French & Italian Graduate Degree Recipients
Doctor of Philosophy
Summer 2021
Doctor of Philosophy
Summer 2021
Doctor of Philosophy
Summer 2021
Doctor of Philosophy
Fall 2020
Master of Arts
Fall 2020
Summer 2021
Doctor of Philosophy
Dissertation Title:
Eternity, Time, History, and Authority in the works of Pascal, Bossuet, Bayle, Jurieu, and Guyon
My doctoral thesis contends that harmonious conceptions of eternity, time, and history underwrite political, religious, and social institutions, whilst discordant ones dismantle them — sustaining dissent, or even inciting revolutions.
To demonstrate this, my study offers close readings of works from Blaise Pascal, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Pierre Bayle, Pierre Jurieu, and Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon exemplifying how the legitimation or repudiation of authority --- whether intellectual, political, or religious --- is predicated upon one’s perception of time, history, and eternity. These authors, giants of the seventeenth-century French cultural landscape, were deeply divided in terms of theology, politics, and philosophy. Yet despite their feuding worldviews, whether writing works of political satire, memoir, devotional literature, political theology, apologetics, or eschatology, all were compelled to do historiographical work to achieve their goals. I argue that this ubiquitous contest for historical control underscores the potency of common narratives of time and eternity, while exposing the menace of real and epistemological chaos resulting from their incongruity.
Acknowledgements:
For pulling me out of my own limited perspective to see a bit more infinitely, my thanks to my wonderful committee members, Chris Braider, Masano Yamashita, Ellen McClure, Hall Bjørnstad, and Katherine Eggert. Each of you has brought insight and encouragement to this project, and I am full of gratitude for each conversation, book recommendation, and minute of your time.
Chris, thank you so much for your patience, your enthusiasm, incredible guidance, and so many fantastically illuminating conversations. I am honored and awed.
My sincere thanks to my past and present graduate student colleagues and the faculty and staff of the Department of French and Italian for their support and assistance. You have made an indelible print on my learning and person, and consequently this work. My special thanks to Alina Van Nelson and Azarie Wurtzburg.
For their sustaining love and prayers, without which no part of my dissertation would have been possible, my deep thanks to all my family and friends. Ryan, whatever time is and wherever we find ourselves in it, you make it precious.
From the beginning to the end, my thanks and love to God.
Summer 2021
Doctor of Philosophy
Dissertation Title:
Trajectories, Bodies, and Gaze in Contemporary Banlieue and Beur Films
My dissertation looks at the complexities emerging from coloniality, racism, and hybrid identities in contemporary beur and banlieue cinema. The first chapter examines mobility related to the concept of hospitality and the opposition of the spaces between the banlieue and the urban centers. The second chapter examines the rebellion against a biopolitical control related to capitalism of non-white minorities related to capitalism. The third and final chapter investigated films directed by white directors and exposes the dangers of the white gaze in framing the non-white characters in stigmatized and stereotyped positions.
Acknowledgements:
First and foremost I am extremely grateful to my supervisors, Professor Elisabeth Arnould-Bloomfield and Professor Michela Ardizzoni for their invaluable guidance, continuous encouragement, patience and kindness during my PhD study.
Also, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the whole French and Italian department that gave me the trust and honor to undertake my phd adventure. I would like to thank all my professors, fellow grad students, coordinators, administrative staff, and my students for their unwavering support and belief in me. As an international student, it meant the world to me.
Summer 2021
Doctor of Philosophy
Dissertation Title:
Positively Engaging: Women Intellectuals and Comtean Positivism circa 1850
For his central role in formulating modern positivist philosophy, scholars have rightfully inducted Auguste Comte into the overwhelmingly male pantheon of nineteenth-century intellectuals. Conspicuously absent from the purview of scholarship, however, has been any reasonable examination of how women intellectuals have influenced and adapted Comtean positivism to promote changes in the legal and moral codes that could lead to a more just social experience for women. My dissertation, Positively Engaging, examines literary and philosophical works of Clotilde de Vaux, Clémence Royer and Louise Ackermann, who were familiar to their contemporary public, yet have been neglected by modern scholars. Collectively, the works of these women manifestly extend the intellectual reach of positivism. A copious correspondence between de Vaux and Comte, that proves both vibrant and stimulating on multiple levels, reveals how her ideas, initially somewhat discordant with Comte’s own, become integral to his later philosophy. De Vaux’s feuilleton, Lucie and Royer’s philosophical novel, Les Jumeaux d’Hellas, represent the first two examples of positivist reasoning in fiction to advocate for social progress for women. Royer’s novel, following her translation of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species reflects the author’s own theory of how positivism should evolve. Ackermann’s poetry also uses logical reasoning to re-formulate the female role in society as well as to confront the metaphysical void that inexorably surfaces amid the growing application of science-based thinking. The remarkable women writers surveyed in my dissertation use Comtean positivism to construct a cohesive school of female thought, paving the way for the rapprochement of feminism and scientific thought that marked the 20th century.
Acknowledgements:
Completing the PhD program in the Department of French and Italian has been one of the best experiences of my life. CU Boulder has a fabulous French faculty. The courses I took from Professors Murphy, Bloomfield, Yamashita, Valente-Quinn, Braider and Motte were not only stimulating, but also so much fun! Professor Kieran Murphy was simply the best dissertation advisor I could have had, suggesting research directions, keeping my spirits up and bringing my writing to a higher level. The semesters I spent as Professor Samuelson’s TA for his course on Dante and as Professor Yamashita’s RA, preparing her manuscript for publication were particularly enjoyable and instructive. I am grateful for emphasis on preparing papers for conferences and publication, for the chance to present my research to other students and also for help getting several fellowships, which helped me to finish my dissertation in a timely manner. Navigating department and university protocols was made much easier, thanks to marvelous support from our administrative assistants, Azarie Wurtzburg, Steve Slater and Annette Hays (before her retirement). Go, Buffs!
