Students studying French at Georgia Tech now have another reason to be proud of their hard work. The French program in the School of Modern Languages has been designated a member of the Centers of Excellence University Network by Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education.
This prestigious recognition places Georgia Tech’s French program among 28 elite programs in the U.S., including those at Brown, Cornell, Harvard, and MIT. It highlights the program’s distinctive approach to French and Francophone studies, which bridges language, literature, culture, technology, and sustainability.
“We are dedicated to offering Georgia Tech students outstanding instruction and opportunities in French and Francophone studies,” said Stéphanie Boulard, professor and director of the French Program at Georgia Tech who applied for the designation with Villa Albertine. “The Centers of Excellence Network opens up exciting new opportunities for our students.”
Through this new partnership, students can look forward to expanded exchange programs, collaborative projects with French universities, and access to research and cultural events organized by Villa Albertine. “We are eager to collaborate with other Centers of Excellence across the country,” added Boulard, “and to build connections that will enrich our students’ global education.”
Villa Albertine, a division of the French Embassy in the U.S., is dedicated to promoting and supporting French and Francophone studies on American campuses through a multidisciplinary lens that embraces the social sciences, humanities, and arts. With cultural offices in cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, Villa Albertine supports transatlantic research, artistic residencies, and public dialogues that foster cultural exchange and intellectual collaboration.
Villa Albertine’s Centers of Excellence in the United States partner with higher education institutions in France to support joint research, student mobility, and visiting faculty exchanges, as well as seminars, lectures, and festivals. As a new member of this network, Georgia Tech’s French Program will expand its international partnerships and offer students new pathways to engage with French and Francophone culture through study abroad, research, and creative collaboration.
“This designation reflects the incredible energy of our students and faculty,” said Boulard. “It shows that learning French at Georgia Tech is not only about language, it’s about building bridges between cultures, disciplines, and ideas.”
Read the full article on the Georgia Tech News website.
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The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts attracts some of the best minds in the social sciences and humanities, scholars and practitioners eager to further Georgia Tech's mission of educating leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. Our newest faculty members are no exception.
This year, we are proud to welcome 13 tenured or tenure-track faculty, 21 non-tenure-track faculty, including Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows and new cadre members in our ROTC programs, four research faculty, and 11 visiting faculty.
From swans to sparrows, birds are bridging the humanities and STEM fields in Stéphanie Boulard’s new Vertically Integrated Project (VIP).
“The Birds in Arts and Media VIP is a collaborative space where so many fields come together — ecology, sustainability, web design, literature, language, and art,” said Boulard, a professor of French and director of the French program in the School of Modern Languages.
A VIP is a Vertically Integrated Project, part of an international program in which students earn academic credit while collaborating on long-term multidisciplinary research projects.
Students in Boulard’s VIP create and produce Plumage, a bilingual online and print magazine featuring side-by-side English and French articles.
“In Plumage, students explore the cultural, artistic, and environmental significance of birds — both in French arts and media and in the local context of Atlanta,” Boulard said.
Last year, the VIP team and students in Boulard’s Environmental Literature, Arts, and Media course published three themed issues of Plumage: The Swan, Birds of War and Peace, and Pigeons.
The magazine’s content spans community engagement, cultural analysis, creative expression, and technological innovation. Plumage includes interviews with local experts, ecological research, campus birdwatching guides, original art and writing, literary and artistic analyses — even interactive digital games.
“It’s exciting to see students integrate technical skills with humanistic inquiry,” said Boulard. “Some work on website design and functionality, while others propose topics to explore, design the layout, conduct interviews, and create content.”
The VIP brings together students from a wide variety of majors, each of whom has something to contribute — and to learn — from its central theme.
Natalia Alvarez Rodriguez, a Literature, Media, and Communication major, said the project offered a new way to look at animals and their role in the environment.
“It was eye-opening to be introduced to the concept of decentering the human perspective and instead appreciating [animals] as beings in their own right,” Rodriguez said.
Karen Zheng, a Computer Science major, appreciated the chance to apply and practice her skills in a creative setting.
“The collaborative development process is a great opportunity to learn from other students and develop valuable website-building tools,” said Zhang.
Steve Place, a Modern Languages graduate student and a campus sustainability program manager at Georgia Tech, said the experience brought his fields of work and study together.
“The experience has heightened my awareness of our natural world while immersing me in the French language,” said Place. “I understand the role of birds as sentinels of a healthy environment.”
Computational Media major Jasmine Cobb created an illustrated matching game for the Plumage site that helps players learn the parts of a bird’s anatomy.
“I love how Plumage makes bird facts fun and visually appealing,” said Cobb. “I can’t wait to see how the VIP will continue to develop.”
The Birds in Arts and Media VIP grew out of Boulard’s ongoing research and teaching in the environmental humanities. Last summer, with the help of Emily Wiegel from the School of Biological Sciences, she and colleague Andrea Jonsson installed a device on campus that records birdsong and monitors the species present as part of their joint project, “French Environmental Humanities and/in the Arts.”
