Graduate Student Profiles
Updated August 2008
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Scot Allen is a doctoral candidate in the French Department at the University of Virginia and a major in the United States Air Force. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with a double major in civil engineering and French (1988) and a masters of science in engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (1997). Scot came to UVA from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs where he taught all levels of undergraduate French and received the Outstanding Academy Educator award (2002). A husband and father of two, his research interests include French orientalist literature and Middle Eastern history.
Recent publications include two translations from French to English: "Césaire's Notebook as Palimpsest: The Text before and after
World War II" in Research in African Literatures (Fall 2004)
and an interview with Raphaël Confiant entitled "Origins and
Future of Creole Language and Culture in Martinique" in Review:
Literature and Arts of Americas, no. 68 (May 2004).
Josh Armstrong is a doctoral student. Hailing from the naturally beautiful (if very cold) Upper Peninsula of Michigan, he received his B.A. from Northern Michigan University in 2003 with a double major in French and Creative Writing. He lived in Marseille, France for the academic year of 2001-2002, working as an “assistant de langue” in a French lycée, teaching English, learning French, and falling in love with the peculiar French way of life. He received his M.A. in 2006 from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, living in the heart of Cajun Louisiana, where he became interested in Francophone literature and wrote his thesis on the use of stream of consciousness in Beckett’s trilogy of novels. Josh was employed at Northern Michigan University to work as a full-time instructor for two years (2006-2008), teaching various levels of French language and literature courses. Josh is also a creative writer (poetry and fiction), having published works in The Modern Word, The Southwestern Review, and Quiddity International Literary Journal.
Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, Jennifer received her B.A. in French from Middlebury College in 2006 and spent a year working in Washington, DC before arriving in Charlottesville. She is currently in her second year of the MA program. Jennifer completed a year of her undergraduate work in Paris, where she studied at l'Université de Paris III (Sorbonne Nouvelle) and interned at l'association FACT (Franco-Américaine pour le Cinéma et le Théâtre), a bilingual theater company fostering cultural dialogue through the performing arts. Jennifer is especially interested in the questions of "Frenchness" and French nationalism as reflected in literature, and also maintains a love for the women writers of the Francophone world. When she's not working, Jennifer enjoys running, skiing, cooking, traveling whenever possible, and spending quality time with her friends and family.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Marissa started the doctoral program at UVa in 2007. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages (French and Spanish) from Pace University in New York and studied for a year in Aix-en-Provence. She was able to work as a student interpreter at the United Nations during her senior year. Marissa earned a Master of Arts at the University of Georgia where she completed a thesis entitled "La notion de l'Autre dans L'Invitée de Simone de Beauvoir." She is interested in transnational studies and the relationships between female novelists of France, Africa and the Caribbean.
Nathan is a current PhD student at the University. His academic interests include Enlightenment thought, questions of identity and nationality in 18th century France, and Quebec nationalism.
Erin Brust is a first year MA student at UVA. Originally from Fargo, ND (no, it’s nothing like the movie), she received her BA from the University of Rochester while also studying violin performance at the Eastman School of Music. Erin spent the summer of 2008 in the small town of Excidieul in France, playing violin in the opera orchestra at the Franco American Vocal Academy. She is interested in 19th and 20th century French literature and philosophy, as well as musical settings of French poetry and gender and sexuality studies. In her spare time, Erin enjoys playing violin, listening to music, travelling as much as possible, and spending time outdoors.
Jen Burstein is a second year M.A. student at UVA (BA in French and History, Michigan State University 2008) originally from Farmington Hills, Michigan. She enjoys French (and non-French) literature, philosophy, jazz, and galavanting around Europe in search of the above and other such bohemian pursuits. She also enjoys alliteration, long walks on the beach, over-priced coffee and Scrabble. Jen has lived and studied in France (Nantes and Tours) and in Ireland, where she has furthered her medievalist armory, adding Latin and Celtic studies, and learned to appreciate a good pint of Guinness. She is particularly interested in French medieval courtly literature, medieval autobiographical writings, and Celtic studies. She is also interested in 18th century literature, the history of philosophy, existentialism, and gender and sexuality studies. She is currently on a one-year leave from grad school in order to pursue various non-academic life goals.
