Bio
Dr. Julia L. Frengs is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and an Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is also Chair of the Executive Committee for the 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium. She has been teaching French language courses and francophone literature and culture courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since 2016. Prior to moving to Lincoln, Dr. Frengs taught at Quest University Canada in Squamish, BC, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, the University of Maryland, College Park, where she obtained her doctorate in 2013, and the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Frengs's research focuses on francophone literature of Oceania (French Polynesia and New Caledonia) and the Indian Ocean (Mauritius, Madagascar, and Reunion). Her first monograph, Corporeal Archipelagos: Writing the Body in Francophone Oceanian Women's Literature, was published by Lexington Books in 2018. She has also published in numerous journals including The Australian Journal of French Studies, The French Review, Contemporary French Civilization, Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature, Interculturel Francophonies, Women in French Studies, and SITES: Contemporary French and Francophone Studies. Her current research focuses on the environmental engagement of authors from the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Education
Ph.D., Modern French Studies, the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland (2013)
MA, French Literature, the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma (2009)
BA, French, and BA, Spanish, Cum Laude, the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, (2005)
Professional Experience
Distinguished Visiting Professor (French), Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures, U.S. Air Force Academy (2024 to present)
Associate Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2021 to present)
Assistant Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2016 to 2021)
Teaching Fellow of French, Quest University Canada, Squamish, British Columbia (2014 to 2016)
Lecturer, University of Hawai'i at Manoa (2012 to 2014)
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, College Park (2009 to 2010)
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Oklahoma (2007 to 2009)
Honors & Awards
Co-PI, UNL Planning Grant for Community Climate Resilience Institute, University of Nebraska, August 2023
Research Council Maude Hammond Fling Faculty Research Fellowship Grant-in-Aid, University of Nebraska, January – December 2023
College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Nebraska, April 2022
College of Arts and Sciences Research and Impact Grant, UNL, April 2022
College of Arts and Sciences SPARK Grant, UNL, November 2021
College of Arts and Sciences ENHANCE Grant, UNL, April 2018
Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Convention “Joan Grenier-Winther Award for Best Conference Presentation in French Studies” for October 2016 paper “An Oceanic Ecofeminism?”, March 2017
Research and Scholarly Interests
Francophone literature of the Pacific, Indian, and Caribbean oceans
Environmental literature/ecocriticism
North African francophone literature
Women's francophone literature
Publications
Monograph
Frengs, Julia L. Corporeal Archipelagos: Writing the Body in Francophone Oceanian Women’s Literature. Lexington Books, 2018.
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Frengs, Julia. “Curing Preconceptions, Curating the Self: Nathalie Heirani Salmon-Hudry’s Je suis née morte.” Crossways Journal. December 2021. https://crossways.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/crossways/article/view/6791
Frengs, Julia. “Anticolonial Ecofeminisms: Women’s Environmental Literature in French Speaking Oceania.” French Cultural Studies Volume 31.4 (November 2020): 293–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/0957155820961644
Frengs, Julia. “A Cultural Interface: An Interview with Nicolas Kurtovitch.” Contemporary French Civilization Volume 44.4 (December 2019): 445 – 458. https://doi.org/10.3828/cfc.2019.23
Frengs, Julia. “Présences polyvalentes: Protean Polynesian Voices in the Works of Rai Chaze and Titaua Peu.” The French Review Volume 93.1 (October 2019): 141–153.
Frengs, Julia. “Literature, or the Travelling Tattoo: Mobile Manuscripts in the Works of Déwé Gorodé and Stéphanie Ari’irau Richard-Vivi.” Francosphères, 6.2 (2017): 163–178. https://doi.org/10.3828/franc.2017.13
Frengs, Julia. “Une écocritique océanienne? Des réponses aux injustices environnementales dans la littérature de l’Océanie francophone.” Interculturel Francophonies, 31 (2017): 273–292.
