Staff Bios
Daniel Audaz, from Marseille, France, first studied at the University of Aix-en-Provence where he obtained his M.A. in Geography and then specialized in FLE/S (Français Langue Etrangère et Seconde). He then moved to the U.S. to begin his Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While there, he worked as a Teaching Assistant of French and as a Resident Assistant at the French House of Madison. This experience began five years of study, work, and research at UW-Madison. Daniel worked at the UW-Madison study abroad program in Aix-en-Provence and the French Resource Center at UW-Madison, and he has taught numerous undergraduate courses in French language and culture. Daniel’s research interest in cross-cultural exchange began when he completed an M.A. in urban ethnography, researching the study abroad population of Aix-en-Provence. He is currently writing a Doctoral thesis in SLA that focuses on intercultural competence, alterity, sociocultural theory, and mediation in study abroad programs.
Staci Soum-Fontez, Student Services Coordinator, joined the staff in fall 2006. A native of Wisconsin, she has lived the last 17 years in France. Since moving to Rennes in 2001, she held the position of Cultural Director at the Franco-American Institute. Staci did undergraduate work at UW-Milwaukee and received an M.A. from the Sorbonne.
Madeleine Lorcy is the Administrative Assistant. Her helpful advice, assistance, and friendlypersonality have been a CIEE tradition in Rennes since 1982.