Research

Research Focus

My research examines the utopia in early-modern French prose, specifically the intersection of gendered ideals and geography. I focus on how the utopia advances certain ideals in the realm of gender and sexuality (e.g., the ideal relationship, the ideal embodiment of masculinity, etc.). These ideals are as challenging to fulfill as these elusive utopias are themselves difficult lands to reach.

I examine prominent works of seventeenth and eighteenth-century prose featuring imaginary voyages to utopias. These journeys possess both a physical component (to a place) and an allegorical component (to an ideal). Just as the voyage to the utopia features a long, arduous adventure littered with obstacles, the attainment of a gendered or sexual ideal entails a similarly dynamic process. The gendered ideals articulated in these works alternately upheld, complicated, and subverted societal expectations of the period governing both gender and sexuality.

Vanderbilt University Coursework

Fall 2015

Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

Francophone Literature

French Jewish Intellectuals

Spring 2016

Romantic Poetry and Poetry (in English Department)

18th Century French Literature

20th Century French Literature

Francophone Caribbean Literature

Fall 2016

Introduction to Research

Applied French Linguistics

French Literary Theory

Fall 2017

Apprenticeship Teaching (Dr. Miller)

French Feminism

Non-Candidate Research

Spring 2017

Medieval French Literature

17th Century French Literature

19th Century French Literature

2018

PhD Dissertation Research

2019