Danielle is a Ph.D. candidate in French and New World Studies. As an undergraduate at Washington State University, she spent one year on exchange at Université Montpellier III. Danielle earned an M.A. in French Cultural Studies from Columbia University, where she wrote a thesis entitled "'Yeux de chat, paupières de porcelaine': Le Japon dans l'imaginaire littéraire de Pierre Loti et Roland Barthes" (Director: Professor Françoise Gaillard, Paris VII). Since coming to U.Va., she has taught beginning, intermediate, and advanced French language courses, French Literature of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Introduction to French Cinema (TA for Professor Krueger), and Introduction to Brazilian Portuguese Language and Culture (through U.Va.'s School of Continuing and Professional Studies). Danielle's teaching and research interests include Francophone New World Literature and Culture, Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century French Literature, Comparative Caribbean and Latin American Literature, French Cinema, and Critical Theory (especially Postcolonialism, Cultural Studies, and Performance Studies). Her dissertation,written under the direction of Professor Emeritus A. James Arnold, examines the novels of Martinican author Raphaël Confiant in the broader cultural, geographic, and literary context of the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Brazil.
Aline is from "le" Paris, France. She studied American Civilization at La Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris III. During her "maitrise" she spent a semester at Middlebury College, VT, researching her thesis concerning the Equal Educational Opportunity Act, a law regarding the way education is financed in Vermont.
After obtaining her degree, she spent two years at Middlebury as the TA of the French Department, Director of the French House and Instructor of FREN101-103. Now a Master of the French language and literature from UVA, she is in her second year of the PhD program. Her main interests are in francophone Africa, the Arab world, women writers and documentary films.
Isabelle is a PhD candidate in Francophonie and New World Studies. She obtained a maîtrise in English Literature and Civilization from the Université de Poitiers. For her maîtrise thesis she spent one year at the Université de Moncton, Canada, where she led sociolinguistic research on the relation between the Anglophone and the Francophone communities in Acadia. She then completed a Masters in French literature and acquired teaching experience at Michigan State University. She lived in Casablanca, Morocco, for one year, where she taught in primary school and enjoyed the discovery of another culture. Since she arrived at UVA, she taught language classes and also worked as Cultural Activities Coordinator of the French House. Her dissertation explores the relation to time and space in contemporary Caribbean novels.
Cristina Ciudin comes from Romania. She lived in France for a long period of time, during which she explored her interests in the study of Comparative Literature. She received her MA in Comparative Literature from Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle. She is currently pursuing a PhD in French. Her general interests are XXth century French and Latin-American literatures. In her free time she enjoys watching movies, spending time with family and friends.
Shannon Connolly is a first year student in the MA program. She graduated from Kansas State University in May 2009, receiving a BA in French and a BA in Anthropology. Her emphasis within anthropology is archaeology and ethnohistory; during the summer of 2007, Shannon participated in the excavation of a Seneca village site in the Finger Lakes region of New York, in association with Cornell University. Her interests include culture contact, specifically contact between the Old World and the indigenous peoples of the New World, which is a field she plans to explore in the realm of her French studies and research. Shannon had the honor of visiting France for the first time during the summer of 2008 as a Pi Delta Phi Joseph W. Yedlicka national scholarship recipient; she enjoyed studying in Avignon and experiencing French heritage and culture. Other interests include music; Shannon was a performing violinist in the Kansas State University Symphony Orchestra and university chamber music ensembles as well, including a small chamber orchestra that played a concert tour in England and Scotland during spring break of 2008. Shannon also enjoys dancing; she was a performing ballerina in the dance department at Kansas State University. Shannon also loves traveling; she looks forward to visiting France again in the future, as well as also venturing into the Francophone world.
