Founded in 2015, the program provides students with opportunities to practice their French language skills and gain cultural insights in a town of about 15,000 residents located more than 150 miles from Paris. The program, which was born out of the historic connection between Saint-Omer’s Jesuit community and Georgetown University’s founder, , celebrated its 10th year this past summer.

“Our goal is for the students to gain professional experiences with their internships but also to allow them to have a cultural and social experience,” said , a teaching professor and director of the in the ������Ƶ & Sciences.

Past internships have included employment at museums, government offices, libraries, animal sanctuaries, small businesses, country clubs and educational institutions. During the six weeks in Saint-Omer, which typically runs from May until mid-July, the students stay with a host family.  

The students’ level of French must be advanced, said Mostowfi, who serves as the internship coordinator, but they don’t need to be a French major or minor. Students are required to have taken at least one French class. The department hosts through April for those interested in learning more.

“This internship was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever gotten to experience in my entire life,” said Maya Taylor (C’27), a computer science major minoring in psychology and Jewish civilization who participated in the program last summer.

“Being fully immersed in the French language significantly improved my comprehension skills, which I’ll carry with me into future French classes at Georgetown,” she said. “I’ve gotten to explore, meet all kinds of new people and make friendships that I’ll have for the rest of my life.”

The John Carroll Connection

When Professor Mostowfi arrived at Georgetown in 2003, she had lived for 30 years in Lille, France, a city about an hour drive away from Saint-Omer. 

Once in DC, she became a member of an association that discussed topics related to northern France. At one of the meetings, someone from Saint-Omer spoke about the city and mentioned how Carroll and his cousins had lived in Saint-Omer. 

Carroll, as Emma Doerfler (C’18) wrote in a 2017 article, left the English colony in Maryland in the 1740s to begin his studies at the English Jesuit College in Saint-Omer. At that time, the Jesuits had found refuge in France after being banished from Protestant England. 

Mostowfi was intrigued. 

Perhaps, she thought, Georgetown could send students to Saint-Omer for internships, similar to the unpaid undergraduate internships offered in France when Mostowfi had taught at the University of Lille.

Before the program became official, the Department of French and Francophone Studies sent three students to Saint-Omer for summer internships. 

“One student worked in the tourist office, one in a golf course and another worked in the town library,” said , a professor and chair of the department. “They had a wonderful time.”

In 2015, the department met with representatives from Saint-Omer, including François Decoste, the president of the Pays de Saint-Omer Agglomeration at the time. That marked the official start of the partnership, Mostowfi said. Thirteen students went to Saint-Omer the following summer, and about 120 have participated in the program since its inception. There weren’t any internships in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021, the program offered seven virtual internships. 

“For students, it is a total immersion in the French language, culture and institutional and economic functioning,” said Nicolas Rochas, who is in charge of coordinating the program with the Agency of Urban Planning, Development, and Heritage of the Saint-Omer region. “For local actors, whether host organizations or families, this program is a lever for internationalization, promotion of the region and enriching exchanges on a professional, linguistic and human level.”

A Fully Immersive Experience

Taylor, one of the interns last summer, applied for the internship after completing her advanced French class. 

“I wanted to continue improving my French in an immersive environment,” she said. “I enjoy the French classes at Georgetown, but nothing compares to being surrounded by the language 24/7.”

In France, she worked about 35 hours a week at a social center in Arques, a town that borders Saint-Omer. Alongside other interns from different countries, Taylor educated children ages 6 to 14 through intercultural activities and reached out to other organizations across Europe to help set up youth exchanges and mobility programs.

The internship was unpaid but Taylor received free transportation and meals through her host family, she said. Students can also apply for the McCarthy Scholarship to help defray costs of travel. 

“The highlight of my trip was becoming friends with people from all around the world,” Taylor said. “I got to meet and bond with many new people from France, Turkey, Portugal and Italy. It was incredibly interesting to exchange thoughts and ideas across so many cultures.”

The jobs vary each year, and Mostowfi and her colleagues decide the students’ internship assignments. According to Rochas, more than 36 employers have participated in the program. 

Lauren Vick (C’28), who is double majoring in French and government, worked as a hostess and server at the Hôtel du Golf in Lumbres, France, a small village close to Saint-Omer.

Zoe Frantz (C’26) wanted to gain work experience abroad to help with her post-graduation career search. In France, she worked at a business school based in Longuenesse and Dunkirk. She would take the bus to Dunkirk two days a week and stayed in Longuenesse with her host family for the other days. 

At the business school, Frantz, who is majoring in French and Francophone studies and government, worked within the Department of International Programs to coordinate and plan new and existing programs with international partners.

“I enjoyed spending time in the centreville of Saint-Omer with the other Georgetown students, unwinding after our days of work in many different places,” Frantz said. “It was a group of people I would have never met if it weren’t for this program.”

Learning Beyond Your Comfort Zone

The John Carroll Internship program helped push Francesca Scovino (C’27) out of her comfort zone.

Before the program, Scovino said she felt shy or embarrassed to speak French out of fear of making mistakes. Working and living in France gave her opportunities to put into action what she was learning in her French classes.

“I gained a great amount of confidence in my ability to speak French,” said Scovino, an American studies major who is minoring in French and theology and religious studies. “I learned to trust myself and the knowledge I had gained in my French courses at Georgetown as well as what I was learning there in my everyday interactions.”

Scovino worked for the communications team at Arc International, a global manufacturer of tableware products. She assisted with marketing and brand collaborations and researched potential brand partnerships for the company. “I developed several proposals for new branding campaigns and marketing strategies,” she said.

