History of the Colloquium

The colloquium was founded by Mary Ann Caws, Gerald Prince, Dina Sherzer, and Jean-Jacques Thomas. During its first few years, it was shepherded by Gerald Prince and Dina Sherzer, who supported the organizers of each colloquium; then, until the establishment of the current steering committee for the Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium, it was shepherded by Gerald Prince.

In recent years, the Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium has had between 250 to 350 participants coming from all over the world.

For the past 37 years, the colloquium has taken place at the following universities or locations. Changes in the name of the colloquium are noted next to the year changed.

1983: City University of New York

1984: University of Michigan

1986: Louisiana State University

1987: Duke University; The name became “International Colloquium in 20th Century French Studies” instead of “French Literature”

1988: Claremont College

1989: Columbia University

1990: Iowa City

1991: University of Texas

1992: University of Pennsylvania

1993: University of Colorado

1994: Dartmouth College

1995: Stanford University

1996: University of Maryland

1997: Ohio State University

1998: Amherst College; “International Colloquium in 20th Century French and Francophone Studies” although the “Francophone” disappeared until 2004

1999: University of North Carolina

2000: University of Pennsylvania

200l: University of California, Davis

2002: University of Connecticut

2003: University of Illinois

2004: Florida State University; “Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium”

2005: University of Florida

2006: University of Miami

2007: Texas A&M University

2008: Georgetown University

2009: University of Minnesota

2010: University of Guelph

2011: University of San Francisco

2012: California State University, Long Beach, CA

2013: Georgia Institute of Technology

2014: New York University, City University of New York, Columbia University

2015: Louisiana State University

2016: St. Louis University, Washington University, Webster University

2017: University of Indiana, Bloomington

2018: Brown University

2019: Oklahoma City (University of Oklahoma/University of Central Oklahoma/University of Tulsa)

2020: University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2021: Virtual colloquium