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French believes that international experiences, like study abroad and the Fulbright program, give students much more than language and cultural education.

“I feel like we taught a lot about self-confidence (through the programs),” French said. “We have had students who have never been out of Oregon, and when they are able to go and learn abroad, it is a big reward. With the Fulbrights, sometimes they think, ‘Oh, I am coming from this small school. I’m competing with Harvard and Yale.’ I tell them that they can do it, and they do.”

Throughout the second half of her career, French has been passionate about the study and preservation of the works of Ceija Stojka, a Roma artist and activist who survived internment in three concentration camps during World War II. French became acquainted with Stojka while holding the Fulbright Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria in 2003 and soon after took up the cause of translating and preserving her writings.

“I visited her when I was on that Fulbright. She was really open and we kept that friendship until she died (in 2013),” French said. “I had students read her works. They wrote letters to her and she wrote back. And so it became a really beautiful project. Students came over (to Austria) to look at her works and helped me with the translation. That’s really been inspirational.”

French’s translation of three of Stojka’s memoirs, “,” was published in 2022. It is one of the few written accounts of the plight and oppression of the Roma people during World War II. The publication led to a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to continue transcribing and translating Stojoa’s personal notebooks. French has also contributed to major exhibits of Stojka’s artwork in both the United States and Europe. 

Stojka’s works will continue to be a focal point of French’s life after 91����. Beginning in October, she will spend six months as a guest professor and researcher at the University of Passau in Germany, where she will curate an exhibit of Stojka, co-facilitate a colloquium, and conduct more research into Romani literature. 

She will continue to be part of the , an organization of which she is a founding member, and the , dedicated to promoting scholarly research on contemporary Austrian history, with a special focus on the Nazi era.

While French appreciates 91����’s support of her research on Stojka, and of student and faculty research in general, she is grateful the focus continues to be first and foremost on providing students the best possible education.

“I do love research, but the teaching here is the most important commitment,” French said. “I think I’ve done quite a bit of research, but I haven’t felt pressure. It’s been more of a passion. I have been able to involve students, and it has had a direct impact. So it’s a great thing that 91���� is doing. We’re not just putting out books or articles that maybe nobody’s going to read.”

Retirement will also include plenty of hobbies for French, such as knitting, sewing, gardening and biking, as well as bicycling and skiing with Draznin. And she looks forward to enjoying more of the activities that have made 91���� and Forest Grove home.

“I love coming to campus,” French said. “When you walk around campus, everywhere you go, you say hi to somebody. And you have healthy conversations. It could be good stuff or bad stuff, but it is connection. Good community connection.”