French Faculty



Picture of Benjamin Semple
Benjamin Semple

Associate Professor, Director; Gonzaga-in-Paris Program

Gonzaga University
Department of Modern Languages
AD Box 44
Spokane, WA 99258-0001

Phone: 313-6721

Office Location
AD 423A

Office Hours

9:00 to 10:30 Monday & Wednesday
and by appointment

Professor Semple has more than twenty years of experience teaching French in a variety of institutional contexts, both in the United States and abroad, and at a variety of levels: middle school, high school, undergraduate and graduate. He holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Pennsylvania. He served for five years (1993-1998) on the Executive Board of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French, and for two years (1996-1998) as president of the same chapter. A medievalist by specialization, he has been the president of the North American chapter of the International Christine de Pizan Society since June of 2006.

 
Picture of Barbara Boyer
Barbara Boyer
Assistant Professor

Gonzaga University
Department of Modern Languages
502 E. Boone Ave
AD Box 44
Spokane, WA 99258-0044

Office Location
511 E. Sharp Room 102

Office Hours
12:00 to 1:30 Monday & Wednesday
And by appointment

A native of France, Professor Boyer holds a B.A. in English and one in French as a Foreign Language from the University of Aix-en-Provence, an M.A. in French Literature from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D in French and Francophone Literature from the University of Southern California.  In 2003, she received the Award for Excellence in Teaching from USC.  Professor Boyer teaches French and Francophone literature and Culture, Postcolonial Cinema, and all levels of language classes.

 
Picture of Francoise Kuester
Francoise Kuester

Associate Professor Emerita

Gonzaga University
Department of Modern Languages
AD Box 44
Spokane, WA 99258-0001

Phone: 313-6724

Office Location
E. 511 Sharp Ave., Room 205

A native French, Professor Kuester holds Baccalaureate degrees in Philosophy, English and German from the University of Nancy, a degree from Hampstead Garden Institute in London, England and an M.F.A in Translation from Eastern Washington University.
Professor Kuester has taught at Gonzaga since 1981, has been Chair of the department for fifteen years and twice Chair of the International Studies Program. As Chair of the department she received an NEH grant to expand the Japanese program. In 1988, Professor Kuester received a grant from the Carthusian Order to research Romanesque and Gothic influences on the development of French Civilization and Literature.
Professor Kuester is the Director of the Gonzaga-in-Paris program which she organized and implemented in 1986.
Professor Kuester has translated and published several French poems in International Poetry Review, Willow Springs and Stand. In 1996 she received the Excellence in Teaching award from Gonzaga University.
Professor Kuester teaches all level of language classes and Medieval through Eighteenth Century literature classes.

 
Picture of Sara Preisig
Sara Preisig
Lecturer-AT, Mod Lang

Gonzaga University
Department of Modern Languages
502 E. Boone Ave
AD Box 44
Spokane, WA 99258-0044

Office Location
511 E. Sharp Ave., Room 208

Office Hours
9:15 to 10:45 Monday & Wednesday
And by appointment

After receiving her B.A. degree from Whitman College, Professor Preisig studied in France where she obtained a license in French Literature, and a master's in teaching French. She earned a Ph.D in French with an emphasis on the medieval epic from Johns Hopkins University. Professor Preisig has been teaching French of all levels for more than fifteen years. Interests: she has twice won the world championship in women's powerlifting.