Senior Lecturer in French
Paula Hennessey is a Senior Lecturer in French at BU. She completed her undergraduate studies (majoring in French) at Wellesley College and pursued her graduate studies in French Literature at Brown University. She studied at the Université Paris-Sorbonne; taught at Lycée Descartes in Paris, at Brown University, MIT and BU.
At BU, Paula has taught many levels of French (from LF 111-323); coordinated LF211, and then LF212, for 19 years, and with her colleague, Susan Dorff, she created, taught and coordinated a 4-semester curriculum of French Reading (LF 121-LF 222). Over several semesters, she was part of a team that piloted, implemented, and, later, re-calibrated the language placement test in French/Spanish that BU currently uses. For 6 years, Paula served as Head of the French Language Program (Romance Studies) and, for 4.5 years, as the CAS Language Advisor (in the Office of the Dean of Academic Life).
Paula’s passion for creative writing and close readings has led her to create a new version of LF 323, Creative Writing in French. In the spring of 2018 and 2019, she studied with writer- in -residence Patrick Autréaux, auditing his LF 569 course, Through a Writer’s Eye. She has presented on intensive and sustainable writing practices at ACTFL and is currently working on a project to develop reading and writing skills through artificial intelligence.
Paula also serves as a mentor for 3 Boston Public School Community Service Scholarship students, is a steward in the BU Full-time Lecturers Union, and is active in the University’s Register to Vote Drive.