Frengs, Julia. “Institutionalized Bodies and ‘Emerging’ Literatures: Reconfiguring Confinement in the Works of Déwé Gorodé and Claudine Jacques.” Romance Notes, 56.2 (2016): 293–303. https://doi.org/10.1353/rmc.2016.0032
Frengs, Julia L. “Anticipatory Testimonies: Environmental Disaster in Claudine Jacques’s Fictional Prophecies.” In Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature, 39.2 (2015): Article 5. https://doi.org/10.4148/2334-4415.1840
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
Frengs, Julia. “Incorporating Oceanian Women Writers into the ‘Francophone’ Literature Classroom.” In Rethinking the French Classroom: New Approaches to Teaching French and Francophone Women. Eds. Joyce Johnston and E. Nicole Meyer. Routledge (2018): 87–94.
Frengs, Julia L. “’Comment te dire la dualité entre l’une et l’autre moi-même’: The Double ‘je’ of Chantal T. Spitz’s Elles, Terre d’Enfance, Roman à deux encres.” In Protean Selves: First Person Narrators in Twenty-First Century French and Francophone Fiction. Eds. Adrienne Angelo and Erika Fülöp. Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2014): 115–127.
Frengs, Julia. “Narrating the Unspeakable in New Caledonia: Sexual Violence, Narration, and Truth in the Works of Claudine Jacques.” In The Unspeakable: Representations of Trauma in Francophone Literature and Art. Eds. Amy Hubbell and Névine El-Nossery. Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2013): 231–248.
Editorships and Associated Publications
Frengs, Julia, and Maurer, Anaïs. “E Aha te ‘Avei’a? Quel cap prendre ? Which Route to take ? New Directions in Contemporary Ma’ohi Literature: Introduction.” Australian Journal of French Studies 61.1. April 2024: 3–12. https://doi.org/10.3828/ajfs.2024.01
Frengs, Julia and Jordan Stump, guest co-editors. “Introduction: Parler la terre/To Speak the Earth” In Contemporary French and Francophone Studies: SITES, 25.3 and 25.4 (Summer/Fall 2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/17409292.2021.1941602
Boutin, Aimée, Julia Frengs, and Reinier Leushuis. “Introduction: Le bruit des femmes: From Hélène Cixous to #Me Too.” Selected Essays from the 9th International Women in French Conference 2018. Women in French Studies Special Issue 2019 (October 2019):14-24.
Frengs, Julia. “Special Dossier: Le désastre naturel au féminin: Women Writing Disaster in the French-Speaking World Introduction.” Women in French Studies 27 (2019):17-19. doi:10.1353/wfs.2019.0016.
Forthcoming Works
Frengs, Julia. “Titaua Porcher’s Hina, Maui et compagnie: Theater for a Snapchat Culture.” In Francophone Oceania Today: literature, visual arts, music and cinema. Editors Michelle Royer, Nathalie Ségeral, and Léa Vuong. Liverpool University Press. (Accepted; anticipated publication November 2024).
Frengs, Julia. “Exposing the Hydrocolony in the Works of Chantal Spitz and Shenaz Patel.” Convergences Océanes: Ces Océans qui nous habitent. Eds. Magali Compan and Valérie Magdelaine-Andrianjafitrimo. Presses Universitaires Indianocéaniques. Invited book chapter. Accepted; anticipated publication 2024.
Frengs, Julia. “Chantal T. Spitz and Flora Aurima Devatine: Mā’ohi Archipelagic Literary Praxis.” Women, Theory, Praxis, and Performativities: Transoceanic Entanglements. Eds. Jaqueline Couti and Anny-Dominique Curtius. Invited book chapter. Accepted; anticipated publication 2025.
Frengs, Julia. “Les engagements environnementaux de Denis Pourawa.” Conference Proceedings, Littérature et politique en Océanie. Accepted; anticipated publication 2024.
Works in Progress
Frengs, Julia. “24 septembre 1853: La prise de possession de la Nouvelle-Calédonie.” In La Littérature: une histoire mondiale. CNRS Éditions. Abstract accepted: To be submitted in June 2025.