Directory

Profile

Dr. Messay is an Assistant Professor of French. She received her M.A. in French from Bowling Green State University in 2008, and her Ph.D. in French from Florida State University in 2014. Before coming to UD, she was an Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Simmons University.

She teaches various courses ranging from Beginning French to Francophone Literature. She is committed to supporting students' journeys as they become globally aware and socially conscious citizens. Teaching language and literature/culture courses allows her to provide students with a strong foundation in French, to develop their inter-cultural competence, to equip students with the analytical tools and the knowledge necessary to expand their critical understanding of the Francophone world and to inspire passion for and connection with literature and film of the Francophone world, especially those of African and Afro-diasporic origin.

Her research interests have been primarily in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Francophone Literature and Film. Her scholarship is specifically grounded in textual analysis of trauma narratives and centers the core notion of literature as a tool against silencing and othering. Her work has been published in International Journal of Francophone Studies, Women in French Studies, Life Writing, and Contemporary French and Francophone Studies.

Professional activities

• Women in French
• DDFC Collective (Diversity, Decolonization and the French Curriculum)

Research interests

• Contemporary Sub-Saharan Francophone Literature and Film
• Trauma narratives (literature as a tool against silencing and othering)

Courses taught

• FR 102 Elementary French II
• FR 201 Intermediate French I
• FR 202 Intermediate French II
• FREN 245 Conversation and Composition
• FREN 265 Francophone Short Stories and Films
• FREN 316 Outside France: Perspectives from the French-Speaking World
• FREN 314 French and Francophone Cinema
• FREN 235 The Francophone Caribbean through Literature

Selected publications

“Blackness and Social Justice in the French Classroom.” Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies. Palgrave, 2022. 77-91.

“Nous étions ici pour durer”: Memorialization and environmental advocacy in Véronique Tadjo’s En Compagnie des Hommes”. 25.4 September Issue of Contemporary French and Francophone Studies/SITES, 2021.

“Gender, Trauma and Power in China Keitetsi’s La petite fille à la Kalachnikov: Ma vie d’enfant soldat”. Life Writing, 2021. pp. 1-17.

“Des voix refuseront de se taire”: women’s voices in Leonora Miano’s Contours du jour qui vient. WIF Studies Special Volume: Selected essays from the Women in French International Conference, 2019, pp. 182-192

‘“Can you see me? All of me?” Performing the child soldier in Congo My Body’, International Journal of Francophone Studies, 20: 1&2, 2017, pp. 25–38.

Selected presentations

"'Elle a des couilles': Power, Race, and Gender in Queenie : La Marraine de Harlem." NEMLA 2023 panel “Women and Lived Resilience in the French-language Graphic Novel”. Niagara Falls, March 23-26, 2023

“Intertextuality and Journeys in Jean-Claude Derey’s Les Anges Cannibales” at KFLC: Kentucky Foreign Languages Conference. 21st April 2022 (Virtual).

“Black Voices from the Francophone World”. 2020 Inaugural Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum Conference. 13-14 November 2020 (Virtual).

““Nous étions ici pour durer” : Memorialization and environmental advocacy in Véronique Tadjo’s En Compagnie des Hommes”. 20th and 21st century French and Francophone studies International Colloquium. March 26-29th 2020 (Virtual Colloquium due to COVID 19)

 “Exile, Identity and Healing in Scholastique Mukasonga’s Un si beau diplôme!”. 39th Cincinnati Conference on Romance & Arabic Languages & Literatures. University of Cincinnati, April 5-6, 2019.

““Des voix refuseront de se taire”: women’s voices in Leonora Miano’s Contours du jour qui vient.” Women in French 2018 conference; “Le Bruit des femmes”. Florida State University, Tallahassee. Feb. 8-10, 2018.

““Celui qui possède le pouvoir peut décider du sort des autres”: Gender-Based Power Structures and the Female Child Soldier’s Experience in China Keitestsi’s La petite fille à la Kalachnikov.” Midwest Modern Language Association Conference. Nov. 10-13, 2016.

““La guerre, c’est comme ça, donner la mort, c’est naturel”: Textual spaces and the violence of child soldiers in Emmanuel Dongola’s Johnny Chien Méchant”. Contemporary French and Francophone Studies Conference. March 17-19, 2016.