Two years ago, St. Edward’s University went to France. Now, France has come to St. Edward’s in the form of an academic program as French, already a minor, is being added as a major.

The French minor, which was created only a few years ago, is going to be combined with an additional 18 hours of classes to produce the French major. This will allow students who are currently pursuing a minor in French to get double major, and it will offer French as a major to incoming freshmen.

Kerstin Somerholter, area coordinator and assistant professor of German and French, said that it has not been easy to get French approved as a major.

“You have to figure out if there’s a market for it, what classes we want to teach, and then of course you have to go and get the support of the dean,” she said.

Somerholter said the next step is writing a proposal and submitting it to the Curriculum Development Committee, which gives feedback and helps polish proposals. The final version of the proposal goes through the Academic Counsel.

“You only really get there if your proposal really is good,” she said.

The proposal for a French major was recently approved, after hard work and many revisions. Those working on the proposal got positive feedback from professors and other faculty members throughout campus.

“I went around and asked for feedback from lots of people,” Somerholter said. “The top person here who I asked is Tom Evans. He is the person who brought the Angers program to existence, so to speak.”

Evans is the associate vice president for Professional Education and Global Initiatives.

There is definitely a market for a French major, Somerholter said. The number of students studying abroad in Angers, where St. Edward’s has a campus, has increased significantly since the program began in the spring of 2009. Several students are now considering a minor in French thanks to the growing popularity of the Angers program.

“The Angers program got me interested in French again, and I’m looking forward to studying abroad and taking classes towards a minor,” freshman Asta Thrastardottir said.

The French major will offer several topics classes in addition to the classes required for a minor in French.

“There are several topics classes that will be offered, and the topic of each class will vary,” Somerholter said.

The classes include topics such as French Cinema, the Semiotics of French Food, and French Translation.

“We’re even thinking about offering classes here on location in the summer, which we’ve never done,” Somerholter said. “With a major, we will offer more subjects.”

Evans said that students majoring in French can also participate in a dual degree program.

“There is a dual degree Bachelor of Business Administration to be delivered in partnership with Universite Catholique de l’Ouest that was approved by the board last year and is now with our accrediting body (SACS) for their review,” Evans said.