Faculty and Staff

Scott Carpenter

(Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison) teaches courses on nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature, the aesthetics of falseness, literary theory. He has published extensively (sometimes with students) on such authors as Charles Baudelaire, George Sand, Honoré de Balzac, and Prosper Mérimée. In addition to Acts of Fiction (1996, on political representations in nineteenth-century literature) and Reading Lessons (2000, an introduction to literary theory), he has co-edited an intermediate French reader (Vagabondages littéraires). Another book focuses on literary and cultural mystifications: Aesthetics of Fraudulence in Nineteenth-Century France: Frauds, Hoaxes and Counterfeits (2009).  In 2019 he published the coauthored volume, Integrating Worlds: How Off-Campus Study Can Transform Undergraduate Education (Stylus Publishing, 2019).

Scott also teaches in the creative writing minor. In addition to many short stories in a variety of journals, he has published three books in fiction and memoir: This Jealous Earth: Stories, MG Press (2013); Theory of Remainders: A Novel, Winter Goose Publishing (2013); French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris (July, 2020). His awards include the Mark Twain House Royal Nonesuch Prize, the Solas House Gold Award, the Next Generation Book Award, Midwest Independent Bookstore Bestseller, Kirkus Reviews “Best Books of 2013.” He was also a finalist for the 2021 Forward Indies Book Award.

Winter Term Courses:

French 102: MW 9:50-11:00; F 9:40-10:40
Office Hours: MW 3:30-4:30; Th 2:00-3:00 All office hours on zoom 

Stephanie Cox has taught a variety of courses: language, literature and cultures of French-speaking North America, focusing in Quebec, Acadia and Louisiana through themes of marginality and hybridity. Her courses explores questions of identity and the process of cultural survival of métissage which provides both a difficult place in society and a creative outlet to define oneself autonomously. Most recently, she has enjoyed teaching CCST 100 “Growing Up Cross Culturally” and in FREN 100 “I Love You. Me Neither: The Franco-American Courtship,” a new A&I seminar on the history and evolution of Franco-American relations. Born in France of American parents and educated in Quebec and Louisiana, she uses her double perspective to encourage global insight in her courses on language, culture and literature. The analysis of graphic novels are present in most of her classes. Stephanie’s past publications have focused on women writers, immigrant writers and marginality in French Literature and Quebec Literature.

Winter Term Courses:

French 246: F 8:30-9:30
French Coffee & News: W3:10-4:20
Office Hours:  and by appointment

Chérif Keïta (Ph.D., University of Georgia) teaches Francophone literature of Africa and the Caribbean, as well as advanced languages courses. A native of Mali, he has published books and articles on both social and literary problems in contemporary Africa. His special interests include the novel and social evolution in Mali, oral tradition, and the relationship between music, literature and culture in Africa. He is the author of Massa Makan Diabaté (L’Harmattan, 1995) and Salif Keïta: L’oiseau sur le fromager (Le Figuier, 2001). He has completed a documentary film entitled “Oberlin-Inanda: The Life and Times of John L. Dube” (Special Mention at 2005 FESPACO) about the life of the first president of the African National Congress of South Africa and his education in the U.S. at the end of the nineteenth century. He has a number of concurrent film projects on American missionaries and missionary education in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Professor Keïta also leads the Carleton Francophone Off-Campus Studies Program in Mali. He navigated midlife pretty well by taking up documentary film-making in South Africa instead of buying his dream Harley Davidson.

Winter Term Courses:

FREN 102: MW 8:30-9:40; F 8:30-9:30
Office Hours:

A native of France, Christine Lac (Ph.D., University of Nebraska) teaches language courses, stylistics, and culture. She coordinates the French language sequence at Carleton, managing the Tuesday-Thursday classes as well as training and supervising the Teaching Assistants. She has published articles on contemporary French women writers, nineteenth-century writers of children’s literature, and pedagogy. The Department’s representative to the American Association of Teachers of French and the ACTFL, she also supervises Carleton students interested in becoming licensed to teach French.  She has served as the national Treasurer of Women in French as well as Program Reviewer for National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

Winter Term Courses:

CCST 275: MW 12:30-1:40; F 1:10-2:10
Office Hours: W 3:00-4:00; F 3:30-5:00 (all Zoom) (Sign up via my Google Calendar)

Éva Pósfay (Ph.D., Princeton University) teaches on French classics, Francophone Switzerland, diasporic literature, contemporary Paris, and transnationalism. She has published on 17th c. French women writers (Lafayette, Montpensier) and cross-cultural studies. Born in Venezuela of Hungarian parents and a so-called “global nomad,” she has directed several study abroad programs in Paris and Pau, France, and has been active in the cross-cultural studies program. Her current research focuses on multilingualism, border identities, the French chanson, the history of Geneva, and intercultural theory and practice.  In 2007-2011 she served as Associate Dean of the College. She was the mentor for Carleton’s 15th group of Posse Scholars and has been tutoring Latinx students in the Northfield public school system. In the spring of 2023 she will direct Carleton’s Paris program.

Winter Term Courses:

French 102: MW 12:30-1:40; F 1:10-2:10
French 370: MW 11:10-12:20; 12:00-1:00
Office Hours: M 2:00-3:00; Tuesdays 1:00-2:30  (On Zoom);

Sandra Rousseau (Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University) teaches courses in contemporary French and Francophone culture, history, and memory. She is developing classes focused on visual media and more particularly on bandes dessinées. Her research interests include stand-up comedy as memory, humor and trauma, politics and ethics, and contemporary French pop culture. Her current project investigates the intersection of humor and memory in the context of Franco-Algerian relations. When she is not reading or writing, she is cooking for friends while listening to This American Life.

 Cynthia Shearer (A.B., Brown University, M.A., University of California, Los Angeles) is a former Woodrow Wilson Fellow who specializes in French language and contemporary culture. She directs the Language Center, teaches French language, and has a special interest in computer-assisted language learning. She has been active in the formulation of several Mellon grant proposals to enhance language learning at Carleton through technology, has participated in numerous conferences, and held administrative positions in both the Midwest Association of Language Learning Technologies and the International Association of Language Learning Technologies. Cynthia also advises students and faculty on self-access language learning. In her free time she pursues a passion for origami, yoga, and garment construction.

Dana Strand’s (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) teaching interests include contemporary French literature, French film, and the culture and literature of North Africa. Most recently, her research has focused on questions of national identity in French and Francophone literature and film. Dana has published a book on the short stories of the twentieth-century writer, Colette, and co-edited a volume of essays entitled, “French Cultural Studies: Criticism at the Crossroads” (SUNY Press). She is currently working on a postcolonial study of the newly constructed Musée du quai Branly. Committed to interdisciplinary research and teaching, she has served as Director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program as well as Director of European Studies. In her spare time, she enjoys theater, biking, and hiking, particularly along any available coastline.