I graduated from
Baylor University in 2005 with a BA in French and International Studies and went on to graduate with a MA in French and Francophone Cultural Studies from the
University of Leeds (UK) in 2007. Currently, I'm in the second year of the PhD program in the Department of French and Italian at Vanderbilt University. In addition to my core specialization in French Literature, I also work with Film Studies, Postcolonial Theory and Jewish Studies. This year, I will be co-faciliating the Queer Theory Reading Group at the
Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities.
My acadmic interests are centered on the histories and narratives of Jewish communities in the French and Francophone world, particularly in the 20th century as well as the relation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to contemporary left-wing Jewish criticism. Some more specific topics within these general areas of interest include:
1) Black and Jewish diasporic connections in the Antilles, Francophone Africa and Europe. To understanding the simultaneous and oftern overlapping racialization and persecution of Jews and Blacks in the Francophone world, I study the works of Léopold Senghor, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Daniel Guérin and Pierre Goldman.
2) The multiple identities of French North African Jews during the late colonial period (1939 - 1954) and the increasingly untenable existence of these communities during the crises of decolonization. In particular, I am examining those within the Jewish community who argued and fought for decolonization, whether in the form of confederation or indepedence. Authors that I work on: Alice Cherki, Jean Cohen, Jean Daniel, Albert Memmi, Daniel Timsit.
