My research and teaching interests are grounded in 19th, 20th, and 21st century French and Francophone studies, modern French history, Black France studies, cultural memory studies, film and media studies, postcolonial studies, terrorism and war studies, and women’s studies.
I joined Haverford College in 2016 after having taught at the United States Military Academy, West Point, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ohio University, and the Université de Nice, and the Université de Paris III-Sorbonne nouvelle. I earned my Ph.D. in French and Francophone studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an M.A. in French and Francophone studies from Ohio University, and an M.A. in North-American Studies from the Université de Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle.
In addition to my teaching and research, study abroad has been an important part of my career: I have created, directed, and participated in undergraduate and graduate study abroad programs in Quebec, Tours, Avignon, Paris, and West Africa. From 2019 to 2023, I served as interim director of the Institut d’Avignon (a six-week summer undergraduate and graduate program in French and Francophone studies) under the auspices of Bryn Mawr College.
Most recent publications:
“‘En parler, c’est finir la guerre.’ Algériennes de Meralli et Deloupy ou quand les femmes sortent du silence” The French Review 98.1 (2024)
"La diversité dans le cinéma français: Tout simplement noir et Regard noir." The French Review 96.1 (2022)
“‘La Chanson engagée: Waging War on War!’ Using Songs to Teach French Language and Culture” In Nontraditional and Innovative Approaches to Teaching Culture in the French Language Classroom, ed. Aurélie Chevant-Aksoy and Kathryne Adair Corbin (Lever Press, 2022)
“Littérateurs et terreur : de l’importance des 'secondes mains'.” The French Review 95.2 (2021)
The Resistance Revisited in Cinema, Literature, bande dessinée and Television (1942-2012), (Lexington Books|Rowan & Littlefield, 2019).
Through the depictions of the French Resistance in various cultural mediums (literature, cinema, comics television) from WWII to the present day, this book informs readers about the lens(es) through which France has been regarding its recent past, and by the same token offers a key to understanding France’s national identity and psyche.
Courses taught at Haverford:
“When to Obey is to Betray”: The French Resistance in Cinema and Literature (FR254: French in English)
Authors include: Kessel, Malle, Monénembo, Vercors
“Women in Resistance. Fighting for Freedom in France and in the Maghreb (1942-present)” (H290A: Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Gender and Sexuality Studies)
Authors include: Beauvoir, Djebar, Despentes, Fanon, Mernissi, Joan W. Scott, Slimani
“L’Exil ou l’entre-deux.” (FR250: Introduction to Francophone Literature)
Authors include: Begag, Benguigi, Ben Jelloun, Césaire, Diome, Gatlif.
“La Décolonisation du corps.” (FR212: Advanced Grammar, Composition and Conversation)
Authors include: Bâ, Camus, Le Clézio, Slimani, Tournier, Vercors.
“Directions de la France contemporaine.” (FR105: French Civilisation)
Authors include: Beauvoir, Benguigui, Camus, Olympe de Gouges.
“Le Héros en question.” (FR101 & 102: Introduction to Literary and Cultural Analysis)
Authors include: Claire de Duras, Marie de France, Maupassant, Molière, Sembène.
Elementary and Intermediate French (FR001-004)
Courses taught at Bryn Mawr College and the Institut d’Avignon:
“Direction de la France contemporaine.” (FR105: French Civilization course)
Authors include: Beauvoir, Benguigui, Camus, Fanon, Saïdi.
“Guerre et fiction du XIXe siècle à nos jours.” (S274 as part of the Institut d’Avignon)
Authors include: Apollinaire, Barbusse, Kessel, Lemaitre, Maupassant, Stendhal, Zola.
Postcolonial theory (FR213: as part of “Theory in Practice”)
Authors include: Camus, Césaire, Fanon, Saïd.
“La Résistance au miroir de la fiction.” (S271 as part of the Institut d’Avignon)
Authors include: Aragon, Deniau, Eluard, Kessel, Milgram, Quint, Vercors.