Graduate Students 2007-2008 Contact information Our list of new doctors includes 5 new graduates: -Dr. Olivier Tonnerre, Winter 2007 candidate -Dr. Francis Mathieu, Spring 2007 candidate -Dr. James Fujitani, Spring 2007 candidate -Dr. Louis Bousquet, Summer 07 candidate -Dr. Lachelle Hannickel, Summer 07candidate * * * Doctoral Candidates: Dr. Pierre Bras Claudio Dell'Oca Cristina Toharia-Zapata Ph.D. program: Kathryne Adair Christophe Corbin Maryam Emami Julien Guillemet Michelle Kendall Art Kölzow Skye Paine Ma/Ph.D. program: Jane Bolin Muriel Coudurier-Curveur Karen Turman Updated 2/21/2008	Dr. Louis Bousquet "Rien qui n'éteigne comme un feu sacré? C'est peut-être pour tout le monde la même chose d'ailleurs, dès qu'on insiste un peu, c'est le vide." Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Voyage au bout de la nuit Louis Bousquet earned his DEUG and License and Maitrise in history from the Université de Nice. He received his Master in French Literature from Rutgers University. His doctoral dissertation explores the philosophical and spiritual aspects of the secularization of the intellect in Western modernity. Through readings of the works of Michel Houellebecq, his research draws the contours of this acute "crise de foi" that plagues modern European culture. He is now Dr. Louis Bousquet, after a successful defense on June 4, 2007. Doctoral Committee Co-Chairs: Jean-Jacques Courtine & Didier Maleuvre
	Dr. James Fujitani "Les douleurs ne sont point éternelles; il faut tôt ou tard qu'elles  finissent, parce que le coeur de l'homme est fini; c'est une de nos grandes misères: nous ne sommes pas même capables d'être longtemps malheureux.”  Chateaubriand, Atala  Jimmy Fujitani earned his B.A. at the University of California, San Diego,  where he wrote his Senior Thesis on Rousseau's Rêveries du promeneur solitaire. In 2002, he earned his M.A. from UCSB. His dissertation, entitled "Simple Hearts: Animals and the Crisis of Reformation Thought," examines representations of animals in Renaissance literature. It tracks the dynamic shift in attitudes towards  “irrational creatures” that preceded, and perhaps incited, Descartes' famous animal-machine theory. Other interests include Medieval and Early Modern philosophy, Renaissance poetics, the rise of print culture, and Japanese language and society.  He is now Dr. James Fujitani, after a successful defense on June 7, 2007, and was our representative to the Darmouth Institute of French Cultural Studies in Summer 2007. He started his professional career as Assistant Professor at Azusa Pacific University in fall 2007. More! Doctoral Committee Chair: Cynthia Skenazi
	Dr. Lachelle Hannickel Hannickel received her Bachelor of Arts from Cal Poly where she also earned a BCLAD Teaching Credential with an emphasis on Spanish and a supplementary authorization in French and English. She also completed an M.A. in education, focusing on curriculum and instruction. She received her Master degree in French from UCSB. For her qualifying examinations, Lachelle wrote on autobiographical writing and on bodies, embodiment and nationhood in Francophone literature. She focused on the issues of agency and subject formation, the category of subjecthood, the notions of representation and misrepresentation, and the importance of telling and narrating the “plural” and the collective. Her dissertation entitled "From Cultural Transgressions to Literary Transformations: Recasting Feminine Archetypes in French Caribbean Women’s Autobiography" traces the boundaries that Antillean women have had to break through in forging their identity across geographic and imagined borders between their island and the métropole. Lachelle's research and teaching interests include autobiographical writing and film studies, in addition to Francophone studies. She defended her dissertation on August 27, 2007, and is now Dr. Lachelle Hannickel and will start her UC President Postdoctoral Fellowship on September 1, 2007. Doctoral Committee Chair: Eric Prieto
	Dr. Francis Mathieu "Il arrivera donc, ce moment où le soleil n'éclairera plus sur la terre que des hommes libres, ne reconnaissant d'autre maître que leur raison; ou les tyrans ou leurs esclaves, les prêtres et leurs stupides ou hypocrites instruments n'existeront plus que dans l'histoire et sur les theâtres." Condorcet Francis Mathieu received his DEUG, License and Maîtrise from the Université de Franche-Comté (France), and his MA degree from Ohio University. He is interested in the literature and culture of the 17th and 18th century as well as women's studies. He entered our Ph.D. program in fall 2002, and wrote his comprehensive examination on the various literary supports by which women writers advocate an intellectual education for women. His field exam dealt with the discourses of sentimental education and amorous passions in literary representations and philosophical treatises of the 17th and the 18th centuries. His dissertation is entitled: "Alchimie rhétorique et morale: l'exemplarité et les oeuvres romanesques aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles". He is now Dr. Francis Mathieu, after a successful defense on May 21, 2007. He started his new career as Assistant Professor at Southwestern University, Texas, in fall 2007. Doctoral Committee Chair: Ronald W. Tobin
