Holy Cross Student Awarded Assistantship to Teach Secondary School in France

WORCESTER, Mass. – Kathleen Seltzer, a history major with a women’s and gender studies concentration from West Chester, Pa., has received an assistantship to teach English at a secondary school in the Versailles region of France.

Seltzer originally sought a Fulbright teaching assistantship in France, but Fulbright awards only five English teaching assistantships nationally, and then recommends other highly qualified applicants in the pool, such as Seltzer, for the French government teaching assistantships. A positive Fulbright recommendation generally results in placement in the most desirable areas of France.

Seltzer eventually plans to attend graduate school for either a master’s degree or Ph.D. “I do not know for what specialty,” she said, “but I know that I want to impact the world in a way that makes it more just and equitable.”

At Holy Cross, Seltzer is a Student Programs for Urban Development intern; member of Pax Christi; secretary of Phi Alpha Theta (history honors society); and member of Alpha Sigma Nu (Jesuit honor society) and Phi Beta Kappa (liberal arts honor society). She also led a hurricane relief group to New Orleans during spring break. She is this year's recipient of the George B. Moran Award, which goes to a senior who has given evidence of scholarship and leadership in College activities.

The French Ministry of Education and the Cultural Services at the French Embassy offers between 1,000 and 1,700 teaching assistant positions in French primary and secondary schools and in Instituts universitaires de formation des maîtres (teacher-training colleges).