Spotlight on Dr. Theobald and Dr. Rose
Written by Katie Kortepeter
Last year, Hillsdale College hired two new French professors, Dr. Anne Theobald and Dr. Sherri Rose. I was able to sit down with both professors and discuss their experience both with the study of French and at Hillsdale.
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How did you become interested in French?
Dr. Rose: In college, I was thinking about a career path in medicine. I took all the pre-med classes, but after I went abroad to Strasbourg for a semester, I realized that French was my true passion. Instead of coming back and taking the MCAT, I came back and started applying to graduate programs in French! French connected with my love of literature, and France has such a rich culture as regards literature, philosophy, and history. Also, Paris is a very attractive capital! My dissertation was split between French writers and the Belgian symbolists.
Dr. Theobald: When I went to college, I wanted to be a high-school teacher, teaching either English or French. I really fell in love with French when I studied abroad. I liked the grammatical system of French; I found it very logical. After college, I taught for a year in a little town in Burgundy, and I’ve also lived in Switzerland for a year. My specialty is seventeenth-century French literature, and my dissertation was on the early novel and its theatrical characteristics.
What drew you to Hillsdale?
Dr. Rose: My younger sister graduated with a double major in French and International Business in 2012. I remember hearing stories about her wonderful French professors, and she did the Tours program for a semester. I loved the idea of coming to a small liberal arts college.
Dr. Theobald: I also wanted to be at a liberal arts college. I taught for four years at a bigger college that claimed to be liberal arts but was really too big to be a liberal arts school. There were many more students and no language requirement, and I really wanted to be somewhere where I could get to know a good percentage of the students. It’s an important part of a liberal arts education to learn about a different culture and to talk about it in the target language.
Dr. Rose: Yes, the language requirement makes a huge difference. The college’s mission recognizes that language proficiency and opening your mind to other cultures are essential in a global society. The language requirement says a lot about Hillsdale’s commitment to that. Because it is required, we as French professors can get really excited about the language with all kinds of students, and many of them will continue on to get minors or majors in French.
What would you tell someone interested in studying French at Hillsdale?
Dr. Theobald: We have a very strong program. The fact that we were both hired last year after a search for only one open position shows the commitment of the college to French. The French classes here are full; the students are excellent; the study abroad program is strong. It’s really fun to be teaching the 410 Speaking and Writing class right now. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I came here. I didn’t know what level the students would be at. I’m just so impressed by the students’ enthusiasm and dedication. The French discussions that we have in class are quite sophisticated, and we’re discussing things that you might discuss in another class in English. That says a lot about the quality of the students.
Dr. Rose: There’s a strong emphasis on literature here, which complements the love of literature that many of our students already come in with. That’s one thing I’ve been pleasantly surprised by. Also, a lot of what we are striving to encourage at Hillsdale are habits that students can develop now and use later in life. Whether you end up speaking French in your future career, the curiosity that you develop now can prompt you to look up news articles in other languages to gain a different perspective, or just watch a film in French. Take that sense of curiosity with you.
Hailing from Indianapolis, Katie Kortepeter, ’17, is an English and French major. She frequently swing dances, speed reads Tolstoy, and practices her Chinese as a bubble tea waitress.