Kristin Wasielewski, Ph.D., has found the French language both challenging and fascinating since high school.
“I enjoyed learning about how English grammar functioned because of my study of French grammar,” she said. “I also could not get enough of learning about another culture, another history and about a way of seeing the world that was so different from my own. I was, and still am, utterly fascinated by what makes the French tick, and by why they approach life the way they do.” Wasielewski spends nearly every summer in France, reigniting her passion for the language and culture.
Wasielewski earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She spent her senior year studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France. Before attending graduate school, Wasielewski taught high school French for three years. She returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to earn both her master’s and doctoral degrees.
“I became a teacher because I was so passionate about the French language and culture that I just had to find a way to share it with young people,” Wasielewski said.
Wasielewski said a French major or minor pairs well with a variety of majors, whether they are in the sciences, business, journalism, the arts or the humanities. Because many students come to Franklin with advanced placement credit in French, they are able to start out in higher level courses, making a double major easier to accomplish.
The French program offers many opportunities to students outside the classroom, Wasielewski said, including bi-weekly conversation tables, two social hours with French-speaking faculty or guests, and three student-led language activities, which highlight different aspects of Francophone culture.
Many of the opportunities are made possible by the Modern Language House, the themed housing community that Wasielewski helped the Modern Language Department establish with Residence Life, and which she currently directs. The Modern Language House is home to four or five French students and four or five Spanish students, who practice their French and Spanish skills while at the house and who work closely with French and Spanish faculty to provide quality French and Spanish programming to the campus community.
Wasielewski has two main goals to continue expanding the French program. First, she hopes to increase the number of students who major and minor in French. Second, she wants to continue to encourage French students to study abroad for a semester, summer or during the college’s monthlong Winter Term session if the other options are not possible. According to Wasielewski, “When it comes to achieving proficiency in a foreign language, there is no substitute for an immersion experience.”
“I am most proud of consistently encouraging my students to persevere in their efforts to improve their French,” Wasielewski said. “As they work to master a rather difficult skill, it is vital that they regularly practice listening, speaking, reading and writing the language. Though I don’t wear a track suit, I tend to think of myself as a coach of sorts, and I never tire of encouraging my students to put in their best effort every single day.”
Wasielewski is available to discuss the Modern Language Department and what a Franklin College liberal arts degree can do for you. Schedule a visit by contacting the Office of Admissions at 1-800-852-0232.
Founded in 1834, Franklin College is a residential, liberal arts institution with a scenic, wooded campus located 20 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis, spanning 207 acres, including athletic fields and a 31-acre biology woodland. The college prepares students to think independently, to lead responsibly and to serve with integrity in their professions, their communities and the world. The college offers its approximately 1,000 students bachelor of arts degrees in 55 majors from 25 academic disciplines, 41 minors, 11 pre-professional programs and four cooperative programs. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association with the American Baptist Churches USA. For more information, visit www.FranklinCollege.edu.
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