Oulipo Winners!

T. Smith and Grace are our Oulipo contest winners. I have posted their entries below for all to enjoy. So, T. Smith and Grace, come by the French and Italian Department, tell the secretary who you are and there will be a prize for you! Thanks to everyone who participated and we hope it was fun.

Grace's Haï-kaïsation of Mallarmé's poem "Soupir":

ô calme soeur
taches de rousseur
oeil angélique
mélancolique
vers l'Azur!
pâle et pur
langueur infinie
fauve agonie
froid sillon
d'un long rayon

Abécédaire by T. Smith

Alan brings canned donuts everyday. Families grow happy if Jessica keeps learning more needlework. Only people quantify reasons Sicily tangled under Venice's wicked, xenophobic, yearlong zeitgeist.

Contrainte Contest: Win A Bookstore Gift Card

"The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the chains that shackle the spirit... the arbitrariness of the constraint only serves to obtain precision of execution." -Igor Stravinsky

In anticipation of Paul Fournel this week, we've decided we'd play a little game. The following clip shows Phil of the popular show "Modern Family" utilizing one of the Oulipo's little contraintes: the abécédaire. We want you, our loyal followers, to participate and create something of your own! Of course you don't have to do the abécédaire, there are plenty of contraintes that may match your taste for punishment. So, check out the links and leave us your very own work. We'll award the best ones some nice prizes!

Celebrate Human Dignity

Hunger Banquet Creative Competition Entry deadline: Thursday, 18 February ENTRIES: Should demonstrate the 2010 Hunger Banquet theme: Celebrate Human Dignity. CREATE: Sculpture, Photography, Creative Writing, Short Film, Illustration, Graphics, etc. WIN: $200. Keep it or donate it to a development effort of your choice. This event is sponsored by the BYU Kennedy Center. See flyer or web site.

au cas où

We here at the French Studies Blog want to keep you all posted with the many opportunities the campus provides. So, just in case...

Flash Fiction Contest

Want to try your hand at writing short, short fiction?

Enter Word of Mouth's Flash Fiction Contest and get featured on their podcast!

For contest rules, listen to the new episode on Flash Fiction: http://wordofmouth.byu.edu

Email your entry: wordofmouthpodcast@gmail.com by 11:59 PM on Monday, October 19th

-david

French Writing Contest: Correction

Just a note to those of you interested in the French Writing Contest. An early post said that entries needed to be in before March 26th, when in fact the deadline is March 31st. So you still have a few days to get your submissions in.

Our apologies for any confusion.

Know your BYUFS faculty Part 2

Here it is! Part 2 of the Know your BYUFS faculty quiz! Part 2 is separate from Part 1, so you don't need to have done Part 1 to participate in Part 2.

This week's prize:
A $5 gift certificate to the BYU Bookstore.

To enter, send an email to byufrenchstudies@gmail.com by Monday, March 31st with the subject line "BYUFS Quiz 3/25/08" exactly as you see it here. In the email list your letter answers only to the questions like so:

1. A
2. B
3. C

...and so on.

Please include your first and last name in you email also so we know who wins. The winner will be randomly chosen from the entries with the most correct responses. Winners will be notified by email and will pick their prize up from the French and Italian department front desk. Sorry, but we will not be able to send out any prizes by mail.

Here are your questions:

1. If I say "sauna" you say...
a. Robert Erickson
b. Jesse Hurlbut
c. Yvon Le Bras
d. Nicolaas Unlandt

2. Which of the following is French-Canadian?
a. Johanne Hillam
b. Yvon Le Bras
c. Michaela Cottle
d. Marc Olivier

3. Who worked as a professor at the University of Kentucky before being hired at BYU?
a. Robert Erickson
b. Jesse Hurlbut
c. Michaela Cottle
d. Nicolaas Unlandt

4. Who lived for over two years with his/her family in the Loire Valley?
a. Michaela Cottle
b. Corry Cropper
c. Johanne Hillam
d. Anca Sprenger

5. This faculty member wrote a chapter on microscopes as part of his dissertation.
a. Corry Cropper
b. Jesse Hurlbut
c. Marc Olivier
d. Scott Sprenger

6. This faculty member wrote a thesis on Mormons in French literature.
a. Corry Cropper
b. Yvon Le Bras
c. Jesse Hurlbut
d. Wilfried Decoo

Good luck!

