Dr. Leslie Choquette

Dr. Leslie Choquette is an associate professor of History and the director of the French Institute at Assumption. She enjoys her dual role on campus, but truly thrives on yet another aspect of her professional life. ÒDoing research and writing are my favorite parts of being an historian. It is important for me to be contributing to the on-going conversations in the field of History. I love presenting my research at conferences and receiving feedback from other scholars. I am currently conducting research on gender in late nineteenth-century Paris.

I have spent six months in Paris doing research, and will return for several more months to complete my work. ÒLast April I presented a paper at the European Social Sciences History Conference in Amsterdam. During the fall, I gave a presentation in Pittsburgh at the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States. Most recently, I spoke at the yearly conference of the French Historical Society in Charleston, South Carolina. This group presented me with its award for the best book in French Colonial History in 1997. That book is entitled Frenchmen into PeasantsÑModernity and Tradition.Ó Dr. Choquette joined the History Department ten years ago after leaving Harvard University. ÒFrom the beginning I felt this was a caring and committed community of teachers and students. Before I was hired, I taught a demonstration class on the history of Canada. Members of the Search Committee, as well as students, made me feel welcome. It was clear that a person was being hired, not just as a member of a particular department, but as a member of the whole Assumption community. ÒThe strengths of this department include a commitment to pedagogy and mutual respect among all the department members. While some may take this mutual respect for granted, they should not. This respect is an essential component of the Assumption community. The knowledge that the students always come first is foremost in our minds.Ó As director of the French Institute, Dr. Choquette has additional responsibilities beyond those of teaching history. ÒThe French Institute is a place where the French heritage of the College can be remembered. We want all students to be aware that Assumption served a French-speaking population until the mid- twentieth century. It was a totally French curriculum until after World War II.

Our French heritage remains very important to the Assumptionists and the entire College community. ÒThe Institute is also a research center. We collect books and archival materials that have to do with the presence of the French in North America. We publish books about the Franco-American experience, and we organize conferences. One such conference, held in May, had as its purpose the examination of the French-Canadian ethnic group in New England. This same conference also commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the very first conference sponsored by the Institute.Ó Looking ahead, Dr. Choquette speculates on future links between the Institute and History courses. ÒI have taught several history courses at Assumption, including courses on France and New France. It would be most enjoyable to teach a course on the history of the French in North America, especially if the students possessed a reading knowledge of French. We have a lot of primary sources at the Institute that the students could use. It would be wonderful to make that connection. Our students are very diligent and IÕm sure there would be interest in this.Ó