The Book Clubs of the Alliance Francaise Silicon Valley

Stanford-educated with a PhD in French and humanities, Anaïs Saint-Jude has been a senior relationship manager with LinkedIn Learning Solutions since 2017. Anaïs Saint-Jude was previously a Program Manager at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program at Stanford University and sat on the board of directors of the Alliance Française of Silicon Valley.

The Alliance Française of Silicon Valley (AFSV) is dedicated to serving as a hub of French language and culture in San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area. Among its other programs and initiatives, AFSV hosts two book clubs, the Club de Lecture in Menlo Park and the Cercle de Lecture in Los Gatos.

Both of these clubs are open to the public free of charge and meet each month to discuss a different French-language book. Recent books under discussion include Une Forme de Vie by Amelie Nothomb, La rivière Espérance by Christian Signol, and Le Ventre de l'Atlantique by Fatou Diome.

A Brief Look at Roman Catholicism's St. Augustine of Hippo

A senior relationship manager at LinkedIn in San Francisco, Anaïs Saint-Jude plays a key role in helping companys develop cultures of learning to drive innovation and growth. Holder of a doctorate from Stanford University, Anaïs Saint-Jude is a prolific reader, counting St. Augustine’s autobiography, The Confessions, as a favorite. 

St. Augustine is one of the Roman Catholic Church’s most influential thinkers. Doctor of the Church, St. Augustine was born in the year 354 A.D. in Thagaste in North Africa. His father was pagan and his mother was Christian, and St. Augustine was raised Christian. 

During his law studies in Carthage, St. Augustine became deeply interested in philosophy, adhered to the Manichean religion, and lived a life of pleasure and worldly desires. One of the most intelligent men who has ever lived, he founded his own school of rhetoric in Rome in 383 A.D. and then became a professor in Milan, where he met St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, whose friendship and teachings led St. Augustine back to Christianity. 

St. Augustine was baptised in 387 A.D. and became a priest, a bishop, a prolific author, a founder of a religious order of priests, and one of the greatest saints who has ever lived. St. Augustine's surviving writings include 113 books and treatises, over 200 letters, and more than 500 homilies. Two of his longest works, The Confessions and City of God, are canonical texts in Christian theology and have made an enduring impact on the psychology and political philosophy of the West. 

St. Augustine died on August 28 in 430 A.D. when the Vandals invaded Hippo. St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers because of his conversion from a former life of worldly pleasures and distractions.

Book Clubs Offered by the Alliance Francaise of Silicon Valley

A relationship manager for LinkedIn Learning Solutions in San Francisco, Anaïs Saint-Jude holds an MA and a PhD in French and humanities from Stanford University. The founder and former director of the BiblioTech program at Stanford, Anaïs Saint-Jude continues her involvement in academia as a member of the Board of Alliance Française Silicon Valley (AFSCV).

Dedicated to promoting and enhancing the appreciation and knowledge of French, AFSCV offers various education and arts programs to all individuals. One of the organization’s monthly activities is its book clubs, which involve the discussion of various French-language books. Since discussions are in French, the meetings are a great way for guests to develop their French language skills.

There are two book clubs maintained by AFSCV: Club de Lecture in Menlo Park and Cercle de Lecture in Los Gatos. 

The Club de Lecture meets in Menlo Park’s Language Pacifica building on the third or fourth Thursday of each month. Led by two volunteers, discussion revolves around two books per session. One of these books is easy to read while the other is more complicated. At the start of each discussion, members provide a short presentation of the book.

Meanwhile, the Cercle de Lecture meets in Los Gatos on the fourth Thursday of the month and is led by one volunteer. This event focuses on books that have been released within the past 10 years, with only one book discussed in each meeting. The club also discusses one classic of French literature every October.

Three Quick Tips to Instantly Sing Better

Anaïs Saint-Jude earned her PhD in French from Stanford University. Currently a relationship manager for LinkedIn Corporation, she has pivoted her career into sales. In her free time, Anaïs Saint-Jude enjoys singing. 

Singing provides a fun, yet often challenging, way to express oneself through music. Whether you want to become a worldwide musical sensation or simply embarrass yourself less the next time you karaoke, these three quick tips can help you to improve your singing ability. 

1. Open Up - Simply opening your mouth wider as you sing can help project a more powerful voice while also improving your tone. This tip rings true for vowel sounds as well, which will cause less strain while producing greater resonance. 

2. Avoid Dairy - Dairy products like milk and ice cream produce a lot of phlegm, which can be a singer’s worst enemy. Extra phlegm will get stuck in your throat and cause your voice to crack.

3. Warm Up - Singing makes use of the muscles in and around your throat, so warm up your muscles just like you would before exercising. Spend about 10 minutes performing vocal warm up exercises before you perform to ensure that your throat muscles are ready to go for your big number.

Frank Stella Exhibit at de Young Museum

Leveraging more than a decade of experience at the helm of large-scale operations, Anaïs Saint-­Jude currently serves as a program and engagement manager for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program. Outside of her professional life, Anaïs Saint-Jude is a patron of the arts and avid supporter of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

The de Young Museum, in conjunction with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, is currently exhibiting Frank Stella: A Retrospective, which is the first exhibit featuring the artist’s work in more than 40 years. The exhibit will display 50 total pieces, which include paintings, sculptures, reliefs, and maquettes.

One of the central pieces of the exhibit is Das Erdbeben in Chili [N#3] currently housed in Wilsey Court. At 12 feet by 40.5 feet, Das Erdbeben in Chili checks in as one of Stella’s biggest pieces.

The exhibit has also been on display at New York’s Whitney Museum and the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. It will be housed at the de Young Museum until Feb. 26, 2017.

For more information, visit deyoung.famsf.org.

LeBron James Claims NBA Inaugural Week Accolade

Following her graduation from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a bachelor’s degree, Anaïs Saint-Jude received a master’s from the University of Colorado before obtaining a master's in Humanities and French and a PhD in French from Stanford University. Currently serving as the program and engagement manager at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, Anaïs Saint-Jude leads the marketing and design of all programs and events. Having been the captain of her undefeated high school basketball team and leading them to a state championship, she believes one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game is LeBron James.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) announced LeBron James as the Eastern Conference Player of the Week (POTW) for games played beginning Tuesday, October 25, 2016. While becoming the first player in Cleveland team history to receive the award during the inaugural week, LeBron James also set the record for the most POTW awards in league history at 54, placing him with 21 more than the next closest player, Kobe Bryant. 

Averaging 21 points, 8.3 boards and 10.0 assists during the first week of the 2016 NBA season, King James led the Cavaliers to a 3-0 record and extended his double figure consecutive scoring streak to 720 games, third in NBA history. Marking the 35th time the NBA All-Star has won the POTW award in Cleveland, James was the only player during the opening week to post a triple-double, tying him with Utah Jazz great Fat Lever for the sixth most all time in league history at 43.

Perspective on information overload by Anaïs Saint-Jude

Is information overload really new? Anais Saint Jude will provide a bit of perspective by looking at another great period of innovation: the 17th century.