Pierre arrived at UVA in fall '04 as a Phd student. He is from France where he completed his undergraduate studies at the Université de Poitiers. He then spent one year at the Université de Moncton (New Brunswick, Canada) where he conducted research on the reader's section of the Acadian newspaper "L'Evangeline" and he earned a "maîtrise" in History (1999). After completing his military service duty in a French consulate in Casablanca, Morocco (2000-02), he obtained a MA in French Literature and Civilisation at Michigan State University (2004). Pierre is interested in 20th century French Literature and wants to focus his dissertation research on comparative Acadian (Canada) and Cadian (Louisiana) literature and culture. He is also part of the New World Studies program.
Helen grew up in Raleigh, NC, which explains her frequent use of such
antiquated terms as "y'all" and "ma'am". She did her
undergraduate studies at UNC-Chapel Hill (go Heels!) where she got BAs
in French and Psychology. She arrived in Charlottesville in 2003 and got
her MA from UVa in 2005. She then moved over the big blue ocean to participate
in UVa's graduate teaching exchange in Nice, France for a year but just
couldn't stay away from the French department. So she is back to continue
her studies in the PhD program, where her main interest is in fashion
in the 17th and 18th century novel.
Michael is a Master student on leave for the 2008-2009 school year.
He recently studied in the Summer Lyon Program.
He graduated from Longwood University in 2006 with a degree in French and a license in PreK-12 teaching.
He is taking the year to pursue some assorted goals, both intellectual and personal alike.
Elizabeth Erickson, otherwise known as Ellie, received her BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara. While there she participated in the Education Abroad Program in Bordeaux, France. After graduation she went to Montpellier to work as an "assistante d'anglais". She currently is pursuing graduate studies with particular interest in 19th century art and literature. When not working diligently, Ellie enjoys traveling, a good concert, fine dining, knitting and the beach.
B.A. French, University of Arizona (1997), M.A. French, University of Virginia (2005).
Originally from North Carolina, Caroline has lived in France and Turkey among other places, including four years in New York City where she worked for a publishing house specializing in foreign languages. She is now in Paris on a UVa teaching exchange with University of Paris-12 Val de Marne. In addition to sixteenth and twentieth-century French literature, her interests include Medieval and Renaissance art, architecture, and cross-cultural literary and artistic exchanges, as well as modern fiction on the early modern period. Her dissertation examines representations of travel in sixteenth-century French poetry and narrative fiction.
Rachel Geer is originally from Lubbock, Texas, but has recently started calling herself a Virginian. She completed her BA in Literary and Cultural Studies at William and Mary in 2003. Her degree in cultural studies included a specialization in ‘visual and verbal poetics’ that she was largely able to explore during her junior year at the Université de Montpellier III, in France. From 2004-2005 she spent time as an English teaching assistant at a lycée in Nimes, and she is currently participating in the exchange between UVa and the Université de Nice as a ‘lectrice d’anglais’. After completing her master’s degree at the University of Virginia in May of 2008, Rachel is now pursuing her doctoral studies with a particular interest in late medieval literature, although she also maintains secret and passionate love affairs with Montaigne and Proust.
Liz was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina where she completed her undergraduate studies at North Carolina State University in French, Spanish and Public Relations with a minor in Japanese. Liz spent the summer of 2005 at the Sorbonne and the summer of 2008 in Grenoble and Montpellier at the University of Paul Valéry. While in France she loves touring and visiting cathedrals, medieval cities, chateaus, and museums. Her academic interests include cross-genre and cross-cultural studies at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in literature, poetry, art, cinema etc. A favorite hobby is new languages. Over the past year she has been working on Latin and Romanian. While in the south of France she became intrigued with Occitan and would like to work on obtaining a reading knowledge in other varieties of the French language. In her spare time, Liz enjoys biking, walking/running and talking with friends at a nice café over a good cup of coffee.
Originally from Greenville, Michigan, Brandon received his MA in French literature from UVA in May, 2009. He completed his undergraduate work at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, majoring in French and International Studies. While at Hope, he also spent an academic year abroad in programs with IES in Paris, France, and SIT in Bamako, Mali. Upon receiving his Bachelor’s degree in May 2003, Brandon went on to serve as an agroforestry volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps, working for three years in Selibaby, Mauritania (West Africa). His most recent travels in the francophone world include participating in UVA’s French Summer Program in Lyon, France in 2007, and working as the graduate assistant for the UVA in Morocco Summer Program in 2009. Now pursuing his doctoral studies, Brandon’s main areas of interest are the literature, culture, and history of francophone Africa from the period of French colonialism to the present.
