Faculty

Biography

Teaching and research interests include French language and culture, literature and film in 20^th and 21^stcentury France, translation studies, Francophone literature and films (focus on Africa), literature by the African diaspora in France, French criticism, literary and postcolonial theory, film aesthetics and criticism.

Research and Teaching in African Literature, Film and Media: Innovations in Critical Scholarship and Pedagogy. Topics focus on new approaches in critical and pedagogical inquiries in the research and teaching of African literature, film and media. Co-edited book project in progress.

Research Overview

Research Interests

• French language and culture
• French and Francophone literature and film (twentieth and twenty-first centuries)
• French literary translation
• French criticism, literary and postcolonial theory

Courses Offered (subject to change)

• FREN 101:  Elementary French I (Fall)
• FREN 102:  Elementary French II (Spring)
• FREN 111:  French in Focus: Intensive Elementary French (Summer 2017)
• FREN 154:  Screening French Shorts: Intensive Intermediate French (Summer 2017)
• FREN 157:  French in France: Summer Study Abroad, Rennes, France (Summer 2019, Summer 2024)
• FREN 200:  Advanced French (Fall/Spring)
• FREN 204:  Contemporary French Culture (Fall 2023)
• FREN 207:  French in France: Summer Study Abroad, Rennes, France (Summer 2019, Summer 2024)
• FREN 211:  Aspects of French Grammar (Fall 2017)
• FREN 212:  French Literature in Translation (Spring 2018)
• FREN 235:  Texts Beyond Borders (Fall 2016)
• FREN 241:  Le Nouveau Roman (Spring 2015)
• FREN 242:  Théâtre Français (Spring 2016)
• FREN 260:  20th century France at War (Spring 2019)
• FREN 260:  20th century France in Autobiography (Spring 2025)
• FREN 270:  Women Write Women: Africa and the Caribbean (Fall 2016)
• FREN 279:  Immigration in French Literature and Film (Spring 2017)
• FREN 288:  French in Film: Africa, Caribbean, Québec (Spring 2016)
• FREN 295:  Musing the Museums: Migration and Everyday Life in France (Spring 2022)

Selected Publications

• Guest Editor of the Special Issue “Aesthetics of the Future: The Cinema of Jean-Pierre Bekolo.” Journal of African Cinemas, vol. 16. 1, March 2024.
• “Qu’elle aille explorer le possible!” or African Cinema according to Jean-Pierre Bekolo” in Companion to African Cinema. Kenneth Harrow and Carmela Garritano (Eds.) Wiley Blackwell, December 2018.
• “Fanta Nacro's Night of Truth: the journey to the end of the night” in Under Fire: Critical Discourses on African Women in War and Conflict. Pauline A. Uwakweh (Ed.) Lexington Books, 2017. 
• “From Orality to Visuality:  The Question of Aesthetics in African Cinema.”  Renewal in African Cinema: Aesthetics and Ideology, Journal of African Cinemas 1.2  2009.
• “Reel” Fiction in Cameroonian Cinema:  The Postcolonial Re-shaping of Cultural Reality” in Cinema and Social Discourse in Cameroon, Alexie Tcheuyap (Ed.)  Bayreuth African Studies, 2005.

Recent Conference Presentations

• “Thinking in Action: Sharing, Caring, Curating” Virtual roundtable presentation by the Teaching Committee of the EC/ALA on observations, experiences, and practices in Open Pedagogy, OER-oriented (Open Educational Resources) courses in creative collaboration with librarians; 47th Annual Conference of the African Literature Association, May 19, 2022.
• “Past forward: Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s Naked Reality and Nous les Noirs” Virtual panel presentation of the Film, Visual, and Media Caucus at the 47th Annual Conference of the African Literature Association, May 20, 2022.
• “Beyond the final paper: OER-enabled Pedagogy and Technology in the Teaching of African Literature” Virtual roundtable presentation at the 46th Annual Conference of the African Literature Association, May 26, 2021.
• “Teaching African Literature to undergraduates: Engaged Learning strategies” Roundtable presentation at the 45th Annual Conference of the African Literature Association, Columbus, Ohio, May 15-18, 2019.
• “Challenging the Visual, Taming the Gaze” Roundtable Presentation by the Teaching Committee of the EC/ALA, African Literature Association, Washington, DC, May 25, 2018.
• “Residues of the Future, Forecast of the Past: Environments of Modernity in African Literature and Film.” African Literature Association (ALA), Washington, DC, May 24, 2018. 
• "A Global Perspective in a Crystal Ball: Jean-Pierre Bekolo's Naked Reality." Africa and the World: Literature, Politics, and Global Geographies. African Literature Association Annual Conference, 15 Jun. 2017, Yale University, New Haven.
• "Communities in Transit in Moussa Touré's La pirogue." Justice and Human Dignity in Africa and the Africa Diaspora. African Literature Association Annual Conference, 9 Apr. 2016, Marriott Marquis Atlanta.

Honors and Activities

• Member at Large of the Research and Teaching Committee of the Executive Council of the African Literature Association, September 2021- June 2025
• Editor-Book and Media Review-JALA (Journal of the African Literature Association), Routledge, Spring 2018-Spring 2021
• Elected Executive Councilor of the ALA (African Literature Association), June 2017-2020
• Albertine French Film Festival Organizer- Face Foundation Grant, Spring 2023, formerly Tournées French Film Festival Organizer -Face Foundation Grant, Fall 2014 Spring 2019.
• Founding Member of the FVM (Film, Visual, and Media) Caucus of the African Literature Association; Chair, June 2015-2017.
• Mellon “Humanities for Life” for building an Open Pedagogy, OER-oriented course entitled “Musing the Museums: Migration and Everyday Life in France” in collaboration with Kristen Totleben, Open Publishing Librarian, Spring 2021
• CTLTR Grant for creating a web-based application for French language instruction, University of Rochester, Spring 2010
• Burton Research Grant to attend the Panafrican Film and Television Festival (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso, University of Rochester, Spring 1999