About Us

Dr. Sharon Meilahn Bartlett

Dr. Bartlett has studied, lived and worked extensively in France. This is the 3rd time she's traveled with students in France and the 7th time she's traveled there. She has also traveled to Quebec and Belgium. She hopes to have the chance to explore the Francophone Caribbean and Africa. 

She enjoys teaching all levels of French language, courses on French and Francophone literatures and cinemas, and interdisciplinary courses such as her recent French 279 "Monsters and Mayhem in the French-Speaking World” where literature, cinema, culture, history, gender, race, religion and politics all intersect. She collaborated with a group of faculty to create an interdisciplinary gender studies program at Rockford University that will allow students to examine gender from a multitude of perspectives.

Associate Professor of French
Director of Gender Studies
Chair of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Rockford University
Rockford IL 61108

Caren Freund

Caren is a senior at Rockford University. She is majoring in English. She first studied the French language in High School. She continued her education of the language in college. This is her second trip to France. Her first was in 2011 with her High School. This trip differed from her previous one because she remained localized in Paris with day trips to Normandy and Versailles. Her previous trip consisted of three days each spent in London, England; Paris and Provence, France; and Madrid and Barcelona, Spain. This trip allowed her to more fully explore the culture and monuments in Paris.

Katie Gresbach

Katie is a senior at Rockford majoring in Nursing and minoring in French. She is hoping to use the language in helping others around the world in places such as Haiti and Senegal. She had had French language exposure but nothing formally taught. She is in the Army and was deployed to Africa and has been to Quebec. She did not start school with intentions of a French minor but she wanted something different that she also loved to learn about and French, the culture, and the history was just what it turned out to be. 

She loves to travel so she was excited to learn of this opportunity to travel to France. She has travelled to Europe a few times but never to France. She also loves art history and architecture. She wants to see the differences in the health of France and how they take care of the people differently.

Alexis Scherer
Karissa Sjostrom
Alondra Torres

Alexis Scherer is a senior at Rockford University majoring in History and minoring in French aspiring to become a teacher. She will be returning to Rockford University to complete her Master of Arts in Teaching degree after her wedding in September 2018. One of her favorite eras to study is the French Revolution and WWII. She began her French studies at Rockford University without having any prior knowledge of the language or other Francophone areas of the world. Since taking multiple classes in French, she has grown to love learning about Francophone regions especially the countries of Martinique and Haiti.

She wanted to go on this trip because travelling to Europe has been on her bucket list ever since she could remember. Because of the rich history in France, she wanted to see as many historical monuments as possible including La Place de la Bastille where the Bastille prison stood that was stormed at the beginning of the French Revolution, Le Chateau de Versailles which was built by King Louis XIV, one of the great patrons of the arts, and La Cathedrale de Notre Dame which was built in 1163 and held the self-coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France in 1804 among other events.

Karissa Sjostrom is a recent graduate of Rockford University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biochemistry and a French Minor. She began her French Minor during her freshman year while she was a Government Major hoping to become a Foreign Service Officer. Although her career interests have changed, her love of culture, travel, and language has not. Karissa had the opportunity to travel to France once before, where she spent the majority of her time studying French in a small town in Normandy. She enjoys speaking in French, and listening to French being spoken.

She enjoys drawing from the humanities to inform her pursuit of Science. French provides a welcome reprieve from the data-driven and repetitive work of designing and implementing experiments. It also helps her feel more connected to a more relatable and emotional human experience.

Thanks to her unconditional family support and the Rockford Promise Scholarship, Alondra is a first generation student at Rockford University. She is a sophomore pursuing a Biochemistry major and French minor. She is involved in different campus activities and organizations including Spanish Club, Multicultural Club, and the soccer team. She also takes the role of Global Ambassador, Welcome Week Leader and works as a part-time Certified Nurse Assistant. 

Coming from a family that has fought many obstacles and suffered great losses, her passion has always been to help others. Therefore, she spends great of her time doing community service projects and volunteering for different organizations. As a senior at Jefferson High School, she planned to be a family practitioner or a pediatric oncologist. At Rockford University she has discovered that her languages are one of her strengths that should not go to waste. Therefore, she plans to be a Médecin Sans Frontières, a Doctor Without Borders. She wants to help in areas where poverty is high and access to health care is low. 

This trip has sharpened her skills in one of the languages that are highly spoken in those countries that are struggling to survive. She thinks that everyone should be entitled to receive medical attention and education regardless of their economic standing, race, sex, color, religion, etc. For her, there shouldn’t be borders to attain a better future. This trip has shown her that even in the most beautiful cities, there is work to be done.