Je m'appelle Pascale Hapgood. Je suis nee a Nantes et ai obtenu ma licence et ma maitrise d'anglais a la faculte des lettres de Nantes en 1985 et 1987 respectivement apres avoir passe un an dans le Minnesota (University of Saint Thomas). Je suis mariee a un americain qui a fait ses etudes a UVA (B.S.Engineering and B.A.French, 1988). Nous avons deux enfants: Alexandre 11 ans et Margaux 7 ans. J'ai commence mon M.A. dans le departement de Francais en aout 1988!Oui, ca fait un bail! Je l'ai obetnu en 1990 et j'ai tout de suite commence le programme de Ph.D. Deux enfants et un inlerlude de 2 ans et demi en Angleterre plus tard, je suis toujours ici, j'ecris ma these et j'en vois enfin la fin! Ma these est en civilisation sur l'utilisation de l'espace public a Paris et dans les environs au 17eme et 18eme siecles.
Elizabeth was born in Florida and grew up in Georgia and Virginia. She attended Furman University in Greenville, SC, where she completed her BA in French in 2004. While at Furman, she spent a semester abroad in Versailles, France. She came to UVA in 2004, after participating in UVA's summer program in Lyon, France, and received her MA in May 2006. She then took a year off from studying to teach English in Lyon, France through the UVA exchange TA program. She is currently a PhD student specializing in Medieval French Literature and Culture and a Teaching Assistant in the department. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys travel (within and outside the US), spending time with friends, movies, exercise and reading books that are not required for class.
Jennifer, originally from Omaha, Nebraska, is a first year PhD candidate. In 2009, Jenn earned her MA in French literature from the University of Virginia. She received her BA in French and political science from Grinnell College in 2004. While an undergraduate student, she studied in Nantes, France. For three years, Jennifer taught high school French and Spanish with Teach for America in Baltimore, Maryland. While in Baltimore, she earned an MAT from Johns Hopkins University. During the summer of 2008, she participated in the UVA Summer Program in Lyon, France. Her interests lie primarily in the 17th century, 20th century and contemporary French literature.
Chris is a doctoral student focusing on 19th century literature
and the novel throughout all periods of French literature.
He received a B.A. in French and Telecommunications and an M.A. in Linguistics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Ball State University. He spent a semester studying at Université Laval in Québec, and has spent two years teaching in France (one year each at the Université Nancy II and Université Lyon II). He is now concentrating on finishing coursework and preparing for qualifying exams in Fall 2008.
Jessie is a first year MA student from Staunton, VA. She spent her senior year of high school in Voiron, France (outside of Grenoble) as a youth ambassador for the Rotary Club before completing a BA in French and Spanish (2007) at Mary Baldwin College. During her studies at MBC, she had the opportunity to study Spanish literature and translation in Granada, Spain, French theatre in Paris and Basque culture and politics in both Spain and France. Her present interests are 19th and 20th century literature, specifically women writers of the period.
Kate is a PhD student from Mathews, Virginia, a lovely rural community on the Chesapeake Bay. She received a BA in Comparative Area Studies (focusing on Western Europe and Africa) from Duke University. While at Duke, Kate was a member of the Varsity Women's Rowing team, but took full advantage of her summers to study in Paris and work as an au pair in Narbonne. After graduation, she was an assistante d'anglais in a primary school in St. Denis, La Réunion. She returned to the U.S. in May 2004 and after a brief and uninspiring stint in sports marketing, she came to UVA. She received her MA in 2007 and has participated in UVA's Summer Program in Lyon twice, first as as a student and second as a Teaching Assistant. Kate loves teaching and is specializing in Francophone African literature and civilization.
Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Kelly McConnell received a B.A. in French from Dartmouth College in 2000 where she also spent a semester studying in Toulouse. She spent two years as a management consultant in Boston before returning to Dartmouth to pursue a M.A. in Comparative Literature, concentrating on the early 20th-century French romance novelist Delly. After completing her first M.A. in 2003, Kelly taught math at a public high school in New Hampshire for two years. Before entering the M.A. program at UVa in 2006, Kelly taught French language and literature at Norwich University in Northfield, VT. Kelly has also led French language programs for high school students in both Tours and Arles with Rassias Programs. Kelly's current academic interests include 17th century female authors, contemporary popular literature, and autobiographies. Kelly enjoys spending her free time with her son, Jordan, and her husband, Steve.
Candice Méric
After three blessed years of “classes prépas littéraires”, I was faced with a Cornelian dilemma: should I pursue happiness studying French literature or English? Because I thought French literature was somehow too hurtful for my porcelain soul, I decided to embroider my mind with American literature, British “in yer face theater” and American historiography. I decided to spice things up by getting a law degree as well, for my worst fear is to not keep my mind on the verge of explosion. I fell in love with Law and its rationality, and recently blissfully found out that most of my favorite writers [Gide, Balzac, Flaubert and Cohen] had somehow been related to law. Torn between practical and theoretical law, I am still suspending my judgment on what to do next, remaining “les pieds dans la fange et et les yeux tournés vaporeusement vers le ciel” [C.B.].
Caroline Meyer
Caroline is entering the M.A. program this year. She grew up in Baltimore, MD, and returned there to teach middle school French for two years after graduating from Kenyon College. As an undergraduate she spent a year in Geneva, Switzerland, studying French literature and psychology. Her interests lie primarily in 20th century and contemporary literature. In her free time she enjoys reading books in English, taking modern dance classes, and cooking meals with friends.
Sage Morghan
Sage Morghan is entering the University of Virginia as a first year Masters student. She received a B.A. in French from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2003. After finishing her undergraduate degree, Sage worked in France for a year as an English assistant at a lycée in Brittany. Upon her return to the U.S. in 2004, she joined the New York City Teaching Fellows, a recruiting program that allowed her to earn an MS Ed. with a specialization in TESOL from Long Island University, while teaching ESL in a high-needs, urban elementary school. Sage moved to Charlottesville in August of 2008 and spent the last school year teaching French to preschoolers at the International School of Charlottesville. This past summer, Sage spent five wonderful weeks in France with the UVA Lyon Program. Her academic interests include 20th Century literature and the “nouveau roman”, Francophone Literature (with an emphasis on Post-colonial works by women writers) and Francophone Film.
Eglantine obtained a Maitrise de Lettres Modernes from Université de Haute-Bretagne, Rennes 2, France, and wrote a Mémoire de Maîtrise under the direction of Anne-Françoise Garréta, titled " Diderot, une écriture en marge - Stratégies argumentatives et rhétoriques ",
She obtained a DEA in Littérature et Civilisation Françaises from Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III, and wrote a " Mémoire de DEA " under the direction of Hélène Merlin-Kajman, titled: " La réception des Provinciales inscrite dans le conflit jésuites-jansénistes de 1656 à 1703 ".
Eglantine in currently in her fourth year of the Ph.D. program at UVa. Enjoying the All But Dissertation status, she's now working on her dissertation in the Seventeenth century under the direction of John D. Lyons.
Larkin’s circuitous path to UVA's doctoral program in French Civilization has taken him from Charlotte, NC (hometown) to UNC (BA French) to UNCG (MA French) to Iowa State (Instructor) to Aix-en-Provence (lecteur d'anglais-UVA) before landing him in C-ville. He is currently writing his dissertation on the Lamartine Heritage Trail in Mâcon, France. Having been warmly received by members of the Academy of Mâcon during a recent research trip, he continues to be both excited and intrigued by the possibilities of studying the LHT from its inception as sites of pilgrimage to the current tourist enterprise in the Mâconnais.