By the end of her internship, Scovino said she could comfortably sit in a conversation and understand what was happening. 

“The internship is challenging but extremely rewarding,” she said.

Cole Hartung (C’28) came to Georgetown in part because of the John Carroll Internship Program. 

“I was instantly enamored with the idea of spending time in France working and experiencing the culture while integrated into a host family even before I had begun to consider attending one of Professor Mostowfi’s info sessions,” said Hartung, who is double majoring in French and English and minoring in history. “Looking back, I do not regret my decision a bit and am grateful that I was offered the opportunity.”

He spent his internship working at the La Coupole museum — a former World War II bunker — with the education team, preparing English translations for exhibitions. He walked to work everyday and learned new things about French culture. Among his takeaways are that saucisson, a French dry-cured sausage, is “really, really delicious,” and that in France, is it customary to say something different if you sneeze three times. 

“Trying new and weird things can be even more fun and rewarding than I thought,” he said. “I unexpectedly made friends with a lot of strangers when I was there, which encouraged me to try and break free of my socially awkward bubble once I got back to campus.”

Hartung encourages any student interested to apply for the program.

“If you have nothing else going on this summer I would absolutely do this internship,” he said. “If you do have something going on, cancel your plans. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I do not at all regret taking.”

(Top photo of Saint-Omer by Carl Peterolff)

Beyene joined a group of students from the Archdiocese of Washington at the Vatican Embassy, eagerly awaiting the leader of the Catholic Church. Shortly after she arrived, she heard whispers that the pope might be too tired to greet the crowd.

But eventually, as the sun was setting, Francis arrived – not in a popemobile, but . Beyene vividly remembers that he shook the hand of any child he could reach, including Beyene’s. At one point, Francis, who died on April 21, stopped to bless a child in a wheelchair. 

“His prioritization of young people is something you don’t always see,” said Beyene, who spoke at a recent about Francis’ leadership. “Pope Francis made us feel like we are really important and integral to the church.”

Experiencing the pope’s humility firsthand has shaped Beyene’s time at Georgetown, where she is majoring in government with minors in French and religion, ethics and world affairs (REWA). After graduation, Beyene, the only child of immigrants from Ethiopia, hopes to use her education to one day pursue humanitarian work in a French-speaking country in Africa. 

“I want to live my faith out in the world,” Beyene said.

Faith and Knowledge

Beyene is a first-generation college student from a large and close-knit, Ethiopian American Catholic family.

She was born and raised in the suburbs of Maryland and attended Georgetown Visitation, right down the street from Georgetown. Beyene could hear and see the Healy Hall bells from her high school. And even though her cousins attended other colleges in the area, the opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge . 

“I wanted to go to a university that would challenge me both in the classroom but also personally foster the values of caring for our community and world,” Beyene said. “I knew Georgetown would leave me with both of those desires fulfilled.”

During her four years at Georgetown, Beyene has held several roles in . She has been a reader and Eucharistic minister for Masses at Dahlgren Chapel and a co-spiritual chair for with her roommate and best friend, Riley Talbot (C’25), where they have organized spiritual discussion dinners and Bible studies.

Beyene also served for two years as a Catholic retreats leader, guiding a small group through retreats focused on the key places and moments in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola at the in Bluemont, Virginia. 

Outside of Catholic Ministry, Beyene has found fulfillment co-hosting with Talbot, a radio show on that features songs by female artists and conversations with friends, roommates and professors.

“I have loved building a family-empowerment-centered community through our show,” Beyene said. 

In the summer of 2022, Beyene was one of 21 undergraduate students who embarked led by the Office of Mission and Ministry, where she visited the Sanctuary of Loyola, the birthplace of St. Ignatius, and towns that influenced his life’s purpose and mission, like Montserrat and Manresa. The following spring, Beyene went to Rome as part of and learned about pilgrimage across faiths, with a focus on Rome’s significance for Christians.

“Blain has lived what we hope our students achieve at a Jesuit, liberal arts institution by standing at the intersection of religion and world affairs,” said , an advising dean at the ������Ƶ & Sciences. “The combination of her academic studies and extracurricular activities is the living embodiment of what we hope our students pursue in the ������Ƶ & Sciences.”

Stretching Her Brain

In Beyene’s application to Georgetown, she wrote that she keeps her Ethiopian immigrant community in mind, and it has continued to guide her college experience.

As a junior, Beyene became a member of the Government Honors cohort, and for her senior thesis, she wrote nearly 100 pages on a paper titled, “A Tale of Two Countries: French and American Approaches to African Immigration.”

Beyene examined how the two countries define citizenship, how those definitions have evolved and how their histories with African populations continue to shape ongoing disparities for African immigrants. 

“Blain has that love of learning and curiosity that every teacher so appreciates,” said , director of the African Studies Program and an associate professor in the Department of Government. “She cares about people and recognizes that all of our community at Georgetown has something to offer her and she has something to share with them.”

Georgetown has helped Beyene grow in ways she didn’t expect. Before coming to college, she had never read the Bible from an academic lens until taking the Divine Revelation course. 

“I just feel like Georgetown keeps stretching my brain in all different ways,” she said.

Even when Beyene is having dinner with friends, their conversations sometimes drift toward the different ways students can practice their faith on campus within the context of helping others. The environment, she said, brings it out of them. 

“One of the greatest gifts of my Georgetown education would be the responsibility to always ensure that my work or research is benefiting my wider community that is not typically represented in higher academic spaces,” Beyene said. “I love that Georgetown emphasizes the values of ‘People for Others’ in the work we do, and I hope to keep that humility in mind in my future career and advanced studies.”

