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Publications in VIVO

Yamashita, Masano

Associate Professor

Positions

Research Areas research areas

Research

research overview

  • Masano Yamashita's current research is centered on accidents, chance, and inequality in eighteenth-century France. Her research interrogates the roles played by gender, migration, and social class in shaping early modern conceptions of human agency. Yamashita's main research areas include the the literature and culture of the French Enlightenment and the Revolutionary period. She has published on women's lives, Rousseau and the philosophes, the relationship between rhetoric and democracy during the Revolutionary period, poverty, fortune, and chance in the age of Enlightenment.

keywords

  • Eighteenth-century literature and social thought, women's studies, Enlightenment studies, French Revolution

Publications

selected publications

Teaching

courses taught

  • FREN 3110 - Main Currents of French Literature 1
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2021
    An exploration of principal themes and texts from Medieval times to the Revolution. Students will become familiar with key moments of intellectual and cultural history.
  • FREN 3200 - Introduction to Literary Theory and Advanced Critical Analysis
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2020
    Introduces important aspects of both classical and modern literary theory as an aid to reading and understanding literary texts. Covers theoretical works by figures ranging from Plato and Aristotle to modern French critics such as Barthes, Foucault, and Derrida in conjunction with selected literary works. Offers students more sophisticated means of understanding issues like gender, ethnicity, the roles of both author and reader in constructing meaning, the nature and functions of signs, and the relationship between literature and the larger society. Conducted in English, though French majors are required to read the texts in the original language. Required for students taking honors in French or Italian.
  • FREN 3300 - French Culture Through Fashion
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2022 / Fall 2023
    Studies fashion as a means of identity construction as well as a means of resistance in France from 1789 until present day. Through an analysis of clothing trends, students will study the cultural significance of certain fads in French history that allowed marginalized demographics to define and assert their individuality.
  • FREN 3700 - French-American Cultural Differences
    Primary Instructor - Fall 2021
    Students will identify and consider key differences between French and American cultural, political and civic values through the analysis of film, literature, journalism, and personal observations.
  • FREN 4110 - French Special Topics
    Primary Instructor - Spring 2019 / Spring 2023
    Topics vary each semester. Consult the online Schedule Planner for specific topics. See also FREN 4120.
    • ... more

Background

International Activities