Graduate Students 2022-2023

 

Anoosheh Ghaderi, Literature. Major Professor: TBD

Anoosheh holds a BA degree in French Translation from Allameh Tabatabaei University. Native of Iran, she is interested in the Francophone immigrant literature and cinema, post-colonial studies as well as gender and feminist studies. she completed her fist MA in French studies at the University of Tehran in 2014. For her master dissertation, she focused on the cinema of French feminist director Agnes Varda and studied her influence on Iranian director Tahmineh Milani. She sought a 2d MA majoring in French Studies and minoring in Cinema Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her secondary interests consist of psychoanalysis, comics and graphic novels, autobiography, memory and Trauma studies, religious and queer studies. She published a chapter entitled “The Notion of Comics in Iran” within a contribution with University of Giessen in 2014.

Farida Guechoud-Orwin, Literature. Major Professor: TBD

Born in Algeria, of Amazigh (Berber) origin. Farida holds a Mastersin Philosophy of science from the University of Algiers and Second Master degree in Theories of Science from University Paris 8. She has taught philosophy to high school students for seven year. Since arriving in the United States, she has taught Arabic and French in Chicago, Boston and Baton Rouge, where she worked for the public schools. In her research, she examines theories of language and literature in the history of philosophy, including Aristotle on Greek literature, Al-Farabi on Islamic literature, and now Rousseau of French literature.

 

Phuong Nguyen, Linguistics. Major Professor: TBA. 

Phuong comes from Vietnam, an Asian country. She received a Master degree in French linguistics in France in 2011. After graduation, she came back to Vietnam to teach French for Vietnamese students in the National University of Vietnam. At this time, her interest is in linguistics and sociolinguistics.

 KHADIM DOUMOUYA, Literature. Major Professor: Professor Pius Ngandu.  

Khadim Doumouya is a native of Dakar in Senegal. He has completed his Bachelor's and his Maitrise in British and African Literature and Civilization at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar in Senegal. He also earned a Master in French and Francophone studies at Mississippi State University. He is currently working on a PhD in Francophone Literature. Research interests: African literary movements and their evolution through the history, their challenges and their place in the world literary circle.

LIZ MAIONE, Language & Society. Major Professor: TBD

Originally from Maryland, Liz holds a BA in French and a Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an MA in French from Middlebury College. Before coming to LSU, she taught French and English for 12 years in Montgomery County Public Schools. Her research interests include second language learning, culturally responsive and antiracist pedagogy, postcolonialism in the francophone world, and sociolinguistics. Along with Dr. Peters-Hill, she helps to run the LSU DFS Instagram account. 

 

 

 

 

TARA O'DONNELL, Literature. Major Professor: TBD

Coming from Virginia, Tara holds a BA in French Literature and an MA in Teaching Foreign Language from the University of Virginia. After earning her MA in 2013, she spent a school year in Belfort, France teaching English through TAPIF. After returning, she taught French for six years at The Covenant School, a private high school in Charlottesville, VA. Her research interests are African literature, post-colonialism, and immigration. 

JULIUS YAW OSEI, Literature. Major Professor: Professor Pius Ngandu

Julius is a Ph.D. Candidate in Francophone literature. He had his masters in French and Francophone literature at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He earned his BA. French at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (knust), Ghana and his Diploma in Basic Education (D.B.E) at Wesley College of Education (Wesco). His area of interests are: Contemporary francophone literature, Caribbean literature, comparative literature, contemporary US civilization and religion, racism and immigration, gender and feminist studies.

S. Trent Dunkin, Language and Society. Major Professor: TBD

A Louisiana native from Denham Springs, Trent holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees from LSU: one in French (2010) and one in English (2011). Trent also holds a Master of Arts in Romance Languages (2019) from the University of New Orleans and a Master of Library and Information Science (2021) from LSU. Not only is Trent a doctoral student in French Studies, but he is also the Institutional Repository (IR) Librarian for LSU Libraries. Before becoming a librarian, Trent worked as a Resource Sharing Specialist with LSU Libraries’ Interlibrary Loan (ILL). His specific research interests include: Academic Librarianship, Comparative Romance Linguistics, Historical French Linguistics, and Medieval French Civilization, Literature, and Language. He is especially interested in the writings of Marie de France and the relationship between Anglo-Norman French and English in Medieval England.

Alicia Hilaire. Major Professor: TBD 

Alicia Hilaire received a BA in French, Oregon State University and a BA in Fashion Marketing Management, Art Institute of Atlanta. She earned a MA in French Studies and Master of Business Administration, Georgia State University. Awardee of the Édouard Glissant Fellowship at LSU, she is working towards a PhD in French and francophone studies. Areas of research interest include post-colonial studies, Caribbean and African literature, francophone cinema, French fashion and pop culture. Other interests include writing fiction and nonfiction novels.

Taiwo Ogundeyi. Major Professor: TBD 

Taiwo Ogundeyi is a master's student from Nigeria. He obtained his bachelor's degree at the university of Benin in Nigeria in 2017 and taught French language to high school students for 3 years. His research interests are African French literature, Francophone post-colonial studies, strategic communication, and PR. He hopes to be a university professor and writer.

 

Andrés López Schrader. Major Professor: TBD

Andrés moved to Baton Rouge in 2021 as a Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member after completing his undergraduate studies in Biology (2021) at New York University in Abu Dhabi. He is Colombian but has also spent significant time in Peru, the United Arab Emirates, France and Israel. Alongside his MA in French and Francophone studies, he teaches 8th grade science and STEM at a Baton Rouge charter school. His areas of interest include: Language acquisition, bilingual education and French sociolinguistics. 

Rachel Overley. Literature. Major Professor: TBD

A Louisiana native from Baton Rouge, Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from LSU in French (2008). She has participated in several immersion programs at Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia. Through LSU she studied abroad in Limoges, France and experienced LSU in Paris. Rachel has taught Elementary French in the public school system for 4 years and began teaching last year at LSU's University Laboratory School where she is currently an Elementary French and Spanish Instructor. Her interests include: Teaching foreign language, Francophone literature, French Poetry, Linguistics, Culture, Civilization, Literature, and Language.

Rachel Kirk. Major Professor: TBD

Rachel is from Baltimore, Maryland and has a BA in Political Science and French from Virginia Tech and an MA in International Education Development from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her master’s thesis was on the history and representation of Arabic language instruction in French public schools. She has taught high school French in New Orleans and was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Rabat, Morocco. She has led several high school and university intercultural education programs in metropolitan France, Spain, Martinique, and Morocco. Prior to coming to LSU, she worked as a program manager at AC4, a research center at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. She is interested in environmental and digital humanities, and how the relationship between colonialism and anti-colonial resistance has shaped culture, institutitons, and cultural production in the Francophone world. 

 

Students with bios coming soon!

• Wolé Olúgúnlè