Janis Pallister papers

Bowling Green State University distinguished University Professor of Romance Languages, Dr. Janis L. Pallister, was born January 12, 1926 in Rochester, Minnesota to George and Edith (Reed) Pallister. After completing her early education at the public schools in Rochester, she studied French at the University of Minnesota earning a B.A. degree cum laude in 1946; an M.A. degree in 1948; and her Ph.D. in French in 1964. Before coming to Bowling Green State University in 1961 she held instructor positions from 1948 to 1950 at Black Hills College in Spearfish, South Dakota and from 1959-1961 at Colby college in Waterville, Maine. Intervening years were spent as a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin and then at the University of Minnesota.

At BGSU, from 1961 to 1978, Dr. Pallister moved through the ranks of instructor to full-professor. She would earn her distinguished University Professor of Romance Languages title in 1979 and would carry it into Emerita status after her retirement in 1985. This popular teacher of French taught undergraduate courses at all levels of French language from beginning and intermediate through Composition and Conversation to Advanced Composition and Conversation. Other courses included Introduction to Literature, Phonetics, 17th Century Literature, Elementary and Intermediate Spanish, English Composition, American Literature, Canadian Film, Women’s Film, and Canadian Literature. French Baroque Literature was available to undergraduate and graduate students.

Graduate courses she taught included Montaigne, French Lyric Poetry, French Literary Criticism, French Comedy, French Renaissance Literature, Black Poets, Rabelais, Contemporary French Poets, French Women Writers, French Literature Outside Europe, Literary Translation, Vietnamese Literature in French, Québécoises et Acadiennes (1996,) and Francophone Women Writers around the world (1999). Dr. Pallister served on a number of thesis and doctoral committees and was acting chair of her department in 1972-73, and during summer sessions in 1984 and 1985. Dr. Pallister was remembered for bringing notable scholars and film makers to campus to speak about their work. She was elected to the Faculty Senate three times and was active in Graduate Council and the Library Advisory Committee. She served on the Friends of the Library Board. The Pallister Conference Room in Jerome Library was named in her honor after she donated funds in 1997 to restore the painted surface of the distinctive murals featured on the exterior of the building.

Dr. Pallister earned an international reputation for her knowledge and scholarly endeavors. She authored numerous books, articles, reviews, and poems in addition to translating a considerable body of literature from such languages as French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. Her research interests took her to France, England, Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, Costa Rica and Canada where she often delivered scholarly papers at various meetings.

Dr. Pallister supported such campus groups as Pro Musica, the Medici Circle, and the Gish Film Theater. She was a member of the President’s Club and established the Pallister Lecture Series in Canadian Studies. She became an Honorary Alumna of BGSU in 1997 and in 2002 was given an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the university. She died October 18, 2008.