Mathilda Brender.

Mathilda is at Penn State for the 2023-2024 academic year as an exchange student from the University of Strasbourg. She received both her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Anglophone Studies from the University of Strasbourg. She taught French as a language assistant in London and then French in Strasbourg for non-native speakers.

Calixte Kpenou.

Calixte Kpenou earned an M.A in French and Francophone Studies at the University of Arizona. She is currently a PhD student at the Pennsylvania State University in French and Francophone Studies. She is pursuing a dual title in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research focuses on feminism in the Francophone space, especially used by the oppressors during colonization, and in present days against religious communities and  LGBTQ+ communities.

Precious Ojo.

Born and raised in Nigeria, Precious Ojo is a graduate student in French and Francophone Studies. Her broad interests are in African literature, African feminisms, transnational migration, Gender studies, Authors’ positions and writing styles. Her master’s thesis focused on gender and migration in 21st century Francophone literature where she analyzed the intersection between gender and migration in Fatou Diome’s works.

Jordan Thomas.

Jordan is a current graduate student in the French and Francophone Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to his current studies, Jordan received his M.A. in Pan African Studies at Syracuse University in May ’22 and his B.A. Hons. in History and French at Washington and Jefferson College in May ’20. Jordan’s broad research interests include race and racial politics in Modern France (1870-present), French colonialism and ‘post’-colonial legacy, North American Black Feminist Theory, Afroféminisme, and community-focused activism amongst French peoples of African descent.