Student and Alumni Highlights

Kameron Ackerman

B.M. Musical Theatre, University of Central Oklahoma
B.A. French, Spanish, and German, University of Central Oklahoma
M.S. Public Relations and Corporate Communications, New York University
M.F.A Screenwriting, University of California, Los Angeles
 
Languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian
 
Kameron is a fourth-year Ph.D. student interested in sub-Saharan African literature, 19^th and 20^th century literature, the history of the novel, narrative theory, and second language acquisition.  He is also interested in gender studies and immigration in the postcolonial French-speaking world.

Princess Adinkra

B.A. in French Education, University of Education, Winneba - Ghana
M.Phil. in French, University of Education, Winneba - Ghana
Research interests: XXth-XXIst centuries and Francophone literature

Siham Amraoui

B.A. in French language, Tlemcen University (Algeria)
B.A. in Business Law, Tlemcen University (Algeria)
Master’s 2 Degree in Judicial Career and Litigation, Évry Val d’Essonne University (France)
Master’s 1 Degree in Digital Law, Versailles University (France)
Master’s 2 Degree in French Language - With Distinction, Tlemcen University (Algeria)
Master's 2 Business Law, Tlemcen University (Algeria)
Research interests: littérature francophone

Dilara Ayaydin

B.A. in French Language and Literature, Istanbul University
M.A. in Comparative Literature, Sorbonne University - Paris IV
Research interests: French and Francophone literatures of the XXth-XXIst centuries produced by subjects with a migrant identity, non-human subjectivities in literature, the concept of insularity, journeys, wanderings, and experiences that connect one land to another, the spatial analysis in the novel, ecocriticism

Mirabel Bala

B.A., Benue State University (Nigeria)
Research interests: Francophone African Literature, Women and Gender Studies

Derek Berghuis

B.A., Stony Brook University
MAT, Stony Brook University
M.A. in French and Italian Literature, Stony Brook University
Research interests: XIXth-century French literature, particularly the works of Balzac

Paola Boué

B.A., Université de Poitiers
M.A., Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS, Paris)
Research interests: French literature of the XXth-XXIst centuries

Justine Dauphin

B.A., Université Clermont-Auvergne à Clermont-Ferrand
M.A., Université Clermont-Auvergne à Clermont-Ferrand
Research interests: French literature of the XVth-XVIth centuries

Shweta Deshpande

B.A. French literature, University of Pune, Pune
M.A. Translation and Interpretation, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
M.Phil. Translation Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Shweta worked as a translator for several years before entering the Ph.D. program at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research interests include Francophonie, and the Indian Diaspora and Migration in 21st century France.

She has taught at the Alliance Française, and currently teaches French at Hunter College and at the Language Reading Program at the Graduate Center, CUNY.

Wesley Doucette

Moved to New York in 2013, following his undergraduate studies in Art History and Theatre at Kent State University. While in the city he has worked in the theatre, assisting artists in cabaret spaces, stage managing across the US and assistant directing off Broadway productions. He has also been a frequent contributor to BroadwayWorld, where he writes on theatre history, opera, The New York City Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. In 2017 he moved to France to pursue his Master of Arts in théâtre et patrimoine at Avignon Université. While there he founded a theatre company with the university and took part in both the théâtre anglophone and the atelier chorégraphique. However, it was ultimately his experience and involvement with the city’s annual Festival d’Avignon as a journalist, playwright, and intern that lead him to further pursue his studies to the Doctorate level and is very excited to do so at CUNY. His research interests at this time include French dramatic institutions, metteur en scène culture and contemporary dramatic output.

Fali Hasan Fezea Al Sudani

M.A. French Modern Criticism, University of Baghdad, College of Languages, Iraq, 1991
B.A. French Literature, University of Baghdad, College of Languages, Iraq, 2001

Falih has an interdisciplinary interest ranging from US-France knowledge transfer, Cultural studies, interdisciplinary studies, history of ideas, modern French criticism, to Iraqi intellectual history, ancient Arab history, modern Arab politics and journalism. Falih has worked as a journalist and was editor-in- chief of literary journals and daily newspapers in Baghdad, Iraq. He has translated a handful of books, published articles about Arab- West cultural and intellectual influences and Iraqi political and social contemporary scene. He published papers on the intellectual role of the French and western Christian missionaries to Iraq during the 17th and 19th century; and the intellectual transition stage after the 2003 US intervention in Iraq. He has received a fellowship of The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq, TAARII, 2012, and was a Visiting Scholar, Aramex grant for travel to the 2010 Middle East Studies Association annual meeting held in San Diego, USA. With GC fellowship, Falih hopes to improve his skills and to be an active member in the intellectual life in US.