	Dr. Olivier Tonnerre “Ils s’informaient des découvertes, lisaient les prospectus et par cette curiosité leur intelligence se développa. Au fond d’un horizon plus lointain chaque jour, ils apercevaient des choses à la fois confuses et merveilleuses."Flaubert, Bouvard et Pécuchet. Olivier Tonnerre earned his License and his Maîtrise at the Université de Rennes (France). His dissertation was entitled “Invisible Signs: Representations of the Nobility in Nineteenth Century French Literature”. By using approaches and concepts borrowed from sociology and cultural history, he investigates the continued domination of the social field by the French nobility, as it appears in the works of authors such as Chateaubriand, Balzac, Tocqueville and Proust. He is now Dr. Olivier Tonnerre, after a successful defense on December 20, 2006, and has been a lecturer in our Department in 2006-2007. Doctoral Committee co-Chairs: Catherine Nesci and Jean-Jacques Courtine
	Dr. Pierre Bras "All history can be understood as an advent of meaning and an emergence of singularity. History hesitates between a structural model and a factual model." Paul Ricoeur, Histoire et Vérité Pierre Bras earned his Ph.D. in Private Law and Criminal Science from the University of Montpellier I, France. http://ledroitcriminel.free.fr/utilitaires/bibliographie/theses/bras_pierre.htm For him law is a tool that can be used in a multidisciplinary perspective and is essential for a thorough understanding of French culture and social mores. For his doctoral work in French Studies, Pierre will focus on the intersections of law, literature and history because he is interested in a phenomenon that exists in all of these disciplines: the difficulty in making sense of the fragments of law, history and literature. His doctoral dissertation is tentatively entitled: "Le Détournement du droit dans le roman moderne" [Law and Its Diversions in the Modern and Contemporary Novel). He has delivered several papers for the Simone de Beauvoir Studies Colloquia. He was advanced to candidacy on September 17, 2007. Doctoral Committee Chair: Dominique Jullien.
	Claudio Dell'Oca "Ceux qu'ont l'pognon, ceux-là r'viendront, /Car c'est pour eux qu'on crève./Mais c'est fini, car les trouffions/ Vont tous se mettre en grève. /Ce s'ra votre tour, messieurs les gros, / De monter sur l'plateau, /Car si vous voulez la guerre, /Payez-la de votre peau !" (Chanson de Craonne, anonyme, 1917) Claudio earned his Laurea from the Università di Pavia, and his DEA from the Université de Grenoble. Attracted to all forms of suburban expression, Claudio is interested in the history of cinema, history of songwriting, history of argot, the International Situationniste and urban planning. His dissertation focuses on how the shape of the urbs and its ghettoes affects literary and cinematic representations of 20th-century towns and how in return literature and cinema can teach sociologists and urbanists new ways of decrypting and creating this space. Doctoral Committee Chair: Eric Prieto
	Cristina Toharia-Zapata On nous apprend à vivre quand la vie est passée." Montaigne, Essais 1, "De l’institution des enfants" Cristina Toharia is our new doctoral candidate. She started her studies in Spain, where she earned her Licenciada en Filologia Francesa at the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid. She entered our M.A./Ph.D. program in Fall 2002. Her research interests include 20th century French poetry and aesthetics. She is interested in the issue of education and pedagogy in literature. She is now pursuing her doctoral degree, with an emphasis in Applied linguistics, with an emphasis in Second Language Acquisition and Bilingualism. She was advanced to candidacy on June 5, 2007. Doctoral Committee Chair: Dominique Jullien.
	Katy Adair Katy Adair earned a BA in French and a BS in Journalism from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. After graduating, she embarked on a career in journalism and international affairs, but later decided to return to French studies. In 2006 she received her MA in French literature from Ohio University, as well as a Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certification. She served as adjunct faculty at Ohio University and has gained an extensive professional experience in distance learning with Ohio University Learning Network. Katy entered our doctoral program in Fall 2007, and is now ready to start her doctoral study in French, with a focus on the intersections of literature and the press in the age of modern media.
	Christophe Corbin Christophe Corbin received his MA in French Literature from Ohio University in 2001, and his DEA in American Civilization from the University of Paris-3 Sorbonne Nouvelle in 2000. For Ohio University Christophe created two study abroad programs for Ohio University: one in France (Avignon) and the other one in Quebec; for the French curriculum he created new courses such as "Cinematographic and Literary Memories of the French Resistance." After dedicating much energy to administrative pursuit, Christophe is looking forward to starting his doctoral degree and going back to the fields of literary, cultural and women's studies. He entered our doctoral program in Fall 2007 and plans to work on trauma, secondary witnessing, and resistance literature.
