Yvonne-Marie Mokam, assistant professor of French and Francophone studies in Denison University’s Department of Modern Languages, has received a Tibbie Leslie Travel Grant from the Licking County Foundation for travel to Fort-de-France in Martinique and Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe. The grant was awarded to four area teachers including Mokam, who plan foreign travel to broaden their experience and knowledge in their particular field of interest.
Mokam’s trip to Martinique and Guadalupe will allow her to broaden her understanding of the French influence from the perspective of slavery in the Caribbean. Using her travel experience, she plans to create a new course at Denison on the question of francophone identity and explore what it means to be French for Black Caribbeans. Since joining Denison in the fall of 2013, Mokam has contributed to expanding the offerings of the French program by including courses in postcolonial francophone Sub-Saharan African.
The teachers were selected for their commitment to bringing the world back to their classrooms in the true spirit of the award’s donor, Tibbie Leslie, a native of Newark, Ohio, who traveled the world throughout her 30-year teaching career. Since 1999, the Tibbie Leslie Fund has provided over $170,000 in travel grants to 87 area educators.
The mission of the Licking County Foundation is to improve the lives of the people in Licking County. Established over 60 years ago, the Foundation has grown to more than $90 million in assets through generations of gifts made by compassionate donors.