Micaela Healy

B.A. Politics, Marymount University, summa cum laude
Research Interests: Politics, theatre & performance art, translation, gender, and francophone literature
 
Micaela Healy received her B.A. in Politics from Marymount University with minors in French, International Studies, and Gender Studies. Micaela’s undergraduate thesis, “Thinking in Epigrams: Wicked and Western Political Philosophy” was awarded departmental honors and her undergraduate sociological study, “Tactical Submission in Lean In For Graduates,” was published in Magnificat and won her the Robert Reed Prize for nonfiction writing. She presented “Tactical Submission” as part of a panel on pop feminism at the Virginia Association of Communication Arts and Studies’ 2018 conference and also served as a panel moderator at the 2018 World Affairs Council national conference. In 2019 she worked with the Embassy Adoption Program in Washington, D.C. to promote cultural exchange and learning in elementary school students, partnering with over 80 embassies. Her current research highlights modern theatre, the political quality of art, and intercultural exchange.

Claudine E. Jean-Baptiste

M.A., French, Princeton University
Bryn Mawr’s Institut d’études d’Avignon
B.A., French and Italian, Hunter College

Claudine has a background in education. Her interests include quest of identity and bâtardise in Francophone literature, melodrama, specifically the representation of slavery and abolitionist discourse in nineteenth century popular theatre, French culture and civilization, particularly eighteenth century ideologies in regards to slavery and colonialism, as well as literary translation. She started teaching French as a graduate fellow in Princeton in 2002. Since Princeton, she has been working at Queensborough Community College (CUNY) as a lecturer for the past ten years and more recently at Nassau Community College (SUNY). She held previous teaching positions at St John’s University and Molloy College. Besides teaching, Claudine enjoys writing. She is currently working on two memoirs.

Simon Kostelanetz

B.A. French and Physiological Sciences, Marquette University (2017)
Areas of Interest: Francophone postcolonial literature and theory

Simon is a third-year student in the French Department, specializing in Sub-Saharan postcolonial literature and theory.  He pursued a B.A. in French from Marquette University, earning it in 2017. He then taught for a year on La Réunion as part of the TAPIF program through the French Embassy. 

Simon has presented conference papers at the CUNY Department of Comparative Literature, the University of Kansas, as well at SUNY Albany.  He currently teaches at Baruch and City College.

Thiawo Lecor

Licence en Santé Communautaire, Université Alioune Diop de Bambey
Certificat d'Aptitude à l'Enseignement secondaire (français, histoire, géographie), Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar
A.S. in Public Health, Bronx Community College CUNY
B.A. in French, Lehman College CUNY
Research interests: le mouvement de la Négritude, la linguistique, le siècle des Lumières

Gabriel Maginier

PhD Candidate in French - City University of New York, The Graduate Center
MA in Teaching - Stony Brook University (SUNY) - Summa Cum Laude
MA in Arts - Université Lille 3, Charles de Gaulle - Summa Cum Laude
Research Interests:
- The history of the knowledge-power relationship in educational settings.

-   Pedagogy: Developing strategies to engage students in Second Language acquisition, cultural diversity and critical thinking.

-   Comparative Art and Literature: The rhythm in Pollock’s painting and Kerouac’s writing.
Gabriel Maginier graduated in Arts in France and created cultural projects for more than 10 years. He started teaching French after obtaining a Master in Education in New York. He is coming to the Graduate Center from the University of Connecticut where he was a Graduate Teaching Fellow in French Literatures, Cultures and Languages. Gabriel is interested in the history of education, its evolution, its transformation, and more particularly the construction of universalism. Does liberty of expression require the (re)production of rational thought\? His doctoral research will try to capture the contradictions of our institutions and of ourselves, to better understand the challenges of tomorrow.

Amy Martin

B.A., French, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH
M.A., French, Hunter College, New York, NY
Languages: English, French, Spanish
Areas of Specialization: 17th Century, 20th/21st Century, Women's Studies, Children's Literature, Narratology, Adaptations

Amy is currently working on her dissertation, titled "Unnatural Issue: Gendered Adaptations of 'Peau d’âne' in Contemporary French and English Texts," which incorporates the study of fairy tales, adaptation, and incest narratives, among other subjects. Amy recently began working in academic publishing, serving as editorial assistant for the Literary Studies and Music & Sound Studies editors at Bloomsbury Academic in New York, NY.

