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FRENCH 303 - Advanced Studies in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Topic:
Long Live the Queen!: Women, Royalty and Power in the Literature of the Ancien Régime”
This seminar examines historical, cultural and literary portrayals of female royalty in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France in comparison to portrayals of women in power in France and the United States today. An object of exchange in international relations, a physical “carrier” of the future king, a regent who can rule—but not in her own name—the queen posed thorny questions for political and artistic representations of power. An analysis of her social, symbolic and politically- ambiguous status reveals the paradoxes of a woman exercising sovereignty in a time when the king’s body comes to define the State. We will consider how the portrayal of women in power in France today has shifted as we assess the legacy of early modern queens and mistresses.
Readings will include Corneille, Racine, Lafayette, Perrault, and Saint-Réal.
2018 Between Hairstyle and History: Understanding the Engravings in Marie-Antoinette’s Almanac, Le Trésor des Grâces, visit exhibit HERE.
In this exhibit, Wellesley College students who were part of Prof. Hélène Bilis' French 303 course, "Long Live the Queen: Women in Power Under the Ancien Régime" present detailed readings of every hairstyle found in the queen's almanac, exposing the queen's participation in the theatrical trends of the eighteenth century and her commemoration, through the styling of her hair, of historical events of the day.
“Discovering the Map of Tenderness,” Google Site, FREN 303
Carte de Tendre, Faculty and Student Presentation from FREN 303, view video HERE.
FREN 305 - Six Degrés de Marie-Antoinette: Les Réseaux Sociaux et la Révolution Française
Les hommes et les femmes qui vivaient dans la période appelée aujourd’hui "L'Âge des Lumières,” venaient d’une variété étonnante d’origines, allant des couloirs du palais de Versailles, aux cafés parisiens, aux Académies provinciales, aux salons mondains, aux milieux littéraires clandestins des pamphlets et pornographes. En partant de l’idée que les changements culturels proviennent des liens sociaux entre les individus, ce cours analysera les réseaux historiques, politiques et fictionnels de l’Ancien Régime français afin de retracer leur influence sur la Révolution Française de 1789. Ce faisant, le cours initiera les étudiantes au concept des réseaux sociaux en tant que théorie sociologique de l’action collective et en tant qu’approche nouvelle des humanités numériques. A travers l’expérimentation et la critique de projets existants en Humanités Numériques (Digital Humanities), les participantes comprendront comment la théorie des réseaux s’emploie pour analyser les structures sociales et les acteurs historiques, ainsi que les personnages fictifs.
Aucune connaissance préétablie des humanités numérique n’est requise.
French 278 - “Court, City, Salon: Early Modern Paris — A Digital Humanities Approach”
In this course, we will introduce students to the social practices, spaces and networks that defined seventeenth- and eighteenth- century France, politically and culturally, from the height of the Ancien Régime up to the French Revolution. We will also expose students to digital humanities methods and theories, combining the study and praxis of these approaches. Through this joint endeavor we aim to foster digital collaboration among students in ways that will lead them to reflect on how their use of digital methods and “virtual” collaboration changes the ways in which they produce, share, and disseminate knowledge. Works by Scudéry, Molière, Lafayette, La Bruyère, Diderot and Voltaire.
Joint classroom with students from Smith College and Prof. Hélène Visentin
Presentations on Digital Pedagogy for Modern Languages:
From Evidence to Scholarship: Transforming Undergraduate Student Research in the Digital Age, Reed College, March 14-16, 2018
Participation in pedagogical workshops and attendance at teaching conferences:
Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference, Bryn Mawr College, May 2019
American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) Minneapolis, MN, 2017:
Panel: “Engaging Students in Digital Scholarly Collaboration” (Roundtable with Jenifer Bartle) and “A Royal Menagerie: DH Projects in the Wild” (Digital Humanities Caucus).
MLA, Washington D.C., 2021: "From Canons to Collectivities: Digital Editions and Scholarly Labor"
: "Creating Collectively: DH and The Bilingual Edition of La Princesse de Clèves" (with Jenifer Bartle)
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