Chronology of Middlebury Programs

Following is a brief overview of the various Middlebury College programs at Reid Hall. 

Middlebury founded its M.A. program in Paris in 1949, as a complement to the M.A. option in Vermont. It was the first American graduate program in France.

From 1949 to 1969 the program was directed by members of the Middlebury French Department: Claude Bourcier, Stephen Freeman, Jean Vadon, James Watkins; and members of the summer French School faculty: Jean Boorsch of Yale, Jeanne Boucoiran-Daladier, Germaine Brée then of Bryn Mawr, noted critic and translator Maurice-Edgar Coindreau, Mark Denkinger of Michigan, Vincent Guilloton of Smith College.

During the 1950’s enrollments averaged over 40, rising to over 70 in the late 1960’s. Professor Bourcier served as program director from 1969 until his retirement in 1975. The undergraduate program was begun in 1974 by Professor Edward Knox of the Middlebury College French Department. Enrollment that year was 15 undergraduate and 70 graduate students.

Thereafter, mirroring national trends, graduate enrollments declined as undergraduates become increasingly numerous. The program was directed primarily by members of the Middlebury French department and French summer school:

  • Edward C. Knox, 1975-76, also 1978-79, 1980-81, 1990-91, 1996-97
  • Mireille Barbaud, 1984-85
  • Sophie Body-Gendrot, of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, 1987-88
  • Michel Gabrielli, 1997-98
  • Eve G. Katz, formerly of the NYU French Department, 1976-78
  • Bethany Ladimer, 1979-80, 1989-90, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1998-99
  • Nancy M. O’Connor, 1981-83, 1986-87, 1991-92, 1995-96,1999-2000
  • Carol D. Rifelj, 1984-85, 1988-89, 1993-94, 2000-01
  • Roland Simon, of the University of Virginia, 1985-86

In 2001, the College appointed a resident director, David Paoli, a member of the Dickinson College French department. In 2003, the College moved the program to a new site near la Madeleine. Additional undergraduate options had been planned for some time, and were subsequently added in Bordeaux (humanities, social science) and Poitiers (STEM).