Professor Susanna Lee is an internationally recognized specialist in the nineteenth-century French novel and twentieth-century crime fiction. Lee, who serves as chair of the , has a variety of research interests, including popular culture, literary theory and law and humanities. 

Lee’s first book, A World Abandoned by God, examined lived experiences of the secular world in nineteenth-century French and Russian narrative. She then wrote two books on hard-boiled detective fiction, a genre that emphasizes individualism and realism. studied French and American detectives as nationally specific culture heroes and models of spiritual authority. In , a “feisty alternative view of American history as seen through the lens of hard-boiled detective fiction,” Lee tells the story of the American twentieth and early twenty-first centuries through the nation’s ever-evolving love affair with the hard-boiled detective. True to her roots in the French canon, she also edited the Norton Critical Editions of and .

Now in her second year as convener of Georgetown’s , Lee continues to research the limits and possibilities of individual human agency. Most recently, she has co-edited, with , Regulating the Body, forthcoming in 2025, which analyzes the practices and discourses used to constrain bodily autonomy in American law. She is currently at work on a new book project, a cultural history of alcoholism in France.

What is a book that everyone should read?

Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu). Yes, it is long, but you will thank me — once you have read Proust, you have a friend for life. This novel has everything — incomparably beautiful writing, complicated and obsessive and memorable characters and a deep dive into human nature of all kinds. And it is funny. You can’t beat Proust when it comes to creating and making fun of characters who try too hard. I first came to Proust in graduate school fearing it would be a daunting slog, but not at all, he is amazing. 

What is a book that you revisit every year?

������ܲ������’s Madame Bovary, because every sentence is like a celebration of what words can do. He took seven years to write it and it is just one Easter egg after another. This is one of the books that made me decide to become a 19��è�������ٱ� (to specialize in the 19th century) because of what Flaubert does with language and the way the characters are relatable and repulsive at the same time, so bold and so clueless.

What is a book that inspired your academic journey?

Both the books named above, also Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi and Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson. The first course I ever designed was an American literature course called “Hardboiled Crime Fiction;” we started with Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and, while preparing that course, I discovered Jim Thompson. He looked like a patrician gentleman but the writing is some of the most unhinged material you’ll ever see, and it’s fascinating to see total moral rot combined with lively and poetic writing. Oddly enough, Pop. 1280 was made into a French movie, called Coup de Torchon, which the director chose to set in French-occupied West Africa, and there is a lot to say about that.  

What is the best new book that you’ve read in the past year?

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. So beautiful and moving. It’s about community and empathy and quiet, important lives, how we can save each other. To me it reads delicately, like lace filigree, even though all of human life is there, and when it’s over you just sit and marvel at what you just read.

What is the perfect book for the beach?

This is a tough one because I’m from Southern California and if we’re at the beach we’re in the water! But to answer the question — anything by English mystery writer Ruth Rendell, A Judgment in Stone or The Bridesmaid are great and both were made into French movies. Also French mystery writer Fred Vargas or American mystery writer Kellye Garrett. Ruth Rendell was prolific and incredible, she also wrote psychological thrillers under the name of Barbara Vine. Fred Vargas in some ways rejuvenated French crime fiction, and she has been writing amazing novels since the 1990s — email me for recommendations! Kellye Garrett’s Hollywood Homicide was so much fun to read, and cheered me during the pandemic — her latest is Missing White Woman. 

Photography by Oxana Ware (C’07, G’09).

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What should returning students expect in the next year?

The Hilltop is alive with energy when students come back for the start of classes, and we’re eager to begin a new academic year. We have fantastic new faculty hires across the ������Ƶ & Sciences — in the humanities, the natural sciences and the social sciences — and we’re looking forward to having them in the classroom. This is also a pivotal year for us as we proceed with our planning for the in downtown Washington, DC, which is Georgetown’s big, exciting next step for continued growth into the future.

Will you be teaching any classes this fall? If so, what can you tell us about them?

Unfortunately, I will not be teaching this fall. That’s one of the few downsides of stepping into an administrative role like this one. Teaching is energizing for me. Working with Georgetown students is one of the best parts of being a professor here. I’ll miss exploring the work of Albert Camus, the renowned 20th-century writer and public intellectual who has been one of the main focal points of my teaching the last few years.  

Can you tell us about your research? What are your areas of interest?

My research focuses primarily on the ways in which political power becomes manifest in literature and culture. I have several areas of interest: the novel, autobiography, poetry, testimony, cinema, history, mass media and social media. The period I am most interested in is roughly from World War I through the early Cold War. My book on Stalinism in France, , deals with that period. It will be coming out in Russian translation in 2026, so I’m very happy about that.

Do you have any messages for incoming students?

Take a step back and appreciate where you are and how you got here. Absorb as much as you can from your classes. Explore disciplines and subjects that you have never before studied, or maybe never even heard of. Try to find links among the various courses that you’re taking. Get to know the DC area: the Smithsonian, the embassies, the food scene. Make new friends. Put the phone down. Read books. Browse the stacks in the university library. Learn a new language! You’ve made it to one of the best universities in the world. Take advantage of the opportunities you have before you. It will go quickly.

You’ve spent many years as a professor and administrator on the Hilltop. What keeps you at Georgetown and what have you learned during your time here?

Georgetown is among the very best places in the country to do the kind of work that I do. The students’ focus on politics, culture and language is very much in alignment with my own. I love being in the nation’s capital, and I have always liked Georgetown’s international focus. The university is something I find compelling and that I always like to share with incoming faculty. Georgetown is also a great fit for me, as I went to a Jesuit high school (Regis Jesuit in Denver, my hometown), and I have a deep appreciation for Jesuit values. 

