I joined the Department of Modern Languages at Strathclyde in 2001 after graduating in from the Université de Picardie Jules Verne where I gained a Masters in English language, literature and culture. I hold a PhD in French Studies (University of Strathclyde 2012) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Academic Studies (University of Strathclyde 2014).

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).

My main research interest is in the field of Belgian and Francophone literature and culture with a particular focus on contemporary women’s writing. I am also interested in issues surrounding cultural identities in Francophone countries and currently works on contemporary Francophone illness narratives in relation to trauma and gender.

 I have recently been looking into the lives of Belgian refugees in the West of Scotland during World War 1 and, in particular, into women’s health during their time in exile from Belgium. Throughout 2017 and 2018, in collaboration with Dr Jacqueline Jenkinson (University of Stirling), I co-organised a series of workshops and events arising from a Royal Society of Edinburgh collaborative workshops award on the subject: Uncovering civilian war trauma among female Belgian refugees in Scotland during the First World War. More on the project and the series of events can be found at https://stirlingcentrescottishstudies.wordpress.com.

In March 2016, at the University of Strathclyde, I co-organised an international conference entitled Trauma and Gender in 20th Century European Literature, which was funded by the Wellcome Trust.

I am a member of The Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH) research groups at the University of Strathclyde, and I am also an Honorary Fellow in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh where I contribute to the activities of the Centre de Recherches Francophones Belges. I am a member of the Association Européenne d’Etudes Francophones and of the Women in French in Scotland and Women in French networks.

• Contemporary French and Francophone Literature
• Belgian literature and culture
• Contemporary Women's Writing
• Writing Illness and the Body
• Gender and Cultural Identity
• Feminism in France and Belgium

I welcome postgraduate applications in any of these areas

I currently supervise the following students and projects:

- Francesca Masciullo - AHRC-funded MRes: 'Denied and Disowned Motherhood in the works of Dacia Maraini and Annie Ernaux'

- Hanane Benchama – PhD: Examination between Victimhood and Resistance: Algerian Women in the Literature and Film of The Black Decade

- Emma Flynn - PhD: Comparative analysis of the representation of sexual violence and primarily, its relationship to survival and death in French and English women's literature

I am the class co-ordinator for the Honours Written and Spoken Language classes (R1509 & R1510), for the option 'Writing the Body in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature' (R1411) and for the French Dissertation (R1498).

I currently teach the following Language and Cultural classes at undergraduate level:

R1215 French Culture and History 2 

R1315 French Culture and History 3

R1411 Writing the Body in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature

R1498 French Dissertation

R1509 French Honours Spoken Language

R1510 French Honours Written Language

I supervise undergraduate dissertations on a variety of topics linked to my research and teaching interests.

I have been nominated for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Awards every year since 2011; I was shortlisted for the 'Most Supportive Teacher' Award in 2017 and for 'Best in HaSS', 'Most Innovative' and 'Best Overall Teacher' Awards in 2018.