The U.S. and France, then and now: Experts, public, to discuss relationship

By JENA WITTKAMP
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Even before the recent disagreement over war with Iraq, the United States and France have had their differences.

They include odds over Africa and Vietnam and date back to the French and Indian War.

However, "the French were our first allies and only loyal supporters during the American revolution," said Dr. Lloyd Kramer, Dean Smith distinguished term professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The French gave us the Statue of Liberty."

Kramer and other experts will examine French-American relations through history and today in a panel discussion with audience participation Oct. 16 at UNC. The free program, "The Cordial Misalliance: The Current Crisis in French-American Relations," will begin at 7 p.m. in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on Stadium Drive. A French-American wine and cheese reception will follow.

"There has been all this controversy about France, even in Carrboro," Kramer said, noting that last spring the town proclaimed April "French Trade Month." "We want to ask, why has so much anger and misunderstanding now entered into this old friendship? This is one of the more notable conflicts."

Dr. Catherine A. Maley, president of the Institut Française de Washington and a UNC professor of French and Romance linguistics, will introduce the program, followed by a welcome from Dr. Robert Shelton, provost and executive vice chancellor. Topics and speakers will be:

• "Cultural Stereotypes of the ‘Other’ in France and America," by Terry Maguire, co-owner of Agence France Press and publisher of Journal Français and France Today.
  
  
• "An American in Paris: Reflections on a Year in France, 2002-2003," by Dr. Donald Reid, a UNC history professor. Reid’s major fields are French political, social and cultural history from 1815 until the present.
  
  
•  "Anti-Americanism in Contemporary France," by Dr. Homer Sutton, professor of French at Davidson College. Sutton teaches French language, literature, civilization and contemporary culture.
  
  
• "The Economic Costs of French-American Tensions and Boycotts," by Pierre Wertheimer, president of the French Development Agency Inc.
  
  
• "The Long Alliance: Lafayette, The Statue of Liberty and Charles de Gaulle," by Kramer, whose research concerns modern European history with emphasis on 19^th-century France.

The panelists will explore topics ranging from history and economics to anti-Americanism and cultural stereotypes.

"We want to provide some historical and cross-cultural perspectives on current French-American relations, and to provide a public forum in which people can discuss their views of both France and the United States," Kramer said.

The Institut Française de Washington and the UNC General Alumni Association will present the program. The institute, an organization for French-American studies, was founded in 1926 in Washington, D.C., and has been based at UNC since 1972. Also supporting the program are the Office of the Provost, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Kenan Fund in the history department and the Romance languages department.

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(Wittkamp, of Raleigh, is a senior majoring in women’s studies and journalism and mass communication.)

Contact: Dr. Lloyd Kramer, 962-5554, lkramer@email.unc.edu
News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 962-8589, laura_toler@unc.edu