“Plumage offers students the opportunity to contribute to scholarship at the intersection of the humanities and STEM,” said Boulard. “At its core, it’s about co-creating knowledge and sharing it beyond the classroom.”
Going forward, Boulard said she is open to the possibility of adding other languages to the VIP.
“I would like to help build Plumage into a regular publication with many contributors, curated and produced by students,” she said.
Starting in the fall, the Georgia Tech School of Modern Languages will offer graduating students the opportunity to certify their language skills for free with the Global Seal of Biliteracy.
Recognized in more than 50 countries, the seal is a verifiable international credential that certifies language proficiency at one of three levels — functional, working, or professional fluency.
“By offering the Global Seal to all of our graduates, we’re providing them with a globally recognized way to demonstrate these strengths to employers, universities, and other institutions,” said John Lyon, professor and Charles Smithgall Jr. Institute Chair of the School of Modern Languages.
To qualify, Modern Languages undergraduate and master’s students nearing graduation may take two internationally recognized proficiency exams — one assessing speaking, and the other reading and writing — administered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
Students who pass both exams and earn their Georgia Tech diploma will be eligible to apply for the Global Seal.
“The Global Seal of Biliteracy showcases our graduates’ ability to read, write, and speak another language — but it does more than that,” said Lyon. “It also reflects their motivation, persistence, and ability to engage with other cultures. In our global economy, cross-cultural understanding and competency are highly valued.”
The School will cover the cost of the ACTFL exams for bachelor’s and master’s students in its programs: Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies, Global Media and Cultures, International Affairs and Modern Languages, and Global Economics and Modern Languages.
The ACTFL exams are proctored remotely, giving students flexibility in scheduling.
Students minoring in Modern Languages or those outside the major may also take the tests, although they will be responsible for the associated fees.
The School of Modern Languages is a unit of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
Murdie, the new dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and an expert in international relations, also has extensively studied game theory and finds it incredibly relevant to her work in human rights and human security. Typically defined as the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions, game theory relies on understanding distinctively non-mathematical factors like psychology and cultural norms.
“To make a good game theory model, you have to understand the motivations of individuals, and you can't understand those motivations from only the sciences. You really need the humanistic side,” Murdie says. “If you're going to do anything as a game theorist, you must understand how humans function, and that's more than just the natural sciences or the social sciences. It’s inherently interdisciplinary.”
The liberal arts provide that understanding not just in game theory but in any discipline, says Murdie. “Liberal arts are the lifeline through which all other knowledge flows,” she says.
Murdie’s background in human rights gave her an early appreciation of how many research areas outside of international relations play a key role in improving lives worldwide.
“Coming from a human rights tradition, you always start with an interdisciplinary lens,” she says.
Murdie’s training and research have included a wide range of students, professors, and collaborators — from economics, law, history, sociology, business, statistics, and more. She says human rights and international affairs are not at all unique in demanding an interdisciplinary approach. Solving any complex problem requires knowledge of many direct and indirect factors.
To connect the dots, you need collaborators from a range of disciplines. And to trust and work with collaborators from each discipline, you need at least a basic, working level of knowledge about it, says Murdie.
“How do you respect someone else's method of inquiry and someone else's method of creation? That's something universities don't train students well for unless there’s a truly interdisciplinary focus,” she says.
Whether someone is launching a business, creating a new technology, or negotiating a treaty, connecting the dots is crucial to innovation, as well as staying more than a few steps ahead of AI and automation. The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts is perfectly positioned to make more of those connections as a liberal arts hub embedded within an institute making the latest breakthroughs in engineering, computing, and sciences, says Murdie, who joined Georgia Tech from the University of Georgia. She calls it the “Ivan Allen Advantage.”
“I think the Ivan Allen Advantage goes in two directions. I think in one direction, our advantage for all Tech students is that they need that liberal arts training in order to be better communicators and actually think about humanity and how technology can be used,” Murdie says. “And I think the Ivan Allen Advantage also is for those of us who are passionate about the liberal arts, who want to focus on the human condition. Doing so in an environment that is tech-informed leads to better student outcomes.”
The College is also well positioned (as a connector of dots) to channel faculty and student research expertise toward solving problems and improving lives, Murdie says. The Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP) and Center for Urban Research represent excellent examples of how the liberal arts can act as a hub and facilitator for tackling complex challenges, she adds.
As AI and other technologies accelerate changes in nearly every aspect of our lives, the ability to be creative, lead complex teams, solve problems, and connect with others has never been more important. What better way to master those skills than to enhance your education with the study of literature, languages, history, and culture? Murdie asks.
“We're going to build the liberal arts into what it should be — the best place for people to get training for the future. But that training needs to be informed by technology, and it needs to be informed by the deep understanding of AI and machine learning,” Murdie says.
“If you’re an engineer who can't write or express ideas clearly, it's easier for your job to be taken by AI. It's our ability to be human that keeps us in the game.”
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