Visiting Assistant Professor
Dr. Séverine Bates received her MA and Ph.D. in French from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2016), with a specialization in contemporary French and Francophone literatures. She also has a Licence in History and a Maîtrise in Ancient History from the Université Paul Valéry -Montpellier III, France. Her research focuses on the interconnections between immigration, popular media culture, and identity politics in Francophone immigrant literature. In her work, she examines the practical and symbolic role played by the mass media in the processes of identity construction and socialization of immigrants. Her most recent article, “Un miroir aux alouettes? Des matchs de foot télévisés à la migration africaine en Europe: Le Ventre de l’Atlantique de Fatou Diome,” was published in Nouvelles Études Francophones (2019), a peer-review journal. In addition to publishing articles and book reviews, she has presented her research at several regional and international conferences including the Conseil International d’Études Francophones (CIEF) and the 20th and 21st-Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium. Her other research and teaching interests include Francophone Caribbean literatures and cultures, Beur literature, discourses on race and national identity in France, the French media representation of minorities, and literary intermediality. She has taught a wide variety of classes at several institutions, from language courses (all levels) to literature courses (advanced level). At Macalester, she will teach courses and language labs.