van Dyke
Esther is currently pursuing doctoral research in 17th century French theater at the University of Chicago.
Stephanie Beauval
Stephanie is currently pursuing her PhD in French at the University of Chicago.
Taylor (Modrowski) Christy
Taylor is a middle school French teacher in the Chicago area.
Jessica Smietana
Jessica is a PhD candidate at NYU, where she specializes in modern and contemporary French literature.
Dayana (Salazar) Lopez
Dayana Lopez, BA and MA in French at UIC, lives in the Chicagoland area and teaches college French classes and does French and Spanish translation over the summer.
Heather Sabina
Heather, after guest lecturing several years for UIC’s French department, went on to work in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Grace Reczek
Grace is now an Archives and Digitization Assistant for the Pritzker Legal Research Center at Northwestern University.
Aisha (Sasha) Craig
Aisha is currently pursuing her PhD in French at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, focusing on 18th and 19th century studies.
Rebecca (Ebling) Ding
Rebecca is now a secondary French teacher in the Phoenix area.
Anca Guiu
Anca is a long-time French teacher in the Language Department at St. Ignatius College Prep.
Mirela Savulescu
Mirela does French, Romanian, and English translation work and has been a translation project manager since 2016.