What are three fun facts about yourself?

First, I love to cook. I learned to cook from my mom and now I enjoy cooking with my wife and daughters. My favorite cookbook right now is Roy Choi’s L.A. Son (and I like seeing him on The Chef Show with Jon Favreau — it’s on Netflix, check it out). Second, I began learning Arabic last spring after a trip to our Doha campus. It’s an amazing place, and I was inspired by the visit — especially my meetings with students there — to begin learning the language, at long last. I grew up in a big Lebanese extended family in Colorado and I picked up French at home and school, but I’d never learned Arabic. Also, I’ll put in a plug for the CAS First Fellows Program here, as I’m both a first-generation American and a first-generation college graduate. Finally, I love being active — over the years, I’ve enjoyed hiking, mountain biking, swimming, spinning classes, racquetball, tennis and, most recently, yoga!

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The awards ceremony, which takes its name from the ancient Greek word for trophy, honors graduating seniors for their outstanding accomplishments, both within and outside of the classroom. 

“You are more than ready for what the future holds,” said Rosario Ceballo, dean of the ������Ƶ & Sciences, to the assembled graduates. “If complacency begins to creep in, shake it away and never stop learning new things, asking more questions and finding connections with others. Congratulations on all you have achieved and best wishes for embracing the many adventures that lie ahead.”

This year, Joshua Gavsie (C’24) was awarded the Coakley Medal, Renée Clark (C’24) the Kraft Medal, Mike Whittington (C’24) the Louis McCahill Award and Naomi Greenberg (C’24) the Spronck Medal. Connor Hartigan (C’24) delivered the Cohonguroton Address. Amy Leonard received the Bunn Award for Faculty Excellence and addressed the graduating class. 

Joshua Gavsie

Joshua Gavsie received the Coakley Medal, which is awarded annually to the ������Ƶ & Sciences senior who, in the opinion of the faculty, most embodies the “qualities of loving service, honor and courage in all phases of their college life.” In addition to receiving the Coakley Medal, Gavsie was awarded the Father Robert Hoggson, S.J. Award for Excellence in Sociology.

Gavsie, a double major in government and sociology, has committed himself to pursuing both scholastic and moral questions during his time at Georgetown. 

Gavsie has worked with , the Idol Family Term Chair in the , on research that examines organizational statements related to COVID-19 and racial justice and inequality in the United States. In his own independent and complementary research, Gavsie has explored how organizational statements related to labor practices. 

During Gavsie’s sophomore year, as the Class of 2024 arrived on the Hilltop in the months following the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked as a founding member of the Georgetown Coalition for Workers’ Rights. Gavsie worked with the newly-formed coalition to rebuild long-standing connections between the school’s student body and the dining hall, housekeeping and facilities workers.

Gavsie worked with the Center for Social Justice’s , which works with people experiencing homelessness through a variety of channels, and the , where he helped provide meals and other services to the housing insecure. As an intern with the , Gavsie spent his senior year working on workers’ rights issues for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. After graduation, Gavsie is planning on attending law school to pursue a career in labor law, which will enable him to continue fighting for workers’ rights. 

The Coakley medal was established in memory of Henry “Hank” Coakley, a Georgetown alumnus and U.S. Air Force pilot, by his wife, Elizabeth Coakley.

Renée Clark

Renée Clark received the Kraft Medal, given to the graduating student who embodies a “spirit of humility, cooperation and commitment as a woman or man for others in all facets of college life.”

Clark, a double major in government and theology, has produced a trove of interdisciplinary research during her time at Georgetown that explores the intersections of religiosity, race and public policy. Her honors thesis, which was completed as part of her government major, mapped out a theology of reconciliation for communities affected by the opioid epidemic in Appalachia. 

In her first year, Clark dove headfirst into research at the first opportunity after taking Bernie Cook’s course Engaging Slavery Through Research and Radical Imagination. After becoming enthralled with archival research, Clark began working with Cook, associate dean in the ������Ƶ & Sciences and founding director of the Film and Media Studies Program, on research related the lives of the GU272 and the legacies of Jesuit slaveholding.

A , Clark researched the relationship between faith communities and civic engagement. Originally from Greene, New York, in the Appalachian region, Clark was interested in a comparative study of white church communities in her home state and Black church communities in North Carolina. Clark continued toying with ideas of religion, religiosity and race, which led her to her second major in theology and religious studies. 

The Kraft Medal was established by Mrs. Cornerlia Kraft McKee in memory of her mother, Katherine Kraft. 

Mike Whittington

Mike Whittington, a biochemistry major, received the Louis McCahill Award, given to the student of the graduating class who has “shown perseverance and determination of a high order in pursuing his or her educational objectives at Georgetown.”

Whittington, who first arrived on campus in 2015, took an academic leave of, a cumulative, three years, during which time they took on a number of community-building projects in their hometown of Trenton, New Jersey. Whittington serves as the Director of Operations for Tha Block Trenton, an arts-based collective that works in tandem with local businesses and organizations to provide much-needed resources to all of the city’s residents, including those who are unhoused.

Whittington worked as a training associate and program lead at the , an educational nonprofit in New Jersey focused on boosting student success across the board. They also serve as secretary of the board for , an organization working to transform Trenton’s historic First Presbyterian Church into a community center and arts space.

During their time on and off the Hilltop, Whittington has pursued a slew of academic and personal interests, ranging from becoming a licensed EMT to a certified yoga instructor to a community organizer.  

