{"id":247,"date":"2020-02-24T16:07:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T21:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/barganbright\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:47:23","slug":"barganbright","status":"publish","type":"faculty","link":"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/barganbright\/","title":{"rendered":"Arganbright, Brian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Teaching in France and in the former Czechoslovakia taught me to be attentive to the needs of particular groups of students. I became skilled at changing gears, being versatile, and trying different approaches.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a gray morning in Paris as Brian Arganbright waits with anticipation outside the Biblioth\u00e8que nationale<\/em> on the Rue de Richelieu, the home of the National Library of France since 1868. Arganbright arrives before the library opens to secure one of the limited seats that gives him access to thousands of non-circulating books. Eight hours pass and Arganbright barely notices, relishing the intensely studious atmosphere as he does research for his year-long Chateaubriand fellowship, awarded to him by the French government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A specialist in the history and literature of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century France, Arganbright has a surprisingly flexible approach to teaching literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tell students not to worry if there\u2019s a passage that\u2019s difficult to understand. It\u2019s not about reaching total comprehension. It\u2019s about the process and enjoying literature.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arganbright aims to help students make connections across disciplines and between literature and their own life experiences\u2014rather than teaching one fixed interpretation of literary texts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaching in various cross-cultural settings has also trained him to adapt to the personality of each classroom. He has taught in universities in France and in the former Czechoslovakia, where he was a Peace Corps volunteer for three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor my French or Slovak students, I could have had the best lesson plan, based on the latest research in second language acquisition, but it wouldn\u2019t work because there were certain approaches that just didn\u2019t fit the students,\u201d he says. \u201cI had to be willing to adapt quickly and creatively if something was not working.\u201d Now, researching French pedagogy is a long-term career objective for Arganbright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether he teaches an entry-level French course or senior seminar in literature, Arganbright finds satisfaction in watching his students\u2019 progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see new students start with no knowledge of French, and by the end of French I they\u2019re having 20-minute oral exams. By the end of French III, their linguistic skills are really quite strong. Our advanced students are reading some of the most important works in literary history, entirely in French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am very proud of our students and of what they achieve at Transylvania and abroad. They have always been strong applicants for highly competitive research, internship, and job opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arganbright believes that learning French\u2014the second most commonly studied language in the world\u2014provides a richer understanding of complex international issues. It also gives access to new cultures beyond France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Transylvania, students can take francophone literature classes that represent a myriad of perspectives among French speakers living in the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East. \u201cIt\u2019s a language of the world, not just Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n

Academic History<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ph.D., New York University, 2001
M.Phil., New York University, 1997
M.A., New York University, 1995
M.A., Pennsylvania State University, 1991
B.A., B.S., Northern Arizona University, 1988<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Courses Taught at Transy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Francophone Literature
French Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries
Introduction to French Literature
French Society and Culture
French Cinema Culture
Transy\u2019s Tour de France I: History and Culture of the Languedoc (May term cycling course in France)
Transy\u2019s Tour de France II: Royalty, Revolt and the Culture of Provence (May term cycling course in France)
French Immersion: May in Montreal
Perspectives on Globalization
French in the Digital World
French Modernism
Grand bien vous fasse<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Areas of Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

History and literature of the Belle \u00c9poque
The novelist Charles-Louis Philippe
French cinema
Language pedagogy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chateaubriand Fellowship (Cultural Services of the French Embassy)
Bingham Award for Excellence in Teaching, Transylvania University<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Recent Publications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Le Creuset des savoirs: Cours de Rh\u00e9torique et de Composition, Seven Cities Publishing, 2017.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author of \u201cFaits-divers during the Belle \u00c9poque: Charles-Louis Philippe’s Beautiful Crime.\u201d Contemporary French Civilization 31:1 (2006)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-author of workbook and laboratory manual for D\u00e9buts: An Introduction to French (McGraw-Hill, 2003)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contributing author to Vis-\u00e0-vis: Beginning French, 3rd Edition (McGraw-Hill, 2003)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professional Memberships<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Modern Language Association
Kentucky World Language Association
American Association of Teachers of French<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional Information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Previously held teaching positions abroad at the University of Lyon II in France, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in the Slovak Republic, and the University of Paris V<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board member, Association of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, Kentucky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board member Good Food Market and Caf\u00e9, 2005\u201308<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3728,"template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"academic_division":[12,5,42],"class_list":["post-247","faculty","type-faculty","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nArganbright, Brian - Transylvania University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transy.edu\/academics\/faculty\/barganbright\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arganbright, Brian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Teaching in France and in the former Czechoslovakia taught me to be attentive to the needs of particular groups of students. 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