LISA CONNELL
Dr. Lisa Connell grew up in northern California, where she attended Humboldt State University, graduating summa cum laude in 2001. She earned her doctorate at the University of Washington in 2010, and started teaching that same year at West Georgia. Dr. Connell lives in Carrollton with her husband, daughter, and son. In the pictures on the adjacent page, both taken in 2002, she is seen standing outside Versailles with her mother, and seated on the rooftop of the main market in Tunis.
French filmmaker Sylvaine Dampierre
Photo credit
Photo credit Marc-Antoine Zoueki
Photo credit Youtube/Librairie Mollat
The Scholar Engagée
Dr. Connell’s scholarship has examined the work of major French writers such as Marie Nimier and 2022 Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux, but her primary theoretical interests lie with Franco-Caribbean authors such as Gisèle Pineau, Sylvaine Dampierre, and Marie-Célie Agnant. “Although the wide reaches of the postcolonial French-speaking world have fascinated me since I was an undergraduate,” says Connell, “French-Caribbean literature and cinema offer a particularly strong draw because they manifest many of the pressing questions of the 21st century: How does one reconcile national belonging and identity in contexts of historical and contemporary economic, cultural, and political marginalization? How can one remember painful histories without becoming a prisoner of them? How do environmental crises and the landscape intersect with how we understand social justice and a sustainable future? The writers and filmmakers I study leave these complications intact, and don’t pretend to offer solutions even as they point to avenues of hope.” Dr. Connell’s book in progress, Corporeal Pedagogies: Bodies of Knowledge in Contemporary Francophone Caribbean Narratives, investigates how key policies from the slave era mediate, prompt, and are made manifest in postcolonial representations of knowledge formation. A review of her last book project, a co-edited anthology, appears below.
This book will undoubtedly become an essential reference. The editors have gathered wellresearched and compelling chapters which reveal the multifaceted ways French Caribbean women wield power and express their agency within oppressive structures of domination. Seven thought-provoking contributions allow us to travel often less trodden paths that reveal the intricate ways resistance expresses itself in postcolonial contexts.
—Dr. Jacqueline Couti, Rice University
Dr. Connell has spearheaded a number of initiatives to modernize International Languages and Cultures, all of them designed to connect language study to career pathways for our students. From “languages at work” job fairs to a new certificate focusing on multilingual and cross-cultural competencies, her ideas help our students imagine where language study can lead them.
Dr. Robert Kilpatrick Professor of French Chair, Department of English, Film, Languages, and Performing Arts
The Teacher Par Excellence
“As a teacher,” says Lisa Connell, “I focus on providing opportunities that help prepare students to participate in a multicultural and multilingual world. From the first introductory class to the senior capstone experience, language learning is a chance for students to gain intercultural skills that allow them to understand and contribute more deeply to the diverse communities that surround them. I am also interested in mentoring as a practice that builds positive learning relationships and more equitable chances for professional success and wellbeing.” Widely praised by her students, it comes as no surprise that Dr. Connell received the 2023 Honors Faculty of the Year Award.
Connoisseur The Film
Dr. Connell is instrumental in ensuring that various film festivals make the International Languages and Cultures program a hub for collective thought and experience across UWG’s many academic offerings. Film is a crucial tool for bringing the world to UWG. The ILC not only screens films in many languages but also builds community around film by having students select and present the movies; by assembling interdisciplinary panels of faculty to discuss them; and by organizing talks with filmmakers.
Dr. Connell is truly an amazing French professor. Her passion for the French language is infectious, creating an environment where I not only learned a language but embraced a cultural experience. I am forever grateful for the impact she had on my educational and professional journey.
B.A. French and B.S. Biology
Ayana King ‘18
French Faves
(say that five times fast)
Focus asked Lisa Connell for five of her favorite facets of French life. Here are her responses—just in case you’d like to try a few . . .
Pastry
tartelette aux framboises (raspberry tart)
Recreation riding bikes along the Loire River
Museum
Le musée Rodin in Paris
Book in French L’enfant de sable (by Moroccan author Tahar Ben Jelloun)
City Paris (quelle suprise!)
douze
et Réponse Question
What’s your most moving memory from a study abroad trip?
The most moving experiences to witness are those had by students who don’t have much travel under their belt. One student who had never been farther than Alabama joined our 2011 program. The fact that her first plane ride was across the Atlantic to a Francophone country was a wonderful manifestation of adventure and courage. Not only that, she took every opportunity to speak to as many people in France as possible, because she recognized the unique position she was in as a student abroad and refused to take a passive stance with respect to her limited time overseas. To this day, she remains one of my favorite study-abroad students.
Why did you decide to pursue French as a field of study?
The physical sensation of learning another language was something that other classroom experiences didn’t reproduce for me. My whole brain lit up. Also, I was always interested in questions of postcolonial history, identity, and patterns of cultural affiliation, appropriation, and coercion. Studying these phenomena provided clear examples of the importance of accounting for culture in all areas of inquiry. Plus, being able to read texts in their original language created an invitation to inhabit worlds that were at once familiar and disarming, affirming and dismantling.
