Gaining a Global Perspective: Students learn about the impact of globalization in France and Africa

From Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa, Professor Dominic Thomas lived and traveled all over the globe; students greatly benefitted when he came to Los Angeles. Thomas, the department chair of both French and Francophone Studies and the Department of Italian, was also a faculty member in Comparative Literature and one of the founding professors of the Department of Global Studies. The professor had a unique history and an interesting perspective, presenting students with matters of international importance within a local context.

Thomas, as the son of a diplomat, was intimately affected and ultimately incredibly intrigued by global affairs. Born in Germany yet of British descent, Thomas spent his childhood in France. He lived next in England, where he attended college at the University of London after graduating from boarding school. Language and culture became areas of great interest, and after a childhood spent moving between countries, travel became another one of his passions. This motivated Thomas to explore and seek opportunities abroad. As he explained it, “you come across many doors in life, and the ones that open often I’ve walked through, because no matter what happens at the other end, I know I’ll have the basic survival skills to get by. I’ve never been interested in…Click Here to Continue Reading.