I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 1976 where I taught French while working on my Ph.D. I continued graduate work for my Doctorate in Expanded French Studies in French Literature, History, and Philosophy. I completed the Ph.D. in 1982. Beforehand (1979-80), I had spent a year as Lectrice at Lycée Henri IV in Paris, another year working as Subcommittee Administrative Assistant for Subcommittee on Energy, Environment, Safety, and Research of Committee of Small Business of the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. After completion, on fellowship of my doctoral thesis on the writings of Simone Weil, I accepted a position running the French program at Truman State where I rebuilt the French major curriculum, developed new courses, and helped bring in new faculty, a playwright, novelist and author of historical and literary biography. I married a British historian and politican whom I had met at the University of Illinois, also author of historical biography. I also have become an activist and a city commissioner here in our community locally.