What are some important reasons for students to pursue a foreign language degree?
Studying languages offers something for pragmatists, dreamers, and those in all the spaces between. For pragmatists, research continues to confirm the benefits of knowing multiple languages for cognition, empathy, academic success, and brain health as we age. Also, knowing multiple languages tends to result in slightly higher salaries. Employers are seeking people with so-called “soft skills” (a misnomer if ever there was one!) such as strong communication, intercultural awareness and competencies, and critical thinking and problem solving. Learning another language is an everyday learning laboratory for developing those. In short, it helps your brain, social acumen, and wallet.
For dreamers, learning a language is one of the most effective ways of creating access to a range of new experiences, be they nearby or as yet undiscovered. A new language also doubles what we see, taste, feel, and hear. It creates inroads for paths we might not even be aware of. I never foresaw that I would have spent a school year teaching in France after my undergraduate studies or another year on a fellowship in Geneva when I was in graduate school, but taking French set me on a road of travel, meeting people from all over the world, and giving me new parameters for evaluating how I wanted to live my life.
What do you admire most about French culture?
I admire the way French culture supports pragmatic dreamers (that pairing again!) who appreciate originality of thought, sincerity, and depth of experience. I attribute this, in part, to the systematic support for the arts that you see in France, which makes the link between art, culture, and daily life much more palpable. This appreciation for the arts often translates into a passion for traditional art forms such as painting, sculpture, literature and dance, but also more accessible forms of cultural production—such as food, cinema, street-art, and, probably above all, a love of lively (and sometimes rowdy!) conversation.
Scan the QR Code to learn more about studying abroad in France and other countries.
Extraordinaire The Architect
I once heard my colleague Lisa Connell say that she felt a need to build something. By that, she meant that she wanted to create a program, course, or initiative that would enhance student and faculty success, academic excellence, and a caring, compassionate environment at the University of West Georgia and in the communities we serve. Over the past twelve years, I have seen Dr. Connell do exactly that, over and over. Most recently, she built up the program in International Languages and Cultures by being the principal architect of our successful application for the 2023 University System of Georgia Regents’ Momentum Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curricular Innovation. For me, it’s an honor to work daily with someone who is so dedicated to nurturing the people around her in support of collective growth and success.
Dr. Jeffrey Zamostny Director Office of Undergraduate Research Professor of Spanish
Résumé: Lisa Connell
Books
Reimagining Resistance in Gisèle Pineau’s Works, co-edited with Dr. Delphine Gras. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2022.
Articles
“Self-Narrative, The Law, and Gardens in Sylvaine Dampierre’s Un Enclos.” French Forum, 45.3, 2020, p. 349-64.
“Bodies in Motion: Movement and Meaning in Marie Nimier’s Vous dansez?” The French Review, 92.2, 2018, p. 69-83.
“Ce corps qui écrit: l’écriture et la corporalité dans Le Livre d’Emma de Marie-Célie Agnant.” Nouvelles Etudes Francophones, 31.2, 2016, p. 29-43.
Book Chapters
“Places of Paradise: Rewriting Mythic Women through Caribbean Garden Spaces.” Reimagining Resistance in Gisèle Pineau’s Works, co-edited by Dr. Lisa Connell and Dr. Delphine Gras. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2022, 123-144.
“Corporeal Pedagogies: Bodies of Knowledge in Fabienne Kanor’s Jambé dlo and Des pieds, mon pied.” Fabienne Kanor in Transgression: Documenting the Insufferable. Ed. Gladys M. Francis. University of Virginia Press.
Awards and Recognitions
Lead writer of dossier awarded the 2023 Board of Regents’ Momentum Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curricular Innovation
Dr. Donald Wagner Honors Faculty of the Year Award, 2023
Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year Award by FLAG (Foreign Language Association of Georgia), 2015
Elected Academic Appointments
Institute for Faculty Excellence Mentoring Fellow Honors College Faculty Fellow
Credits: Cover and internal photos by Julia Mothersole, unless otherwise noted; designed by Kayla Marston; printed by University of West Georgia Print Services. Additional photos and text courtesy of Lisa Connell and the program in International Languages and Cultures. Focus, vol. 4, Spring 2024
International Languages and Cultures
Explore the World
Explore languages and cultures with dedicated and supportive faculty. Study abroad in Costa Rica, Austria, or France. Participate in international film festivals, cultural celebrations, and dynamic research projects. Emerge a globally-engaged citizen with meaningful and future-forward career opportunities.
Land Your Dream Job
Through our rigorous curriculum and experiential learning opportunities, we prepare our graduates to meet the global challenges of tomorrow. Pursue careers in a wide variety of fields, including:
• Government and Law
• Education and Research
• International Business and Translation
• Non-profits, Aid Organizations, Social Work
• Travel and Hospitality Industry
For more information, visit our campus website or contact rkilpatr@westga.edu.
The Focus series highlights UWG faculty and staff across the university and celebrates the wealth of contributions they make in serving the mission of our institution.
