Building a Career in the Humanities: Laure Astourian

Dear Colleagues:

I was hustling across campus one day, trying to make it to a meeting on time. I knew I’d be late unless I broke into a jog. Just as I was about to start running, I saw my senior colleague. He was also due at the meeting. But he was strolling peacefully, pausing to take in the air. I flagged him down and told him we needed to hurry. He said, “Why? We have plenty of time.” And then he showed me a shortcut through the stadium that cut almost half a mile off the trip. We got to the meeting with time to spare.

I think about that day often. It reminds me how much we learn when we talk to each other. And why careers are more fun when you have a community.

In that spirit, I’m delighted to share an interview with Dr. Laure Astourian. I asked Laure about her experiences navigating a scholarly career and grant/fellowship writing. Laure is an Associate Professor at Bentley University and a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. She studies French and Francophone film history. Her book, The Ethnographic Optic, examines the surprising role of ethnography in French cinema in the 1960s. Laure is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the Phi Beta Kappa Walter J. Jensen Fellowship and a Fulbright Research Fellowship to France.

~~~An Interview with Dr. Laure Astourian~~~

How did you get interested in French and French cinema? I grew up in Los Angeles. While we did not speak French at home, my dad, who is Armenian from France, enrolled me in a French school, which I attended for most of elementary school. I liked French and was good at it. Afterwards, I switched schools and realized I was losing my French. In high school, I ended up in a French class, somewhat by chance. I had a wonderful teacher, Madame Kliger, who showed us some classic French films like Les 400 coups. My dad is also a cinephile and introduced me to a lot of films, like Hiroshima mon amour and The Seventh Seal. I got really into films in high school, while attending a conservatory-style arts high school where I studied theatre. On weekends, I would go to the store and get four video or DVD rentals at a time. In college, I started taking French again, simply in hopes of improving, and this naturally led to a major. My dream was to spend my junior year in Paris. During that year, I took classes on film history and discovered the Cinémathèque Française. Cinephilia is ingrained in the culture, and it’s more my style and speed than “Hollywood.” The year in Paris led me to declare a second major in film studies. A lovely family for whom I babysat during that year invited me to return to Paris after graduation to be a demi au-pair. I returned and during that year, took classes at Inalco (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales) and enjoyed being cash-strapped but young and free in Paris! At some point, my parents asked, “What’s your plan?” The only idea I could think of was graduate school. My other dream was to live in New York, which contributed to my application to Columbia, where I was fortunate to have a wonderful advisor, Phil Watts, whose interests in literature and film aligned with mine. That’s how I ended up in graduate school studying French and French cinema! My career was guided by interests, including geographic ones.

During graduate school, you got a Phi Beta Kappa Walter J. Jensen Fellowship. How did that come about? I think the fellowship was announced in an email to the department, or perhaps I saw a call for it. I don't think anyone told me, "Laure, you should apply for this." But I seemed to fit the fellowship description and decided to give it a try. I remember preparing a really good application. When I've had successful grant applications, I’ve really needed the grant or been very motivated, and I’ve treated the application package like an article that I prepared gradually and polished. Conviction and investment come through in strong grant applications. I also say this as a grant reviewer. I've been on several committees, and some grant applications simply shine: the grant application is clearly tailored to the instructions and organization, and the text has been proofread multiple times. The grant is concise and professional, but you can tell the person cares about their topic, not just about getting the funding. For me as a reviewer, the full package matters - the CV, the personal statement, the ideas, the project description, the letters. That cohesion is important.

What have fellowships helped you do? Fellowships are good for your CV. I imagine that it was a good thing when I went up for tenure that I had gotten two competitive national and international fellowships while on the tenure track. My Fulbright helped me take a one-semester junior leave, which would not otherwise have been possible at my institution. That said, it can be hard to communicate the value or prestige of fellowships that are not as widely known as Fulbright. [Betty’s note: A junior leave is a leave you take before tenure. For ways to communicate value and prestige, see Ch. 3 of The Grant Writing Guide.]

What benefits have you encountered with fellowships? I loved getting to work in the archives, making new and interesting professional connections, and making wonderful friends. And I’ve found that on grants and fellowships, I'll go to work on one project, and I will, but the stay will also lead me to develop and explore other projects and avenues. Fellowships have shaped my research methodology: without the Phi Beta Kappa Jensen fellowship, I might not have discovered my love for cultural history and archival research. And fellowships, especially the Phi Beta Kappa and the Fulbright, also motivated me to complete my book at the most challenging times. I felt a sense of responsibility: they invested resources in me, so I needed to do a great job and follow through.

What advice do you have for fellowships? Be engaged as a citizen during your fellowship periods. When I was at the Institute for Advanced Study at Aix-Marseille Université (Iméra) in Marseille, I gave a public masterclass and organized casual film screenings for my colleagues. On my Fulbright, when my hosts asked if anyone wanted to present their work, I volunteered to do so. Being engaged and giving back is a good thing.

~~~

Thank you to Laure for her engagement and giving back by sitting for this interview. Stay tuned for Part II of this interview, where Laure shares grant and career advice. You can learn more about Laure and her work on LinkedIn.

If you’d like to read more stories from scholars, check out the Scholar Voices series. A few highlights: Dr. Lisa Ibanez talks about leaving academia for tech, Dr. Hannah Darvin discusses navigating grant writing as an art historian, and Dr. Letitia Henville draws on her experience as an academic editor.

If you know someone who might enjoy this newsletter, would you mind forwarding it to them? Thanks for reading and believing that scholars deserve support for incredible ideas.

Betty

Stay in touch: The Newsletter and The Grant Writing Guide book.

P.S. Did you watch the Super Bowl? I made a Kenji Lopez-Alt spread (he's a brilliant food writer). Our favorites: pull apart garlic knots and baked wings.