The McCahill Award was established in 1960 by Mr. Eugene McCahill and Mr. Francis McCahill in memory of their brother, Louis, who died in the service of his country in the First World War.

In embodying the spirit of this award, Mike has remained dedicated and unwavering in their work as a person for others, a scholar and a multi-hyphenate. 

Naomi Greenberg

Naomi Greenberg received the Lambert H. Spronck Medal, which is awarded to the student who has “combined good scholarship with significant contributions to extracurricular activities and who has manifested a spirit of giving completely to whatever Georgetown project of activity she or he has engaged in while at the university.” 

Greenberg, a biology major and journalism minor, has blended her passions for science and writing during her time on the Hilltop. She conducted research into molecular biology, molecular genetics and evolutionary genetics. Throughout Greenberg’s undergraduate career, , a teaching professor in the Department of Biology, acted as an academic and personal mentor. 

“I’m so grateful for the opportunities Georgetown offers its students to pursue not just academic passions, but extracurriculars as well,” Greenberg said. “Working at The Hoya and creating the science section was a highlight of college for me and I’m humbled that my peers and mentors saw the value in that effort.”

Greenberg interned at the National Institutes of Health, where she worked in the lab of Takashi Akera, who studies chromosome dynamics and evolution. She also spent a summer conducting research for the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, where she worked in neurobiologist Erin Schuman’s lab to optimize research experiments and learn molecular biology techniques. This research was supported by a Royden B. Davis Fellowship.

On campus, Greenberg spent all four years involved with The Hoya, working as a copy assistant, copy deputy and copy chief. She then founded and led the publication’s science section, which shines a spotlight on science-related news on the Hilltop and beyond. During her last year as an undergraduate, Greenberg worked at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History writing for both Smithsonian Voices and the Ocean Portal

Greenberg was named a 2024 Marshall Scholar, one of just 413 in the entire country. During her junior year, she was one of two students in the ������Ƶ & Sciences to receive a Goldwater Scholarship. After graduation, Greenberg will attend Imperial College London where she will pursue a Master of Research (MRes) in systems and synthetic biology. 

Connor Hartigan

Connor Hartigan delivered the Cohonguroton Address at the invitation of the dean, Rosario Ceballo. Taking its name from the Algonquin word for the Potomac River, the Cohongurton Address is delivered by one of the graduating class’s most outstanding students.

In his address, Hartigan addressed the Christian notion of wounded beauty and its relationship to the graduating class. 

“Jesus, as God incarnate, is beauty, goodness and truth itself. Yet on the cross, we see him utterly broken, pierced and bleeding,” Hartigan said. “The faith teaches that it is precisely in this sacrificial suffering — in these wounds of love — that we can find authentic beauty. 

I think we’ve all learned, over the course of our time here, that our beautiful world bears many wounds.”

In his remarks, Hartigan touched on climate catastrophe, authoritarian political movements and xenophobia as examples of the wounds afflicting our shared, beautiful world. To treat these wounds, Hartigan argued, graduating seniors should act as, in the words of St. Francis of Assisi, instruments of peace. 

“When we study, when we learn, when we apply the fruits of our education to make a difference in the world, we do so out of love,” Hartigan said. “Our education at Georgetown has taught us more about how to love — it has imparted to us a deep appreciation, and even reverence, for creation, for all life and for the inherent dignity and worth of each human being.” 

Hartigan pursued a double major in French and government with a minor in theology and religious studies. During the Tropaia Exercises, Hartigan was awarded the Loyola Medal, which is bestowed upon the member of the graduating class of the ������Ƶ & Sciences who best exemplified Catholic and Jesuit ideals in their collegiate life.

After graduation, Hartigan will begin working as an O’Hare Fellow at America Media, a Jesuit publication based in New York City. 

“During this year, I’ll have the chance to create content for America‘s various platforms, both in print and online, on questions of faith, Jesuit spirituality and their relationship to public life,” Hartigan said. “This position will be an ideal setting in which to translate Georgetown’s values into a professional context.” 

Amy Leonard

, an associate professor in the , received the Bunn Award for Faculty Excellence. 

Established in 1967 to honor Rev. Edward B. Bunn, S.J., the award is chosen by a vote of the senior class and presented to the member of the College faculty who “is admired and respected by all students for their service to Georgetown in the classroom and on the campus community.”

Leonard has published widely on the women of Early Modern Europe, shedding light on the lives of people previously relegated to the peripheries of history and the margins of textbooks.

“Professor Leonard embodies the best of our faculty here in the ������Ƶ & Sciences, not just in her groundbreaking research, but also in the way that she invites students into an ongoing conversation with the past, present and future of human society and our struggle for a more just world,” Ceballo said. 

In her address to the assembled graduates, Leonard reflected on her career as a historian and a much-loved class that she teaches with , which explores witches and witchcraft in the Early Modern world. The course, which was restructured in 2020, offered a high watermark for both professors and students during an uncertain period. 

“I hope you can learn from that first online year — the disappointment, anger and trauma, but also the successes — and use it going forward,” Leonard said. “Remember how you rose to the occasion; that you persevered and, yes, showed your resilience, by doing what you could to create your own signature college experience.”

“It has been my deepest privilege to teach at Georgetown and I am incredibly honored and humbled to be the recipient of this award.”

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When Renée Clark (C’24) sent a cold email in December to an attorney to learn more about his work, she was not expecting much of a response.

Nami Bolat (C’25), who is double majoring in French and theology and religious studies and minoring in Japanese, spent the past few months researching the Nabis. Bolat spent the summer on a Davis Fellowship, digging through the lives, beliefs and paintings that the Nabis left behind, first in the United States, then in Japan and, finally, in France. 