Talla Mboup

Prior to pursuing his PhD, Talla Mboup received a master’s degree from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and an Advanced Certificate in African Studies from Columbia University. Also, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with distinction from the College of New Rochelle and a Bachelor of Arts in French studies from Hunter College. When Talla immigrated to America from Senegal, he spoke no English. During his undergraduate freshman year, he wrote all his papers in French and translated them into English using a French English Larousse dictionary. 

Currently, Talla is a first-year PhD student within the Department of French at The Graduate Center. His research interests center on the First World Festival of Negro Arts (Festival Mondial des Arts Nègres: "FESMAN ") 1966 in Dakar, Senegal where he will not only investigate Malraux's legendary speech but also offer an analysis of the liberating role of African art over modern art. In addition, he is currently an adjunct professor and a math tutor at Mercy College, teaching a diverse array of academic courses that gave him an extensive pedagogical experience.

As a detail minded, highly motivated individual, Talla promotes cross-cultural understanding and tolerance for everyone. He modernizes and implement methods of teaching across a variety of disciplines and puts in place a culture of learning that values mutual respect and responsibility, moral principles, and personal development to ensure successful student outcomes. Talla is deeply inspired and motivated by his traditional, and exceptionally gifted grandmother who was the most influential person in his life. He is fluent in French, English, Wolof, and intermediate in Spanish.

Armel Jovensel Ngamaleu

 B.A. in French and Francophone Studies, University of Douala
M.A. in French and Francophone Studies, University of Douala
M.Ed/DIPES in French Modern Letters, HTTC/ENS Bambili-University of Bamenda
M.S. in Marketing & Communication, ESSEC of Douala
Armel Jovensel Ngamaleu has been teaching French for eight years in secondary education and for three years in higher education. His research in a transdisciplinary perspective explores literature in its relationship with history, sociology, ecology, philosophy and psychoanalysis as well as arts (music, cinema and photography). With a particular interest in 20th-21st century French literature and postcolonial francophone literature from sub-Saharan Africa, his fields of research include: writings of the self, testimonial discourse, reception of scandalous women's self-fiction, poetics of sex(uality) and the body (''erography''), intoxicated writing (''toxicography''), festive novel, writers' media performance, (im)posture of writers, and literary marketing. Armel J. Ngamaleu is a member of some scientific and literary associations. Co-founder of ALIV (Association Livre Voyageur), he is also a literary columnist, poet and short story writer, winner of several awards since 2013, including the Prix Littéraire National Jeunes Auteurs 2017 and the Prix de la Semaine de la Francophonie 2018.

Andreea Preda 

obtained her master’s degree in Literary Studies at Complutense University of Madrid with a thesis on the interplay of self-representation strategies in the literary and photographic work of maverick artist Claude Cahun. She went on to study Arts Administration and Cultural Policy at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, after which she worked for several years in publishing and at different arts and cultural non-profits and institutions. Her research focuses on 20th- and 21st century autobiographical projects at the intersection of literature, theory, and the social sciences. Additional interests include documentary practices in literature and the visual arts, and social thought, specifically relating to the mechanics and representations of class.

Ivana Prelevic

B.A., French Language and Literature, University of Montenegro, Faculty of Philology, Montenegro, 2014
Spec. Degree, French Language and Literature, University of Montenegro, Faculty of Philology, Montenegro, 2015
Certificate, La Découverte de l’Art Moderne et Contemporain à Paris, CEMÉA, Paris, France, 2015
M.A., French, Hunter College CUNY, New York, NY, 2018
Languages: Serbian, French, English, Spanish, Russian, Modern Greek, Latin, Finnish
Areas of Interest: Roman gothique; Gothic & Horror Literature; 19 th Century; Romanticism;
Symbolism; Décadence; Poetry (especially 19 th Century); Medieval; Theater of Tragedy;
Philosophy; 20 th Century; Comparative Literature (French-English-Yugoslav)

In 2014/2015, Ivana earned her B.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Montenegro (Faculty of Philology) in Niksic, Montenegro. Her thesis, entitled “La Dualité Dieu / Satan dans l’œuvre de Charles Baudelaire”, is one of her many contributions to the 19 th century romantic and symbolic thought, yet examined here from a philosophical aspect. In 2014, her poem “Mon Théâtre“ won the first-prize on a literary contest - Dix mots de la Francophonie, and a scholarship to attend a cultural program in Paris.
In 2016, she came to New York to pursue a M.A. in French. She finished her master studies in 2018 at Hunter College where she also won the Distinction in Graduate Studies Award, for excellence in the study of French. Some of her research papers are: “Le baiser de la mort : l’amour et la mort dans L’Heptaméron“ ; “Le Bestiaire dans Les Lais de Marie de France“ ; “La représentation du Temps dans Le Spleen de Paris“ ; “Mémoire (In)volontaire: Where Are the Memory Triggers in Baudelaire?“ ; “À rebours : Dandysme postromantique ou virilité décadente“ etc. She worked as a private French and Serbian Tutor, French Translations Editor in a major translation company and as a French Teacher at a private language center.  Working in a translation and localization industry instilled in her the desire to, one day, run her own translation business.
Ivana is excited to embark on a doctoral journey at the Graduate Center. She continues to write and research about roman gothique in French literature and 19th century literature, which are her main areas of interest. She currently teaches French at Hunter College. She also writes, mostly poetry, in all the languages that she speaks.