	Maryam Emami Maryam Emami earned her Bachelor of Arts and her Master degree from Azad University in Teheran. She wrote her Master thesis on Guy de Maupassant's Une vie, focusing on the theme of failure and the representation of the female condition and  in Maupassant's novel. She also received another MA degree from our department in June 2005. She is now pursuing her doctoral degree with an emphasis on second-language acquisition and is working on her comprehensive examination.
	Julien Guillemet After earning two Bachelor degrees in Physics and Chemistry and in Philosophy, Julien earned his Master of Arts degree in French literature from the University of Grenoble, France. His Master's thesis focused on chance in Paul Austrer's The Music of Chance, and Albert Camus's L'Etranger. He first came to UCSB as an exchange Education Abroad student, and entered our doctoral program in fall 2006. Julien is interested in a multidisciplinary approach to literary studies, including the cross-fertilization of literature, philosophy, and art.
	Michelle Kendall Michelle Kendall received her MA from New York University in Paris and New York in French Literature (2000). She took "Cours de Civilisation Française de la Sorbonne, Paris, Certificat Supérieur" in 1995; and holds her BA from Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, in French and Philosophy (plus over 30 credits in Theatre Arts). She has translated numerous works by Georges Bataille: The Cradle of Humanity: Writings on Prehistoric Art and Culture (Zone Press); The Hatred of Poetry: Poetry and Meditations (Cambridge: Exact Change Press); The Unfinished System of Nonknowledge (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press). She also translated Maurice Blanchot, Sade and Lautreamont, for Stanford University Press; and Paul Eluard, Love, Poetry (Los Angeles: Green Integer, [forthcoming]). Michelle entered our doctoral program in Fall 2007 and wants to work on literature, philosophy, and spirituality, as well as on translation studies.
	Art Kölzow "Les plus grandes âmes sont capables des plus grands vices aussi bien que des plus grandes vertus." René Descartes, Discours de la méthode Art Kölzow earned Bachelor's degrees in mathematics and French at the University of Illinois, including one year studying at the Université de la Sorbonne-Nouvelle in Paris. He lived in Bourges, France, where he was an English assistant at the Lycée Jacques Cœur. He then earned his master's degree at the University of Arizona, where he gave his first conference presentation “The Power of the Printed Word in Mongo Beti's L'Histoire du fou.” He is currently working on his qualifying exams. His current research interest is the increasing role that reason, including pseudo-reason, played in the social debates of the early modern period in France, particularly during the Enlightenment.
	Skye Paine Skye obtained his Bachelor of Arts in French and Art History from Wheaton College (Norton, MA) in 2000.  After spending a few years in France, he has returned to the study of French in Santa Barbara in the fall of 2004, and earned his Master degree in June 2006. Skye is interested in the renewal of French studies as an interdisciplinary field involving textual and cultural practices as well as critical theory.  As a Ph.D. candidate, he will focus on early modern literature and culture.
	Jane Bolin Jane completed her Bachelor's degree at UC Santa Barbara in spring 2006. She graduated with a double major, French in the College of Letters and Sciences and English literature in the College of Creative Studies. She was a UC Regents scholar and graduated with high honors in both colleges. She also received the Vice Chancellor’s Service Award for Scholarship, Leadership, and Citizenship. Jane graduated as a distinguished graduating senior in the French department and wrote her senior honors thesis on the functions of love in Emile Zola’s Au Bonheur des Dames. Jane also spent six weeks in Bosnia over the summer where she taught English at the University of Sarajevo. She entered our MA/Ph.D. program in fall 2006 and is looking forward to pursue her studies in French literary and philosophical studies.
	Muriel Coudurier-Curveur Muriel earned her Bachelor of arts' degree at UC Santa Barbara in spring 2005, with a dual specialization in French and linguistics. She entered our MA/Ph.D. program in fall 2005, and would like to pursue a doctoral degree in French with an emphasis in Applied Linguistics. Her main interests deal with the poetics and politics of language of non-Parisian Francophone writers, such as Frédéric Mistral, Aimé Césaire and Tahar Ben Jelloun. She plans to study Arabic and to develop a knowledge of French studies that will reflect the new geopolitical realities of our age and the hybrid identities of the postcolonial world.
	Karen Turman Karen Turman earned her Bachelor of Arts in French studies from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) in 2001. As an undergraduate, she studied for a year at l'Université Paul Valery de Montpellier, France. After graduation, she spent a year teaching English at the Lycée de l'Edit outside of Lyon. Over the past four years, Karen has taught French in various capacities in the immersion education discipline. Karen is interested in exploring 19th century art and literature as well as early 20th century Parisian culture.