| Coordinating a fashion show is not such a bad way to learn about French culture, says April Greene, who is in charge of planning Dalton State’s first French Fashion Show, appropriately called Bonjour le printemps!
The 19-year-old freshman has undertaken this project as part of a requirement to earn Honors credit for her French 1002 class. The fashion show, slated for Friday, April 14, from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall, should prove, she believes, to be “tres chic.”
“I will serve as the narrator and will speak in French,” says April, noting that a fellow student will “translate” her narrative into English.
The Fashion Show will feature 13 on-campus models, including 10 students and three College employees, who will stroll across the stage wearing the “latest” in fashion from two chain department stores: the decidedly French “Parisian” and the uniquely American “Target.”
The project began when April, who was admitted to the College’s first Honors class in the fall, wanted to “designate” her French 1002 class as an Honors class.
“If you want to take a class for Honors credit that is not designated as an Honors class, you can work out a contract with the instructor and with the approval of the Honors Committee. If an agreement can be reached, you can take the class with the possibility of earning Honors credit.”
April worked with Associate Professor of Speech Nick Carty, who also teaches French, to create such a contract. They decided that in order for her to earn Honors credit for that class she would have to coordinate the Fashion Show, serve as its French-speaking narrator, and write an eight to ten page research paper on the history and evolution of French fashion. In addition, she will have to earn an “A” or “B” in the class.
“The project has been a lot of fun,” she says. “I’ve never considered myself to be a person who would throw herself into the world of fashion, but I’ve always been interested in other cultures, and fashion is such a large part of what it means to be French.
“This fits in so well with what we’re studying in our class right now as well,” she says, noting that they have been learning to converse about clothes, colors, and couture, among other things.
“I love to write,” says the honors graduate of Ringgold High School. “For my paper, I’ve been researching just why Paris is considered to be the fashion capital of the world.”
Helping her with this project are many students in her French class and in Mr. Carty’s section of French 1001.
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