Michèle Bissière, associate professor of French in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies at UNC Charlotte, has received two prestigious national and international awards for her teaching and commitment to raising the prestige of French culture.
Bissière teaches courses in language, literature, and culture. She uses film in all her courses to reinforce language skills and elements of culture. She is the author of the textbook, Séquences: Intermediate French through Film, now in its third edition with Cengage, and of a co-edited volume of Women in French Studies entitled French and Francophone Literature and Culture through Film. Bissière has served as Interim and Associate Chair of the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, Study-Abroad Coordinator, French Club Advisor, and organizer of several French and International Film Festivals. She has been actively involved with the Alliance Française de Charlotte and with the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) for over twenty years. After serving as AATF Regional Delegate for the Southeast, she is currently Co-Chair of the AATF Commission on Cultural Competence and Film Review Editor for its journal, The French Review. Michèle received the NC-AATF Teacher of the Year Award in 2013.
With her most recent awards, she is the recipient of the 2015 Dorothy Ludwig Excellence in Teaching Award at the postsecondary level, awarded by the American Association of Teachers of French. This national award recognizes “teachers who have demonstrated excellence and commitment in the teaching of the French language and French and Francophone cultures and literatures.” Bissière will receive the award at the annual convention of the AATF in Saguenay, Quebec, in July 2015.
Bissière also was named “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques” by the French government in 2014.
Napoleon I first created the palmes académiques as an honorary title to recognize members of the University in 1808. Nowadays, the distinction recognizes those who have rendered eminent service to French education and have contributed actively to the prestige of French culture. Recipients include French citizens and foreigners who live in France and abroad. In the United States, dossiers for nominations and promotions to one of the three ranks of the Order (Knight, Officer, and Commander) are prepared by the French Consulates and forwarded to and reviewed by the French Embassy before being transmitted to the Ministry of the French National Education in Paris, which makes the final decision.