For Bolat, who has been fascinated by artists of the period since high school, the flow of religious and philosophical ideas from East to West, drew her to the project. 

“I have always been abstractly interested in the interplay between the East and West, especially when it comes to spirituality and religion,” explained Bolat. “Time and time again, it seems like the West has looked to the East for inspiration that they can’t seem to find in their own religions.”

Uncovering the Nabis

The name that the group took, Nabis, comes from the Hebrew word Nebiim, meaning a prophet, enlightened one or seer. 

“The name was coined by the poet Henri Cazali,” said Bolat. “He noticed a similarity between the way the brotherhood of painters sought to revitalize painting and the way the ancient projects had restored Israel.”

The name, and the additional mystical and philosophical trappings of a secret society, stuck. For the Nabis, the ancient prophets of Israel were just one part of a vast network of holy men whose teachings they wanted to uncover and digest. 

“Many of the artists were fascinated by occultism, esotericism and Theosophy,” said Bolat. “Theosophy claimed to be a synthesis of all world religions, a movement that sought the ‘ultimate truth’ expressed by all religions and world views that was very popular in the period amidst a rapidly secularizing France and ever-increasing global communication and exchange.” 

According to Bolat, the Nabis, though secluded by choice, were emblematic of a larger cultural trend, wherein Western thinkers and artists dabbled broadly, sucking in philosophical and religious ideas from the East.  

In her research, Bolat documents how the Nabis were importing more than just a piecemeal assembly of religious ideology, but were also drawing on Japanese art, including ukiyo-e, a genre that flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries and which was popular in Paris at the time. 

“J���貹�Ա���� ukiyo-e woodblock prints had a profound and instantaneous impact on European artists,” said Bolat. “It rose in popularity as Western art of the mid-nineteenth century struck an impasse, ensnared by naturalism and sterile academicism.” 

The synthesis studied by Bolat traveled along ideological, religious and artistic avenues. By traveling to Paris and Tokyo, she was able to directly examine artwork from prominent members of the Nabis, including Paul-Élie Ranson, Paul Sérusier, and Maurice Denis. 

“My research has uncovered that Theosophy seems to have been the most prominent religious influence on the group while the Japanese influence was mostly an aesthetic one,” said Bolat. “Theosophy’s attempts to amalgamate or find commonalities between all religions and world views are fascinating, a bit frightening and another example of how the West interacted and continues to interact with the East, both positively and negatively, on the spiritual and religious plane. 

The World as a Classroom

Bolat’s travels and research were funded through a Royden B. Davis Fellowship. Every year, the ������Ƶ & Sciences awards undergraduate students fellowships between $1,000 and $5,000 to explore “transformative educational experiences.” 

Given in honor of Fr. Davis, Dean of the ������Ƶ & Sciences from 1966 to 1989, the fellowship empowers students to pursue avenues of interest that extend beyond the boundaries of the classroom, encouraging the curiosity that is at the heart of a liberal arts education. 

“In any situation, one should always leave room for the unexpected and the unseen,” Fr. Davis said in a 1985 commencement address. “In order to do this, we must employ the imagination… One gains through the imagination a freedom of action, and ability to be ready for fresh choices.”

For Bolat, her summer experience not only expanded her horizons, but allowed her to connect her personal identity, interests and area of study. Bolat, who has relatives in France and Japan, was able to reconnect with family while studying the Nabis. 

“I began my travels afraid I was about to face a tremendously lonely journey, worried that my subpar Japanese wouldn’t be enough to feel close to the family I’ve left behind there, worried to be all alone wandering around Paris,” said Bolat. “I was proven completely and utterly wrong.”

, an associate professor in the , sponsored Bolat’s research and mentored her throughout the process. 

“Nami’s project is an exciting and interdisciplinary one that has allowed her to combine all of her academic areas of interest in important and wide-ranging ways,” said O’Neil-Henry. “Using her Japanese and French language skills, Nami was able to access different international archives and museums and in the process discover connections among history, art history, culture and religion.”

Throughout her travels and archival research at home, Bolat was able to better understand the Nabis and herself.  

“Every single day brought something new and exciting,” said Bolat. “Even during the month before I left, I was immersed in research and there were so many times when my jaw was on the floor at what I was reading.”

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“The Faculty of Language and Linguistics is a national and preeminent leader in language education,” said Rosario Ceballo, dean of the ������Ƶ & Sciences. “As we look at the world today, it’s important to reach out to others, to listen, to learn and to dialogue across our differences. Speaking and learning languages can help us to be people for others.”

In her remarks, Ceballo spoke to the unique power of interdisciplinary, humanistic learning to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers. 

“This learning might come in linguistics, where our faculty and students research and study the forms and contexts of language,” said Ceballo. “It might come in languages no longer spoken, like Ancient Greek and Latin, whose legacies surround us everywhere we turn or it might arise in the panoply of modern languages that our Faculty of Languages and Linguistics research and teach.” 

Distinguished Service Award

As part of the ceremony, each year a member of the faculty who has “made extraordinary contributions to the programs and mission of the FLL through his or her research, teaching and service to the community” is presented with the FLL Distinguished Service Award. 

This year, , a professor in the and faculty directory of graduate liberal studies in the , received the award. , the chair of the , presented McNelis with the honor. 

“Professor McNelis challenges students to confront the fundamental human questions raised by ancient texts, even as he develops students’ ability to identify the elements of diction, meter, and style that together make up a poem’s literary texture,” said Lee. “His trademark combination of sharp wit, modesty, and wisdom make him an ideal teacher and invaluable colleague.”