Amie, born and raised in Cleveland, Tennessee (located just northeast of Chattanooga), entered UVa as a first-year M.A. student in the fall of 2009. She completed her undergraduate studies in May 2005 with a double-major in French and English from Lee University, where she was able to participate in a summer study abroad trip in Normandy. After teaching high school French and English for three years, Amie decided to further her education at the University of Virginia in hopes of teaching college-level language in the future. Her primary interests are questions of national identity in Francophone countries and territories and the novels of the 19th to mid-20th century. She finds issues arising from the German occupation of France during the Second World War and its literary reflections especially intriguing. When she’s not studying, Amie can be found watching football (Go Steelers!) and baseball (Go Red Sox!), reading books in English, writing, and spending precious time with her husband and family.
Originally from Newtown Square, PA (just outside Philadelphia), Casey entered UVa’s M.A. program in 2008. She completed a B.A in French with a minor in Italian at the University of South Carolina in May 2008. During her undergraduate years she seized any opportunity to study and travel in France, initially taking two class trips to the small alpine village of St. Jean de Maurienne, before spending a month in Tours in 2006 and a semester in Grenoble in 2007. This year Casey was glad to return to the Rhone-Alps region to participate in UVa’s Lyon summer program before officially beginning her studies in Charlottesville. She looks forward to pursuing her academic interests in 20th Century/Contemporary French literature and civilization. While studying recent history in search of explanations for contemporary French cultural and societal issues, she hopes to explore related fields, such as cultural and linguistic anthropology. In her free time she enjoys running, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
Jacob received his B.A. from Kansas State University last millennium and currently has one foot in the French department and one foot in the philosophy department. As an undergraduate, he spent a year l'Université Paul Valéry (Montpellier III) before returning to bicycle across North America and shamelessly boast about it on this web page like a pompous jerk. He has non-simultaneously taught FREN 101, 105, 201, 202, and been a TA for "Intro to Philosophy", "Human Nature", "History of Modern Philosophy" and "Know Thyself". He is currently writing his dissertation in the Philosophy department on the notion of a meaningful life.
Kelly Peebles is working on a dissertation entitled "The Literary World of Les Comptes amoureux par Madame Jeanne Flore" under the direction of Mary McKinley. While completing her dissertation, she also is Lecturer of French at Clemson University in South Carolina, where she teaches a variety of French courses. Her research interests include evangelical humanism and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation, the literary community of Renaissance Lyon and Francophone communities in North America during the Early Modern period such as Acadia and the Huguenot settlements in South Carolina. She also developed an interest in material bibliography and the history of the book while involved in the digitization of rare books in the Gordon Collection. Kelly completed an M.A. in French Literature and Linguistics at the University of South Carolina in 2001 and a B.A. in French and International Studies at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in 1999. She recently began an English language translation of Jeanne Flore’s collection of tales, a task she finds intellectually stimulating and more than slightly exasperating.
Emilie is from Aix en Provence. She has a Master I in History and a Master II in American Civilization. During her 1st Master she spent a year at Washington College in Maryland, researching her thesis concerning the Bicentennial of American Independence. After her 2nd Master at the University of Provence, she became a French T.A at U.Va., teaching French 201, 202 and 334. Now she is taking the Master Exam here at U.Va.
Sherri came to the lovely town of Charlottesville in 2004, obtained her MA in 2006 and is currently a doctoral student. She was born in Virginia and graduated with a B.A. in French from Centre College (Danville, KY) in 2004. During her undergraduate study she spent a semester in Strasbourg followed by a month internship at the CLA (centre de linguistique appliquée) in Besançon. During the summer of 2005 she enjoyed spending a month in Provence as a tutor/nanny- anything to travel! Most recently she spent a year in Lyon as a lectrice teaching English at the Université de Lyon 2. Her interests include the novel in the 19th and 20th centuries and contemporary French culture and cinema.
