Former students and what they are up to...
DR. Jennifer Jahn
Jennifer just graduated from Cambridge (2009) and is a specialist in French Caribbean Literature by Women. Check her profile :
Chelsea Binnie graduated from Ohio University on June 10, 2006, with a BA in Creative Writing English and a minor in French. I
am working on a MA in Corporate Communication at Duquesne University and am scheduled to graduate on December 17, 2009. I was accepted into the Ph.D. program in Rhetoric at Duquesne University and will commence work on this degree in January 2010. I will work toward obtaining a Ph.D. in Rhetoric with emphasis on Integrated Marketing Communication and Interpersonal and Organizational Communication. I am currently working as a graduate (teaching/research) assistant for the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University.
My ultimate passion lies with language, specifically in the art of translation. I aspire to undertake the study of human communication, engaged through the lens of intercultural communication, so as to delineate how narrative ground is lost, gained, or redefined through cross-cultural, literary, verbal and nonverbal communicative experiences and practices amongst different groups. My interest in this topic was initially birthed through exposure to and study of the French language, and was fully ignited as a result of studying abroad in Martinique. I would also like to integrate the study of language and translation with the corporate realm so as to examine its implications on today's global marketplace. I am currently working independently with the French language and plan to engage in study of Italian during January 2010 in order to lay framework to further the conversation and contribute to the study of this field.
Yoko Kinoshita 
I am a alumni of OU (2003). I took French classes with Yolande Helm and helped her organize a "conférence sur le SIDA avec Barbara Samson" in 2003. In Dr. Helm' class, we read Barbara Samson's autobiographical novel, On n'est pas sérieux quand on a 17 ans (about a young woman who learns she is HIV positive). Currently, I own four Spanish restaurants in Kyoto, Japan. www. http://www.elfogon.jp/. I am studying to be a sommelière and learning about French wine a lot.
I got married in 2004 and my son, Sol is 3 years old.
Claire Gilbert
I have known Professor Helm since 2003 when I was a student for three quarters in Professor Helm’s advanced French classes while participating in SB140 (an Ohio program that allows high school students to take college courses during the normal academic school year). I remember the animated conversations I and my classmates had about the Caribbean literature and culture we learned! I went on to attend Northwestern University and graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in Communication Studies. I am currently working as an analyst for Deloitte Consulting in Chicago.
Bethany Untied
I took several grammar and literature courses with Dr. Helm, and then we became great friends. Of course, the class that stands out in my mind was our wonderful trip to Martinique. Dr. Helm did an amazing job organizing the most interesting excursions for us, including a rendez-vous with the late great Aimé Césaire, co-founder of the Black literary and political movement, "La Négritude." We were also extremely honored to be given a tour of the volcanic ruins of Saint-Pierre by Suzanne Dracius, an amazing "écrivaine martiniquaise" whose works we read in our literature class. Dr. Helm also inspired my interest in the novels of Amélie Nothomb, who is one of my favorite authors. I read all of her books I could get my hand on while I was teaching English in primary school of Besançon, France, the year after my graduation from OU (2006). Currently, I am finishing up my thesis for my Masters Degree in French Linguistics from the University of Alabama (It's on French Cyberlanguage). I am getting married in June in Australia... I found my "chevalier blanc" form "the land down under," then we will be moving for a year. I hope to teach French and yoga until they drag me away kicking and screaming! Merci mille fois, Dr. Helm, for your inspiring courses and your highly contagious "joie de vivre."!
Govanna Mignosa
Autobiographical Sketch: Giovanna E. Mignosa
November – December 2004 Martinique Study Abroad Participant
Born and raised for fourteen years in Sicily, Italy and having moved to the U.S.A. with her family thirteen years ago, Giovanna grew up in a trilingual home, speaking Italian, English and French. She is currently an Educational Programs Specialist for Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT), Inc. at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where she manages the New Approach to Self Achievement (N.A.S.A.) Project and is organizing, along with the Planning Committee for the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (F.I.R.S.T.) ninth Buckeye Regional Robotics Competition that will be held at the Wolstein Center, Cleveland State University, March 25 – 27, 2010. At Ohio University she has earned two masters: one in Multimedia and one in Art History; she has also earned a double major in Video Production and French, minor in Art and the TEFL Certificate (Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language). Giovanna studied abroad three times with the same institution in Tours, France; in Fort-De-France, Martinique and in 10 Italian cities as well.
She was Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Education Project Coordinator and Assistant of the Director at The Game Research and Immersive Design (G.R.I.D.) Lab, in Athens, Ohio; she has taught Art History at Ohio University and at the American Business School in Paris, France; she has worked in the Office of Education Abroad both as a work study student and as a Peer Advisor and she has been a program manager and curator as a PACE student at the Lindley Cultural Center; and has interned at NASA Glenn Research Center for ten years.
Giovanna in her spare time she loves to travel around the world; learn about different cultures, traditions and languages; she loves to go Latin dancing; she enjoys baking; photography; film; animation and 3D modeling; the arts; she loves quotes; jokes; nature; gardening; sports; volunteering; reading and writing.
About the Martinique Study Abroad Experience:
“To this day I am still dreaming of being in the sunny island of Martinique, both in the program, and with my host family. The program allowed me to learn about a different culture, exposed to the Creole language, the different traditions and costumes. I felt very welcomed in Martinique and at home. Until today I still keep in touch with my host family and am counting the days until the next time I can go back and bring my family and boyfriend. I cannot stop thinking about the four weeks spent on the island, learning first hand about this exotic culture, meeting the unbelievably humble Aimee Cesair, the wonderful Suzanne Dracius, discovering the many places where history took place in Martinique, learning la Biguine, and so much more. Living in Ohio, when having I am having a ‘gloomy day’ I think back of my time in Martinique, and when there are days where things seem impossible I get reminded of my host-mom Nelly and her brave and courageous heart.”
