Class of 2011
Born in New Bedford, he graduated from Saint Anthony School and went on to study at the Séminaire de Joliette in Quebec. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in French from Assumption College in Worcester. Armand began his teaching career in the Dracut, Mass. public school system, served three years in the U.S. Army, then later taught French at New Bedford High School.
In 1970, he received a Doctorate in French from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with a specialty in 19th Century French literature. He also taught French at North Adams State College, where he served as Chair of the Department of Languages. In 1971, Armand began a 29-year teaching and research career at the University of Rhode Island, retiring in 2000.
While at URI, he taught French language courses at every level, French literature courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and developed courses on the culture of the French in North America and multiculturalism. The main focus of his research has been the history and literature of the French in New England. His Histoire de Franco-Américains de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, 1775-1990 , was published in Quebec in 1991 and was translated to English in 1999.
