Confirm your fit with faculty research
We are seven core faculty in French/Francophone Studies working within the broader interdisciplinary intellectual environment of Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture. Your proposed research should connect meaningfully with one or more core faculty members.
Olivia Harrison researches Maghrebi, “Beur,” and postcolonial French literature and film, with interests in Algeria, Palestine, migration, race, and decolonization. Her work brings postcolonial theory, antiracism, translation, and transcolonial connections into conversation.
Edwin Hill explores Black sound, music, and popular culture across France, the US, and the Black Atlantic. His research connects race, colonialism, technology, emotion, and sonic culture, opening possibilities across African diaspora studies, sound studies, and Francophone studies.
Natania Meeker studies eighteenth-century French literature and philosophy through questions of materialism, feminism, gender, sexuality, and the environment. Her work brings Enlightenment studies into conversation with plant studies, queer theory, environmental humanities, and contemporary thought.
Lydie Moudileno works across Francophone Africa, the Caribbean, and postcolonial France, with particular attention to Blackness, race, identity, memory, and popular culture. Her research explores how literature and culture engage questions of colonialism, representation, and decolonization.
Panivong Norindr researches French and Francophone culture through postcolonial theory, cinema, documentary, architecture, and visual media. His work examines French colonial representations of Southeast Asia and creates opportunities for research across France, the transpacific, and contemporary media.
Antonia Szabari studies early modern French and European culture, including Renaissance literature, print culture, mobility, satire, and the formation of racial and colonial categories. Her research also connects early modern studies with materialism, plants, animals, gender, and contemporary critical theory.
Jennifer Wild researches French cinema and visual culture, with an emphasis on modernism, the avant-garde, political aesthetics, and film history and theory. Her work invites interdisciplinary approaches to cinema, visual media, cultural history, and the politics of aesthetics.
Graduate Application
Complete the USC Graduate Admission application and select French and Francophone Studies — CSLC Track III.
Research Statement (500 words)
Tell us about your research interests. Describe the questions, topics, texts, archives, media, languages, and/or methods that you hope to explore in doctoral study. Explain how your previous academic preparation has led to these interests, how you envision developing them at USC, and how the faculty and interdisciplinary resources of French and Francophone Studies and CSLC more broadly connect with your proposed work.
Background Statement (300 words)
Tell us about the experiences, perspectives, and circumstances that have shaped your intellectual and academic trajectory. This may include cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, professional, community, family, or other experiences that have influenced how you approach scholarship, learning, teaching, or participation in an academic community. The statement is an opportunity to provide context that may not be evident elsewhere in the application and to reflect on the perspectives and experiences you would bring to the USC community. There is no single kind of experience or background that this statement is intended to elicit. The goal is to better understand what made you into the scholar and community member you are today.
Writing Sample (approx. 15-25 pages)
Your writing sample may be a section of a thesis chapter, seminar paper, article-length essay, or substantial scholarly project relevant to French and/or Francophone studies, preferably written in French. NOTE: We will consider a shorter sample, or a sample in English, if you feel it better represents your strongest scholarly writing and analytical work in relation to French and Francophone studies.
Letters of recommendation
Request three letters from faculty or other academic mentors who can speak specifically to your research ability, preparation for doctoral study, writing, and potential for advanced scholarship.
CV or Resume
Include educational background, research interests, publications or presentations, language training, study abroad, academic awards, and other relevant academic or professional achievement and experience.
Transcripts
Submit transcripts from all colleges and universities attended.