Originally from Cleveland, OH, the home of rock & roll, Rebecca Rosenbaum received her B.A. in French from Hiram College, a small liberal arts college in Ohio. After a semester in Rennes studying literature, then a month in Paris studying art history, she spent a year in Biarritz, France as an "assistante de langue" and then worked a variety of odd jobs in Cleveland, New York, New Jersey, and Hawaii before coming to the University of Virginia in 2003. She received her Masters from UVA in May 2005, and then decided she had been in one place for too long and left to spend the year in Lyon, France as a "lectrice de langue".
Rebecca entered the PhD program in 2006 and has completed her PhD coursework. She is interested in late 19th and 20th century literature as well as image and text studies.
Erica completed her masters degree in French literature in Lincoln, Nebraska and began work on her PhD at the University of Virginia in August of 2008. She is interested in the political and historical sides of French literature, focusing on the post-revolutionary novel. Gender and its effects on the individual experience of society is another area of study that enriches her readings of 19th century French texts. During her first year of study at UVa, she teamed up with other graduate students to form a Writers Group which aims to identify and attack the numerous tasks of academic writing.
Nicholas received a B.A. in French from the University of North Carolina (2004) and an M.A. from the University of Virginia (2006). He passed his preliminary exams in 2008. He is currently living in beautiful Lyon, France, on the UVa teaching exchange program. He spends his days teaching “Structures de la langue anglaise” to first-year university students and working to define a dissertation topic. In general, his research focuses on sixteenth-century literature, and poetry in particular. He is also very interested in material history of early printing, and has worked extensively with the Gordon digitization project, part of the UVa “Renaissance in Print” initiative. In September 2008, he participated in an intensive course in Lyon devoted to the study of incunabula. Outside of department life, Nicholas enjoys exploring the outdoors, cooking and photography.
Gayle Smith, originally from Temple, Texas, entered UVa as a PhD student in 2005. In 2003, she graduated with a B.A. in French and Economics from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina where she also competed for four years as a member of the varsity tennis team. She earned a M.A. in French (2005) at the Middlebury College French School in Middlebury, VT and in Paris, France. Before continuing her studies at the University of Virginia, she taught beginning French at North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville, North Carolina.
Gayle’s research interests include post-WWII French and African Francophone literature and film. In addition to her passion for research and teaching, she also enjoys learning other languages, spending time in Chicago, competing in triathlons and middle- to long-distance running races and playing tennis.
Nick is a PhD student specializing in 19th and 20th century literature with a secondary specialization in 16th century literature. After completing a B.A. in French and English at the University of Georgia in 2002, Nick spent two years teaching English in public schools in the Vendée. He received his M.A. in French literature at UVA in 2007.
Nick's academic interests include modern novels, Proust, literary representations of mourning and loss, and discussions of friendship in both modern and 16th century literature. Nick enjoys running and cooking, and if he weren't devoting himself fulltime to Montaigne, Balzac, and Proust, he would seriously consider trying his luck as a contestant on Top Chef.
Monica Antoinette Sokol entered the PhD program at UVa in 2008. She earned her BA and MA in French Literature from Florida State University in 2006 and 2008 respectively. While there, she wrote a thesis about the figure of the Sibyl in the works of Christine de Pizan. She has had several opportunities to study abroad in both Paris and Lyon with the help of various grants, fellowships, and scholarships. Her main research interests include medieval literature, early women writers, gender, and sexuality. As of late and in preparation for her doctoral exams, she has been preoccupied with the limits of the female body. More specifically, she is interested in the gendered, sexualized, masculinized, feminized, deformed, and monstrous female body.
Tiffany Stull is a PhD student who received her B.A. in French from the University of Chicago in 2003 and her M.A. here at UVa in 2007. Between college and grad school, she worked as an English teaching assistant at the Lycée François Ier in Vitry-le-François, France and as a teaching assistant for fourth and fifth grade students at Quest Academy in Illinois. Tiffany's current research interests include medieval French literature, the transition from manuscript into print, hypertextuality and manuscript digitization. She enjoys making websites, drawing and painting, taking photos, writing poetry, and collecting a variety of items.
Cara is still in France where she continues to enjoy finishing her
dissertation, "Montaigne's Parallel Lives: Plutarchan Historical
Discourse
and Ethical Inquiry in the Essais"