Réseau-Franco is promoting Francophone diversity
July 18, 2025
In 2025, UVic has been buzzing with diverse events promoting teaching and research in French and exploring issues that impact global Francophone communities. Under Réseau-Franco (the French Network), 16 events ranging from academic presentations in French courses to film screenings, writing workshops and theatre brought together UVic students, community members, researchers, and artists.
Réseau-Franco stems from a project funded by the Experiential Learning Fund Grant program of the Division of Learning and Teaching Support and Innovation: Global French Connections: Discovering and Showcasing the Francophone World Through Experiential Learning (2021–2022, under the direction of Pierre-Luc Landry).
French on stage
“This project really stimulated my creativity and allowed me to explore my ability to visualize a set design, not only for this play, but also for possible future creations.”
In spring 2025, 15 students enrolled in a unique course offering, FRAN 449: French Subversive Theatre. Under the supervision of specially-invited Francophone artists Agnès Bourgeois and Fred Costa, they worked in an immersive setting to develop an experimental voice-over of the revolutionary French play, Le Jugement dernier des rois by Sylvain Maréchal.
Culminating in a public performance at Intrepid Theatre, the project linked UVic's vibrant French and Francophone Studies program to the wider Victoria Francophone community.
French on screen
From January to March, Réseau Franco hosted screenings of global French films:
- L’amour de Phèdre (2023) de Sarah Kane
- Médée poème enragé (2014) de Jean-René Lemoine
- La Tumba Mambi (2022) de D.J. Jigüe et Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier
-
Universal State of Mind (2015) d’Angélique Germain
- Carte noire nommée désir de Rébecca Chaillon
- Être soi-même (2012) & Au-delà des préjugés (2014) de Laurent Lafontant
- Comme un besoin de révolution (2024) de Marie-Andrée Bergeron & Stéphanie Lantier
- Thyeste (2018) de Sénèque
To complement these screenings, a masterclass with actor and screenwriter Éric Bruneau and a public conversation with activist and director Laurent Lafontant inspired further discussion and engagement.
French on the page
Over the course of a 12-hour day, 52 students from Victor Brodeur School, alongside participants from the Francophone communities in Duncan, Comox, Vancouver and Victoria gathered on campus at the University of Victoria to participate in 13 writing workshops whose topics included literary improvisation, travel writing, inclusive writing, yoga, poetry, and writing for radio.
For many participating students, this writing half-marathon was their first time visiting the university campus, where they explored the French language, experimented with new writing approaches and channeled their individuality and creativity.
Hear about the writing half marathon on Culture et confiture
"The diversity and discovery of new exercises and workshops really inspired me, and I wrote easily during the half-marathon. I'm going to reuse several of them when I'm lacking inspiration. The group's synergy was fantastic. The more exercises we did together, the more I wrote."
What's next?
Under the co-management of French and Francophone Studies faculty members Catherine Léger and Sara Harvey, Réseau Franco will continue developing events that welcome the Francophone community to campus, collaborate with new partners, and engage students, artists, researchers and the public.