Dr. Julie Van Dam

Biography

Julie Van Dam is a Professor of French (Teaching) at USC Dornsife, focusing on Disability Literature, Francophone Women’s Literature, and Sub-Saharan African Literature. She holds a PhD in French and Francophone Studies from UCLA and an MA from Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal. Her book, 'Critical Conditions: Illness, Disability and Francophone African and Caribbean Women’s Writing' (2012), engages with fields such as postcolonial studies, feminist theory, anthropology, and disability studies, challenging traditional perceptions of health and bodily difference in Francophone literature. Julie's research delves into the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and health, examining how disability reveals material inequalities and reshapes paradigms of health and normative bodies. Her teaching and research interests include health, illness, and disability representations in 19th and 20th-century French Francophone writings and cinema. She has published work in esteemed journals and has presented her research at various conferences, emphasizing her role in advancing the discourse in her field.

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Awards