Carlos Ríos

B.A, French & Francophone Studies, University of Scranton
MS Ed., Bilingual Education, The City College of New York 

Carlos obtained a degree in French and Francophone culture at the University of Scranton. During his undergraduate studies, he also discovered his passion for teaching. Upon completing his studies at Scranton, Carlos entered the New York City Teaching Fellows and completed a Masters Degree in Bilingual Education while teaching full time. Carlos is now in his 5th year of teaching as the fourth grade, French teacher in a dual-language program. His research interests include the presence of death and dying in literature, le Roman d'Analyse, Psychoanalytic literary criticism, and 20th Century literature, theatre, and film. 

Oliver Sage

B.A., French, Hunter College
Interests: 20th Century, Contemporary, Queer Theory, Feminist Theory, Science Fiction, Translation.

Oliver Sage is working on a cluster of modern and contemporary figures ranging from Jean Genet to Virginie Despentes to Samuel R. Delany. They are particularly interested in looking at the ambiguous connections between violence and the erotic in queer modern and contemporary fiction, as well as the openings and slippages between the literary and the ‘paraliterary’ worlds of fantasy and (science) fiction. Other interests include queer potentialities and radical failures in translation studies. They are a 2018 Humanities Alliance Graduate Fellow.

Annie Schultz

Annie Schultz is currently a Ph.D. student in French Literature. She grew up in a small town in Kentucky but spent part of her childhood in Al Ain, U.A.E. After returning to the US, she received a B.A. in French Literature and Studio Art (Painting). In addition to teaching in Avignon, France with T.A.P.I.F, Annie completed a M.A. in French Language and Literature. Her research interests are varied, including 19th-century French painting and public sculpture, and questions of identity in Francophone literature of the Middle East. Annie is also taking the opportunity to study Arabic again after many years. She currently teaches French classes at Hunter College. 

Melissa Trujillo

B.A. Sociology, Minor in French, Marymount Manhattan College
M.A. Global French Studies, Columbia University

Melissa Trujillo received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Marymount Manhattan College with a focus on the sociology of the body. Her final thesis was an ethnographic study of ballerinas and their relationship to pain. Melissa went on to complete a master’s degree in Global French Studies at Columbia University’s Paris campus. Her master’s thesis treated hysteria in 18th-century medical texts, and deviant female corporeality. Melissa is continuing her research on the body while shifting her focus towards francophone productions from the Mashreq.

Nina Verneret

B.A. Major Philosophy and Minor History, Lyon III
M.A. Philosophy and Critical Theory, Paris 8

Nina Verneret graduated in continental philosophy in Paris. She wrote her master’s thesis on the roots of the Baroque period in Europe and its reception in the Latin world.She is a contributor and editor for the social science books review website Nonfiction.fr. She writes about independent cinema, contemporary art, and literature. Nina also edits video content (narrative and documentary).

Edna Webb

B.A., University of Jos
M.A., Montclair State University
Certificate : Centre de Linguistique Appliquée, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon
Research interests: gender studies, African and Francophone studies, comparative literature

Alicen Weida

B.A., French Literature, Hunter College; l’Université de Paris IV – La Sorbonne 

Alicen Weida received her B.A. in French Literature from Hunter College, where she also began graduate study in 2014. Before beginning graduate work, Alicen interned at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy’s Département du livre, most notably helping to organize the ‘2014: A Year with Proust’ centennial festival. 
In 2016, she was an organizer for the French program’s annual graduate student conference, “Mapping Memory,” which welcomed graduate students from the U.S., Canada, France, and Morocco. Her academic interests include 20th Century and contemporary literature, Translation studies, and Women’s and Gender studies. She is currently pursuing a certificate in the Women’s Studies program.

