Laurent Ditmann
Associate Dean of Humanities/World Languages-French Humanities, Office of the Vice Provost and Dean- Education
• Ph.D., French Studies, Brown University (Providence, RI), 1991
• Agrégation, English Literature, Ecole Normale Supérieure of Fontenay-Saint-Cloud (France), 1989
• Maitrise, America Studies (Military History), University of Paris X at Nanterre (France)
• MA, English Literature, Portland State University (OR), 1988
- Specializations
Areas of expertise include:
• Strategic planning
• Cross-cultural communication
• Fund-raising
• Knowledge management
• Budget oversight
• Team building
- Biography
A native of Paris France, Laurent Ditmann has been in the United States since 1986. A graduate of the University of Paris X at Nanterre, the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Fontenay-Saint-Cloud, and Portland State University (OR), he also holds a Ph.D. in French Studies from Brown University (Providence, RI). An educator at heart, he has been an executive director, consultant, and entrepreneur with over 25 years of diversified, hands-on experience in managing research projects on complex issues for business and non-profit organizations; establishing and developing educational programs; advising organizations on cross-cultural issues; and working with government, academic, and business leaders. He is also a military historian and cultural critic.
- Committees and Organizations
• Modern Language Association
• American Association of Teachers of French
• Military History Society
• Academy of American Poets
• Non-Profit Board Development Consultant, Board of Directors, Stride Ahead (501c3 organization offering equine therapy)
- Publications
Select Scholarly Presentations and Publications
• Doctoral Dissertation: “La Guerre et ses mots: Problématique et pratique du roman de guerre chez Julien Gracq, Robert Merle et Claude Simon,” Brown University (1991)
Articles
• “To Educate, Build Community,” “Teachers College Record,” published: October 22, 2008, http://www.tcrecord.org
• “Made you Look: Towards a Critical Evaluation of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan,” “Film & History,” 28.3 4 (1998), 64-72
• “Wash Your Hands with Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola’s European Tribulations,” in “European Readings of American Popular Culture,” Jean Paul Gabilliet and John Dean ed. (Westport: The Greenwood Press, 1996), 127-136
Encyclopedia Entries
• “Xavier Blanchard de Bray,” “Alfred Duffié,” “Pierre G.T. Beauregard,” and “Savannah,” in “Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History,” David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler ed. (Oxford: ABC-Clio, 2001), 1:198-200, 2:576 and 623-624, 4:1706-1707
Book Reviews
• “Post-Colonial Culture,” a review of Panivong Norindr’s Phantasmatic “Indochina: French Colonial Ideology in Architecture, Film, and Literature,” “Film & History,” 28.3-4 (1998): 103-104
• “So Simple and Clear-Cut,” a review of Paul Fussell’s “Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic,” “Film & History,” 27.1-4 (1997): 124-125/133
Conference Presentations
• “Performance-Based Approaches to Educating and Supporting Refugee Children,” Performing the World 4 Conference, Tarrytown, New York (October 12-14, 2007)
• “Film-Maker or Historian? Bertrand Tavernier in Perspective,” invited lecture, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont (September 23, 1999)
• “Plus fort, plus loin, plus haut, plus cher… Enjeux et conséquences économiques des Jeux Olympiques d’Atlanta,” international conference “Money and Politics in the United States,” Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, France (December 5-6, 1997)