McNelis served as chair of the classics department for six years. He is one of the world’s foremost Latinists and his translations of difficult texts challenge contemporary notions of gender and sexuality in the ancient world. 

“Perhaps the most important lesson to be drawn from your studies is that there is not a single way of speaking, of conceiving of the world, of trying to communicate ideas to others, of capturing the excitement, beauty or even the disappointment of a given moment in life,” said McNelis to the assembled FLL graduates. 

The Regent’s Address

Each year, the FLL Awards Ceremony features The Regent’s Address, which is delivered by a senior in the FLL with an exceptional GPA who is chosen by the faculty. This year’s remarks were delivered by Chloe Olivia Morris (C’23). 

“The Faculty of Languages and Linguistics has opened my eyes to something paradoxical: we’re not just students of ‘languages’ and ‘linguistics.’ We are students of history, literature, art, political science and anthropology,” said Olivia Morris, a Spanish major. “The FLL has taught us to become global citizens of an ever-changing world with the goal of intercultural communication, understanding, and bridge-building.”

For Morris, studying a language is about far more than just proper syntax and pronunciation. 

“The Department of Spanish and Portuguese has taught me that languages are more than just phonetics,” said Morris. “Languages are vehicles that simultaneously unbuild and rebuild our worlds, and they change us just as much as we change them.”

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Abigail Marsh

Marsh, a professor in the and the , received one of the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching. An internationally-recognized scholar whose work probes the intersection of neuroscience and empathy, Marsh makes a habit of mentoring student researchers both in her lab and in the classroom. 

“Professor Marsh is a highly accomplished and dedicated teacher-scholar whose contributions have had a significant impact on the field of psychology and the university community,” said Vice Dean of Faculty Elena Silva. “We are honored to recognize Professor Marsh as an outstanding teacher-scholar, and we look forward to her continued success in inspiring and educating the next generation of scholars.”

Beloved by students and colleagues, Marsh has been nominated five times for honors in the ������Ƶ & Sciences. Last spring, Marsh received the prestigious Bunn Award for Faculty Excellence, which is chosen by a vote of the graduating class and presented to the member of the ������Ƶ & Sciences faculty who “is admired and respected by all students for their service to Georgetown in the classroom and on the campus community.”

Natsu Onoda Power

Onoda Power, the artistic director of the Davis Performing Arts Center and a professor in the , received one of the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching. A playwright, director and set designer, Onoda Power has taught in the ������Ƶ & Sciences since 2005. 

As the onset of the coronavirus pandemic upended the traditional in-person classroom, Onoda Power pursued novel applications of virtual instruction. In March 2021, she directed a virtual show, Okinawa Field Trip, which was produced by students in one of her classes. Each night of its run, the production invited two dozen audience members to join a virtual field trip. Led by a Dugong – a vulnerable marine mammal related to manatees – audience members traversed from the front gates of Georgetown to their final destination of Okinawa, Japan. The show explored the relationship between themes of environmental justice, social justice and the legacies of war.  

“Developing this piece was a rigorous exercise in the theatrical application of Zoom and community-building, intercultural exchange and facilitating difficult conversations through performance,” said Ben Harbert, chair of the Department of Performing Arts. 

In all of her classes, Onoda Power weaves together theory and practice, giving students a chance to go deep in courses on special topics, such as Performing Madness, wherein students investigate the intersection between theater and mental illness, with a broad interdisciplinary focus that relies on a wide array of readings. 

Iris Smorodinsky

Smorodinsky, a teaching professor in the , received one of the Dean’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching. She is well-known amongst colleagues, alumni and students as a dedicated, thoughtful and transformative instructor. 

Throughout more than 15 years in the ������Ƶ & Sciences, Smorodinsky has taught and contributed to the design of nearly all of the French language courses taught at Georgetown. In 2015, Smorodinsky created a popular class in French phonetics, the first of its kind offered by the department in decades. 

Beyond the classroom, Smorodinsky has been a boon to her colleagues as a course coordinator, pulling together a treasure trove of pedagogical tools to improve French language instruction on the Hilltop. For 13 years, Smorodinsky implemented and oversaw the departmental placement test and confirmation exam, both of which are essential to the French language curriculum and together have been taken by thousands of incoming students. l 

“In many ways, Professor Smorodinsky is the ideal teacher: rigorous and at the same time supportive and approachable,” said Vice Dean of Faculty Andrew Sobanet. “She has been extraordinarily generous with her talents and her time, and she represents what is best about Georgetown. Her teaching evaluations are consistently exemplary, her sections oversubscribed; she is trusted and sought out by students for her clarity, warmth and acumen.” 

Thom Chiarolanzio

Senior Associate Dean Chiarolanzio, who serves as the College’s Director of Advising, received the Distinguished Service Staff Award. Chiarolanzio has called the Hilltop home for more than 27 years, advising generations of Hoyas and helping thousands of students discover their potential. 

The award is presented to a member of the staff of the ������Ƶ & Science who has distinguished themselves through extraordinary service to the ideals of the school, including selflessness as a person for others, cura personalis, commitment to community in diversity and creative leadership and service in support of academic excellence. 

“Thom’s leadership of our advising operation is rooted in a love for our students, for the liberal arts in the Jesuit tradition, for Georgetown and for his colleagues,” said Dean Rosario Ceballo. “Thom’s colleagues describe him as ‘the epitome of cura personalis,’ as ‘the spiritual center of the academic center of the student experience’ and the essence of ‘generosity and selflessness despite his overflowing plate.’”