Sarah Yahyaoui 

M.A. French and Gender Studies, McGill
B.A. French Literature, Université de Montréal

Sarah Yahyaoui is an fifth year PhD student in French at the Graduate Center. Her current research focus on identity in Quebec through the representations of Scandinavia and the idea of nordicity. That interest for Québécois identities translated in her feminist reading of Nicole Brossard’s Le centre blanc in her Master's thesis and in her direction of an upcoming journal number on Québec rap. She has taught French, French Literature and Women and Gender Studies at The City College of New York and Barnard. She has published in @nalyses, with the feminist collective Les bêtes d’hier, and with the editing house Triptyque.

Ryan Evelyn (Ph.D. 2023)
Visiting Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Lehigh College

Marguerite Van Cook (Ph.D. 2023)

Patricia Winter (Ph.D. 2023)
World Language Teacher/French, Léman Manhattan Preparatory School

Angélique Ibáñez Aristondo (Ph.D. 2022)

Chandra Balkaran (Ph.D. 2022)
Adjunct Assistant Professor of French, Hunter College CUNY, John Jay College CUNY

Elizaveta Lyulekina (Ph.D. 2022)
Research Editor, Dow Jones

Rebecca R. Raitses (Ph.D. 2022)

Sara Rychtarik (Ph.D. 2022)

Iziar De Miguel (Ph.D. 2021)
Lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, Baruch College CUNY
Iziar is the author of Quêtes, enquêtes et roman noir : de Didier Daeninckx à Kateb Yacine (Harmattan, 2023).

Anna Soo-Hoo (Ph.D. 2021)
Adjunct Assistant Professor of French, Hunter College CUNY, Baruch College CUNY

Chris Clarke (Ph.D. 2020)
Visiting Assistant Professor of Translation Studies, University of Connecticut

Lisa Karakaya (Ph.D. 2020)
French teacher, Hunter College High School (CUNY)
Member, Executive Council, MLA (2020 – January 2024)

Thomas Muzart (Ph.D. 2020)
Assistant Professor of French, Pomona College

Antoinette Williams-Tutt (Ph.D. 2020)
Lecturer of French, Southern Methodist University

Frédéric-Charles Baitinger (Ph.D. 2019)

Christine Carter (Ph.D. 2019)

Parfait Kouacou (Ph.D. 2019)
Assistant Teaching Professor of Global Studies and Modern Languages, Drexel University

Jasmine Claude Narcisse (Ph.D. 2018)

Genevieve Waite (Ph.D. 2018)

Wilson Décembre (Ph.D. 2017)

Phillip Griffith (Ph.D. 2017)

Jacquelyn Libby (Ph.D. 2017)

Lauren Reches (Ph.D. 2017)

Paula S. DelBonis-Platt (Ph.D. 2016)
Professor of French, Communication, and English, NHTI-Concord’s Community College

Paul Fadoul (Ph.D 2016)
Lecturer of French, Queens College CUNY

Stephanie Grace-Petinos (Ph.D 2016)
Lecturer of French, Western Carolina University

Eric Lynch (Ph.D. 2016)
Assistant Professor of French, Midwestern State University

Dana L. Radu (Ph.D. 2016)

Deborah Rosalind Gruber (Ph.D. 2015)

Ashley Williard (Ph.D. 2015)
Associate Professor of French. University of South Carolina

Viral Bhatt (Ph.D. 2014)
Assistant Professor of French and ESL, Essex County College

Ruth Lipman (Ph.D. 2014)

Dana Milstein (Ph.D. 2014)

Lucie Carmel Paul (Ph.D. 2014)

Laila Pedro (Ph.D. 2014)

Joseph Rienti (Ph.D. 2014)

Claudy Delné (Ph.D. 2013)

Desmond Hosford (Ph.D. 2013)
Editor, PETA Foundation
Adjunct Assistant Professor of French, Hunter College CUNY

Rebecca Linz O'Laughlin (Ph.D. 2013)

Sophie Saint-Just (Ph.D. 2013)
Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Williams College

John Sorrentino (Ph.D. 2013)
Chief of Staff, Hunter College School of Education

Chadia Chambers-Samadi (Ph.D. 2012)
Lecturer, Hawaii Pacific University

Sara Hanaburgh (Ph.D. 2012)
Assistant Professor of French, St. John’s University

Stève Puig (Ph.D. 2012)
Associate Professor of French, St. John's University

Nicole Beth Wallenbrock (Ph.D. 2012)
Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, Hostos Community College CUNY

Christina Buehler (Ph.D. 2011)

Sophie Maríñez (Ph.D. 2010)
Professor of Modern Languages and Literature, Borough of Manhattan Community College CUNY

Noëlle Rouxel-Cubberly (Ph.D. 2009)
Professor of French, Bennington College