Claire M. Ménard

Born and raised in the region of Burgundy, France, I have been living in the United States for 13 years now. I hold a Masters in British and American Civilization from University of Burgundy in Dijon, a Masters in French from Miami University (OH), and a PhD in French with certification in cinema and teaching with technology from Rutgers University in New Brunswick (NJ).        

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I have 10+ years of teaching experience at the higher education level, both in France and the United States, and currently hold a position at Cornell University, where I am a lecturer in the Department of Romance Studies. I teach French (all levels), and French and Francophone Cinema. 

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My research interests lie in 20th - 21st century literature and film, especially hypermodernism, and theory. In my dissertation L’Insoutenable fléxibilité de l’être : réseaux et errances dans la fiction et le cinema contemporains, defended in October 2016, I worked on the depiction of networks and new technologies in the context of globalization and capitalism in contemporary French and Francophone literature and films.

       

Leos Carax, the Dardennes brothers, Cedric Klapish and Laurent Cantet are among my favorite film directors. I am also more particularly interested in the literary works of Jean-Philippe Toussaint, Jean Echenoz, Michel Houellebecq and Marie NDiaye. Other interests include Senegalese, and West-African, cinema as well as Second Language Acquisition. My areas of expertise, in addition to French language and French and Francophone literature, include gender studies, as well as migration studies, the history of French cinema, and visual arts.

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        In my current position, I am coordinating graduate students, co-organizing the first French and Francophone Film Festival of Ithaca (NY), as well as teach French and cinema. I collaborate with the Cornell Cinema to bring to my cinema students not only film content but also technical knowledge.