French Writing Contest

Submit a French paper you've written and compete to win some cash!

• 3 categories: 100 & 200-level courses, 300 & 400-level, MA-level.
• $150 prize for each category.
• Students should submit 2 anonymous copies of paper with a cover letter that gives contact information.
• Only currently enrolled students can enter.
• Papers should be submitted to the department office (3134 JFSB) by March 31.

Email any questions to byufrenchstudies@gmail.com

Quiz Winner!!

Congratulations to Jessica Tyler who won our very first current events quiz challenge. Jessica was chosen randomly from the entries with the most correct answers that were submitted. She wins a $5 gift card to the BYU Bookstore.

Thanks for all of those who participated. We'll have another quiz up soon so keep checking back for your chance to win. In the meantime here are the answers from last week's quiz:

1. Jérôme Kerviel, c'est un
   a. politicien
   b. missionnaire
   c. acteur
   d. trader
2. Quel politicien américain a dit: "Si nous ne changeons pas de politique, nous deviendrons la France du XXIe siècle"?
   a. Mike Huckabee
   b. Mitt Romney
   c. Hillary Clinton
   d. John McCain
3. Nicolas Sarkozy nomme sa philosophie politique une "politique de _____."
   a. grandeur
   b. civilisation
   c. libéralisme
   d. bonheur
4. Sarkozy vient de se marier avec
   a. Paris Hilton
   b. Isabelle Huppert
   c. Liya Kebede
   d. Carla Bruni
5. Persepolis raconte l'histoire d'une jeune femme
   a. iranienne
   b. irakienne
   c. palestinienne
   d. algérienne
6. Selon la loi, on ne peut plus _____ dans des cafés parisiens.
   a. boire de l'alcool
   b. manger du boeuf américain
   c. fumer
   d. parler anglais
7. Ce joueur de tennis a placé deuxième à l'Open d'Australie.
   a. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
   b. Richard Gasquet
   c. Henri Leconte
   d. Sébastien Grosjean
8. Le traité de _____, autorisé par le parlement français cette semaine, remplace le projet de constitution européenne.
   a. Paris
   b. Bruxelles
   c. Nice
   d. Lisbonne

Note: In order to allow more people a chance to win, winners can only win prizes once a month.

Current Events Quiz - Closed

Update: All entries must be submitted today (Monday February 11th) in order to be considered for the prize. Get yours in now.

We are starting a weekly current events quiz this week. Current BYU students will be able to email in responses to this weekly quiz and be eligible to win great prizes every week. This week's prize is a $5 gift certificate to the BYU Bookstore.

To enter, send an email to byufrenchstudies@gmail.com by Monday February 11th with the subject "BYUFS Quiz 2/8/08" exactly as you see it here. In the email list your letter answers only to the questions like so:

1. A
2. B
3. C

...and so on.

Please include your first and last name in you email also so we know who wins. The winner will be randomly chosen from the entries with the most correct responses. Winners will be notified by email and will pick their prize up from the French and Italian department front desk. Sorry, but we will not be sending out any prizes by mail.

Here is the quiz, good luck!

1. Jérôme Kerviel, c'est un
   a. politicien
   b. missionnaire
   c. acteur
   d. trader
2. Quel politicien américain a dit: "Si nous ne changeons pas de politique, nous deviendrons la France du XXIe siècle"?
   a. Mike Huckabee
   b. Mitt Romney
   c. Hillary Clinton
   d. John McCain
3. Nicolas Sarkozy nomme sa philosophie politique une "politique de _____."
   a. grandeur
   b. civilisation
   c. libéralisme
   d. bonheur
4. Sarkozy vient de se marier avec
   a. Paris Hilton
   b. Isabelle Huppert
   c. Liya Kebede
   d. Carla Bruni
5. Persepolis raconte l'histoire d'une jeune femme
   a. iranienne
   b. irakienne
   c. palestinienne
   d. algérienne
6. Selon la loi, on ne peut plus _____ dans des cafés parisiens.
   a. boire de l'alcool
   b. manger du boeuf américain
   c. fumer
   d. parler anglais
7. Ce joueur de tennis a placé deuxième à l'Open d'Australie.
   a. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
   b. Richard Gasquet
   c. Henri Leconte
   d. Sébastien Grosjean
8. Le traité de _____, autorisé par le parlement français cette semaine, remplace le projet de constitution européenne.
   a. Paris
   b. Bruxelles
   c. Nice
   d. Lisbonne
   

Hint: You might find some of the answers in this very blog, but not all of them.

