Teaching

Philosophy

Humanities courses should teach students to think critically, consider unfamiliar viewpoints, and engage with difference. They should prepare students to read closely, write cogently, and think analytically while collaborating with others in diverse learning communities.

I teach issues that are fraught for many students (e.g. histories of oppression and marginalization, memory and politics, race and racialization in the context of colonialism.) In order to have productive conversations about these subjects, my first priority in the classroom is building a sense of community and belonging.

In my literature courses, I teach students how to evaluate the relationship between content and form, and politics and aesthetics in diverse French and Francophone contexts. I encourage students to help shape the direction of the course to fit their interests. My literature courses in French balance language-learning and content objectives by assigning drafts of writing assignments and scaffolding seminar conversation to ensure that students feel comfortable speaking in the target language.

In my language classes, I teach French through French and Francophone culture using authentic materials. I use a communicative approach that aims to increase student proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking and prepare them to meet their individual goals in learning the language.

Previously Taught Seminars

Francophone literature

This course aims to introduce students to the cultural, political, and aesthetic aspects at play in the literatures of Francophone Africa and the Caribbean by examining Francophone works through the lens of “engagement.” What does it mean for a text, or an author, to be engaged? What writers are expected to be engaged because of their racial or ethnic identity/identities? Is political commitment ever a burden for Francophone writers? As literary critics, how should we balance questions of ethics and aesthetics in colonial or postcolonial contexts? The assigned readings (including Césaire, Fanon, Rawiri, Djebar, and Condé) will expose students to literature and theory from diverse French-speaking regions of the African and Caribbean world. This course will also facilitate an understanding of literary forms, terms, and practices. Students can expect to work on their production of written and spoken French (in addition to reading comprehension) both in and outside of class. Discussion in French.

mind in the world: cognitive approaches to north african/ diaspora literature

While the relatively new field of cognitive literary studies has often focused on canonical modernist texts from the Western tradition, interpretation of Francophone literature from North Africa has been dominated by anthropological and historical approaches. This interdisciplinary course brings together research in cognitive science and North African/Diaspora literature in order to examine the relationship between mental functions and aesthetic forms. How do cognitive approaches to memory, theory of mind, language, and metaphor allow us to engage North African literature in new theoretical ways? We will examine the ways in which attending to linguistic features (writing direction, time-space metaphors, gendered nouns in bilingual texts) mental features (memory, theory of mind, empathy) and cultural features (e.g. language as a tool for integration, differentiation, assimilation, and resistance) might alter our readings of this corpus. Authors include Djebar, Sebbar, Khatibi, Yacine, Fellous, and Ben Jelloun. Theoretical readings include Scarry, Jakobson, Boroditsky, LeDoux, and Lakoff. Discussion in French.