In addition to leading the advising team of the ������Ƶ & Sciences, Chiarolanzio serves on a slew of committees and initiatives across campus, including the Honor Council, Athletics, Admissions and Enrollment Management. He has also launched two celebrated initiatives: the Sophomore Success Series and the Social Responsibility Network. 

Nicoletta Pireddu

Pireddu, a professor in the and the inaugural director of the , received the Condé Nast Award. Founded by the College Student Council in 1966, the award honors the memory of the first President of the Yard. It is awarded annually by the ������Ƶ & Sciences to a faculty member who has served the College with distinguished teaching, research and service or leadership. 

“I have had the distinct pleasure of witnessing Professor Pireddu’s leadership, especially in her dynamic and creative work launching and sustaining the Humanities Institute,” said Dean Ceballo. “Thanks to Nicoletta, Georgetown’s enduring strengths in the humanities now enjoy a bigger platform and an engine for innovation and collaboration.”

A specialist in comparative literature, Pireddu has left an indelible mark on the Hilltop. Under her leadership, the Georgetown Humanities Initiative has breathed new life into the humanities on campus. Recently, the initiative received a $750,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create a humanities hub on campus.  

A well-respected scholar, Pireddu’s most recent book Migrating Minds: Theories and Practices of Cultural Cosmopolitanism was recently awarded the René Welleck Prize. Conferred by the American Comparative Literature Association, it is the field’s most prestigious accolade. In addition, Pireddu recently launched an open-access journal bearing the same name. The first issue of Migrating Minds is set to be published in the fall.

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“It is an honor to serve the College as Vice Dean of Faculty and I very much look forward to working with everyone in the Dean’s office, as well as the department chairs, program directors and faculty across the arts and sciences,” Sobanet says. “Service to the community has always been an important part of my career at Georgetown and I look forward to deepening my engagement with the College and the campus at large.”

About Sobanet

Sobanet’s research interests, which examine the intersection of politics and literature, include the twentieth-century novel, testimony, mass media, and European history. He is the author of Jail Sentences: Representing Prison in Twentieth-Century French Fiction (University of Nebraska Press, 2008) Generation Stalin: French Writers, the Fatherland and the Cult of Personality (Indiana University Press, 2018). He has also published widely on Vichy France. 

He has worked as the associate editor of the journal Contemporary French Civilization since 2011 and served as chair of the Department of French and Francophone studies from 2009 to 2015 and again in 2018-19. Sobanet was also the convenor of Georgetown’s Faculty of Languages and Linguistics in 2014-15. 

The professor is currently serving as chair of the College Rank and Tenure Committee, an advisory body to the university president regarding the granting of tenure and promotion. His most recent projects include research on the cultural history of communism in France as well as a collaborative big-data project with Lisa Singh in the Department of Computer Science that examines political discourse on French-language Twitter.

As vice dean, Sobanet will be responsible for Foreign Languages and Linguistics departments including Arabic and Islamic Studies, Classics, East Asian Languages and Cultures, French and Francophone Studies, German, Italian, Linguistics, Spanish and Portuguese, Slavic Languages and Small Program Languages. Sobanet will also oversee African American Studies, Art and Art History, English and Performing Arts. 

Additionally, Sobanet will supervise the Comparative Literature, Film and Media Studies, Global Medieval Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies programs. 

Diggs Colbert, who will assume her role as interim dean of the College on January 1 of 2021, says that Sobanet’s demonstrated skill set will be an asset in the continued development of the College. 

“I am excited Prof. Andrew Sobanet, an outstanding scholar, gifted teacher, and proven leader, will be joining the Dean’s office as a vice dean of faculty,” Diggs Colbert says. “Professor Sobanet’s vast leadership experience will help guide the College in implementing ongoing and new initiatives that harmonize well with the wonderful work of our existing team.”

“The Racial Justice Speaker Series represents one part of the necessary work we must do to recognize and then act on the deeply embedded racial inequities in our society,” says Christopher Celenza, dean of Georgetown College. “Our diverse and interdisciplinary speakers will bring different perspectives to this ongoing conversation. I appreciate the work they are doing and am honored that the College will be hosting this series.”

Research and Racial Justice

These conversations invite faculty from various departments and programs across campus, including the , the , the , and the . 

, vice dean and Idol Family Professor of the ������Ƶ and Sciences says that the title of the series draws from Esther 4:14. 

“I understand this passage as a call to action and responsibility for those put in positions of power,” says Colbert. “The series will consider how Georgetown faculty’s research advances racial justice and how racial justice produces certain responsibilities for researchers. We will consider how the pursuit of justice informs the impact of each speaker’s work, understanding that pursuit as a fundamental part of being a faculty member at Georgetown.”

This series is part of the new Racial Justice Initiative which will be formally launched through Georgetown College next semester. It’s first course, Anti-Black Racism: History and Ideology, Justice and Resistance, will be taught by Colbert and , a professor in the African American Studies department. 

“Racial justice and anti-racist praxis require a mastery of the histories that created, cultivated, and exacerbated racial inequities, and that threaten to make these inequities insurmountable without thoughtful, systematic, and energetic thinking, planning and implementation,” says Patterson. “This course equips students with both the knowledge and skills necessary to think about and enact racial justice, exploring the complexities, complications, and contradictions that emerge when trying to create a beloved community and more perfect union that center Black communities and Black citizens.  

“Situated firmly in the historical and pedagogical mission of Black Studies, this course equips students to address these opportunities,” he concludes.

These conversations have been scheduled from 12:00-1:00 pm EST on Wednesdays throughout the month of October, starting on Wednesday, September 30, 2020, and concluding on Wednesday, October 28, 2020.

To watch the series, please visit our .