Jennifer Law-Sullivan

Jennifer Law-Sullivan
Associate Professor of French

366 O'Dowd Hall
(248) 370-2080
[email protected]

DEGREES:

Ph.D. in French Language & Literature, Florida State University

MA in French, George Mason University

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

19th-Century French Literature, Romanticism, Travel Literature, Gender Studies, Post-colonialism, Genre Theory, Ballet

Jennifer Law-Sullivan’s research concentrates on the Romantic period of art and literature and, broadly speaking, focuses on issues of gender and identity. Her publications on Germaine de Staël and Flora Tristan examine how these women writers dealt with issues of gender, slavery, and nation-building. Her research on ballet explores how contemporary reworkings and reimaginings of Romantic ballets interrogate modern-day questions of gender and identity. She currently serves as the Executive Director for the International Conference on Romanticism (ICR).

TEACHING INTERESTS:

Jennifer teaches all levels of French language and literature, but some of her favorite courses are nineteenth-century French literature (FRH 4190), European literature in translation (LIT 1820), French and Francophone film and literature (FRH 3700), and introduction to French language and culture (FRH 1140). She developed FRH 3700 in an attempt to expose students to the vast and rich body of literature and film from areas of the French-speaking world outside of France. The course is one of her favorites because it allows students to explore parts of the Francophone world that they may not have studied before and learn about the history of colonialism, slavery, and decolonization as depicted in French-language film and literature. Two general education courses that she regularly teaches are LIT 1820 and FRH 1140. She is passionate about these classes as they give her the opportunity to meet students from a wide variety of majors and help them see the value of learning another language and culture. The connections she is able to make to students across the university are the best part of her job!