Winner of a Free Tee

The tees are in and our winner is Brett Smith. Thanks for playing! Brett please email me at byufrenchstudies@gmail.com to get your shirt.

Win a BYU FS Tee!

The tees are in the mail, and should be here soon. We know you're all excited about getting your hands on one of these signature BYU French Studies tees, so we're giving you a chance to get one free while at the same time helping us make the blog and podcast better.



To enter for a chance at getting a free tee, do the following:

• Click on the Comments link at the bottom of this post.

• When the comments window opens leave a short answer to the following questions.

1. What would you like to see on the French Studies blog?
2. What is something you think might be interesting for the French Studies podcast to cover?
3. Which color and size of tee would you like if you win? (Small Medium Large or XL) See the choices here.
   

• Now click the "Other" button and fill in your name (first and last please) so we know who you are if you win (you can leave the website blank)
• Please only one post per person.
• The contest will continue until we have the tees in the office.
  
• That's it buddy!

A winner will be randomly chosen from those who post. If someone posts, but does not include their real name, we won't know who it is and will have to randomly choose another winner.
We hope you all continue to visit the blog and send any other suggestions or questions you have to byufrenchstudies@gmail.com

BYU FS Logo Contest Winner

A winner has been chosen, here is Professor Olivier's official announcement:

There were over 100 entries for the logo contest, many of them very professional. A big thanks to all those who participated in the contest. For those wondering how I chose a winner, here are a few of my thoughts:

1. On the ubiquity of the Eiffel Tower: The great majority of entries featured an Eiffel Tower. Similarly, maps of France, French monuments, and fleur-de-lys were all common. Because of the specificity of France in those logos, I believe they would be better suited to a study abroad program than to our major (which includes courses on Canadian and African literature, for example). In particular, I LOVED the graphic of the Eiffel Tower done in the style of an old travel poster circa 1930. It would make a great ad for our Spring/Summer Study Abroad in Paris.

2. On adaptability: As I announced at our meeting last month, our logo will be printed on t-shirts (which seniors in the program will get for free). The more adaptable (meaning, something that can easily print in one color and work at various sizes) the better.

3. On style: If you look at what the college calls our "department identity wall," that is, at the glass panel in our department office, you will note some similarities between the visual identity we establish with that installation and the look of the winning logo. Both have a modern style and a playful sense of typography. Both reinforce the idea that texts must be interpreted (that they might need a second look in order to seize their meaning). The style of the winning logo is young and dynamic (like our newly revised program).

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who submitted entries.

Merci à tous!

Marc Olivier
French Studies Undergraduate Coordinator

Logo Contest Update

Professor Olivier sent left the following comment on the Logo Contest post:

For all those anxiously awaiting a winner, keep checking back. I'm making the decision today and the winner will be posted tomorrow. Tastes vary greatly, so I'm sure that there will be quite a few disappointed fans of the logos that didn't win. Thanks to everyone for the time and effort.

Keep checking back and we'll post the winner as soon as we find out!

Logo Contest Entries

We've been getting quite a few entries for the BYU French Studies logo contest. Check them out in the nifty little viewer below. New entries will be added as they are sent in. You can also go see the entries in the BYU French Studies Logo Contest group on Flickr.



All entries are due by February 2nd, next Friday. After that Professor Olivier will choose the winner. So please take a look at the entries and leave your comments below!

Thanks to all those who have entered so far!
We're all excited to see who wins.

French Studies Logo Contest

Now that our name has changed to BYU French Studies, we need a new logo. Announcing the BYU French Studies Logo Contest!

The winning artist will receive a $150 prize and have their logo featured on a French Studies tee-shirt and even on this blog.

Rules and Entry:

• Must include the words "BYU French Studies"
• One color
• File formats: Illustrator (.ai, .eps) Photoshop (.psd, .jpg) or Word (.doc)
• Email submissions to: olivier@byu.edu.
• Multiple submissions are welcomed
  

As submissions arrive, they will be featured on this blog and will be available for viewing in the Logo Contest Flickr page.