Polymathy may be defined as the productive pursuit of multiple endeavors, simultaneously or serially, across a lifetime. As such, polymathic breadth of interest across knowledge domains characterizes Nobel laureates in the sciences, literature, economics, and peace, though interest patterns vary between groups. Economics laureates, like science…

Fénelon and Voltaire, the two French philosophers and pedagogues, influenced a wide range of people in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. The philosophers who followed were inspired by their work which contained ideological hints and promoted humanitarian awareness. We followed the historical analysis method, we intend to present through…

Using the 2000 and 2009 waves of Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) data, we examined the relationships between family socio-economic status (SES), cultural capital, and reading achievement among students in five post-socialist Eastern European countries while comparing the findings with three Western bench-marking countries.…

Divided into four parts, the article explores the relationship between literature and faith. The first part examines the connection between literature and the pursuit of truth and the second shows that literature can offer a challenging encounter with different beliefs. Part three examines some examples of the imagination at work in illuminating…

This paper reports on the early stages of a locally funded research and development project taking place at Rennes 2 university. It aims at developing a comprehensive pedagogical framework for pronunciation training for adult learners of English. This framework will combine a direct approach to pronunciation training (face-to-face teaching) with…

During the First World War, Bion fought in three major battles over a period of two years. He left ample writings both honest and soul searching. Travelling to The Front under raging pressure from his father, he enlisted in a state of mind, which fluctuated wildly between wanting to be a "hero" and sudden fears that made him join the…

At a time when the power of schools and both state and federal education authorities to guide young people's sense of belonging is being challenged by multilingualism, by the claims of supra- and subnational regions and minorities, by memories of national catastrophes and crimes, and by out-of-school educational media, this collection of essays…

Since the 1980s an extensive research literature has investigated how to improve student success in higher education focusing on student outcomes such as retention, completion and employability. A parallel research programme has focused on how students engage with their studies and what they, institutions and educators can do to enhance their…

The publication of Francois Cusset's "French Theory" raises a series of fascinating questions concerning the trans-Atlantic transmission and circulation of ideas. Most important, it impels everyone to inquire why for a time French thought managed to flourish in American universities while French intellectuals rapidly abandoned the entire…

Simone de Beauvoir, best known outside France as a leading modern feminist theorist, is also recognized as a writer of literature, philosophy, and drama. In this essay, James D. Marshall aims to present Beauvoir, not as a mere entry in the history of French philosophy, nor as an under-laborer to Jean-Paul Sartre, but as someone who has important…

A fictional biography unfolds the story of Evariste Galois, a staunch French Republican and brilliant mathematician of the nineteenth century. A biographical sketch of the author, Leopold Infeld, is also included. (MN)

Describes the collection of Perse's literary works, manuscripts, archives, and documents given by the author himself to the city of Aix-en-Provence. In addition to primary sources, the collection contains works on Saint-John Perse, many annotated by him. Grants are available from the foundation for doctoral research. (AMH)

This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social) and the Humanities and the private and the public sectors of…

Analyzes the conflicting attitudes that inform classic editions, editions of French classics created for use in school classes. Examines the ways in which they modify Voltaire's original text "Henriade." Considers the institutional framework in which these editions were produced and emphasizes the process of "classicization,"…

This paper suggests that the entire undergraduate foreign language (FL) curriculum needs to be rethought to integrate language, literature, and culture from the beginning through the advanced levels. It proposes a curriculum that is organized around sociocultural and sociohistorical values, attitudes, and issues and gives preference to literary…