Fall 2020
Doctor of Philosophy
Dissertation Title:
Wandering in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature
My doctoral thesis examines the theme of wandering in contemporary French and Francophone literature as that theme is exemplified in the works of five authors: Marie Redonnet, Marie NDiaye, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Antoine Volodine, and Patrick Deville. My hypothesis is that each of these writers uses the figure of the wanderer to look critically at traditional paradigms of space, identity and history. My study frames and interprets wandering in new ways by connecting it to the contemporary issues these authors address, such as mass illegal immigration and exile, the rise of racism and xenophobia, the lasting consequences of the wars and revolutions of the past century, and the painful process of colonization and decolonization through the present.
Specifically, my thesis argues that wandering in these authors’ works is an uncertain and risky path of escape and experimentation, rather than a resolution or redemption, as other critics have previously suggested. I would suggest that paradoxically wandering often doesn’t bring changes for the characters in the works I am studying. Rather, wandering in many cases leads to new types of discriminations, violence, and oppression that cannot be overcome. Nevertheless, the new failures brought on by wandering should not be seen as devoid of value, but rather as a means of resistance.
Acknowledgements:
The writing of this dissertation was only possible thanks to the support and inspiration of so many people who I love and respect. To my wife, Kimberly Van Becelaere, whose unconditional support, excellent edits to my manuscript, and love kept me motivated through the PhD until the very end and beyond. To my extended family, thank you for your encouragement and practical support when I needed it most. I am indebted to my friends, colleagues, and writing peers Danica Petrovska, Elizabeth Rose, and Sarah Fisher. You have helped me to keep working hard in moments of doubt.
I am forever appreciative of the members of my doctoral committee—Warren Motte, Elisabeth Arnould-Bloomfield, Brian Valente-Quinn, Christopher Braider, and Patrick Greaney. I am especially grateful to professor Motte, Arnould-Bloomfield, and Ardizzoni—for your guidance, advice, and engagement with my project. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and thank the professors, language coordinators, and staff in the French & Italian department with whom it was a pleasure to work.
I would like to congratulate Juan Jiménez Diaz on earning his Ph.D. in our program. Juan came to our Ph.D. program in French in August 2014, equipped with a B.A. degree in Didactics and Foreign Language Instruction from the Universidad de Antioquia, in his native Colombia (1999); a maîtrise in Letters, Language, and Culture from the Université de Bourgogne, in France (2006); and an M.A. degree in French Literature from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (2012). During his time at CU, Juan made a place for himself in our department as a student, a teacher, and a colleague. His interests traverse a very broad cultural spectrum, and his intellectual curiosity is unbridled. He brought those interests and that curiosity into close focus in his dissertation, entitled Wandering in the Contemporary French and Francophone Novel. Therein, he examines the topos of wandering in the work of Patrick Deville, Marie NDiaye, Marie Redonnet, Tahar Ben Jelloun, and Antoine Volodine. Each of those authors has thought long and hard about that notion, and has deployed it in his or her writing with a real sense of purpose. Juan's dissertation is an intriguing, closely-argued piece of work, one that constitutes an important statement in our field. We will be sorry to see him leave our program, and we wish him the best as he does so, taking this moment to note his achievements and to celebrate his Ph.D.
—Warren Motte
Fall 2020
Master of Arts, French Literature
Acknowledgements:
Pursuing a Master of Arts in French Literature at CU has been the most enriching experience of my academic career to date. I was drawn to the program because the research interests of the faculty aligned with my own, especially those of Kieran Murphy, Warren Motte, and Elisabeth Arnould-Bloomfield. I would like to give special thanks to these three, as well as Christopher Braider and Masano Yamashita, for their compelling courses, interactive instruction, and unending support.
Teaching Beginner French at CU was certainly a highlight of my experience. Sandrine Vandermarliere is an outstanding supervisor and coordinator. I thank her and Alina Van Nelson for their thoughtful and flexible approaches to teaching, and for the many ways in which they supported the graduate instructors and undergraduate students. Each semester, I not only had the joy of seeing many students excel and take a more keen interest in French language and culture, but I also built meaningful relationships with them. I learned as much from them as they did from me. My students never ceased to inspire me and their feedback has been invaluable.
Another special thanks to Susanna Saurini, who was my Italian professor for two semesters. She is particularly gifted at sparking interest in the subject matter and encouraging her students to seek beyond-the-classroom experiences with Italian. I was one of two students in her class to participate in VoluntarItaly, a program through which I volunteered as a camp counselor and stayed with a host family in the Lombardia region of Italy during the summer. Thanks to Susanna, I was able to establish meaningful and lasting connections with my Italian friends and host family.
Additionally I’d like to thank all of the doctoral students for always being compassionate and supportive. They truly made the Department of French & Italian feel like a family. I also appreciated their efforts to organize and host an interdisciplinary graduate student conference, (Re)activism: Artists and Academics as Political Agents.
Final thanks to Azarie Wurtzburg and Steve Slater for always going above and beyond to support every individual in the department and to keep things ever running smoothly.