Cathy Jones

Dr. Jones is a native French speaker who spent her childhood in France, Belgium and Morocco. She holds a MA in French and Philosophy and a PhD in French and Italian from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was a Pogue Scholar and Harvard Young Fellows Nominee. Her doctoral dissertation, entitled Le Je(u) du narrateur dans la préface de roman, studied the deference of textual authority in prefaces to novels. She has been a professor of French and Italian at Converse since 1989.

Dr. Jones was part of a team of professors who developed a minor in women’s studies, and she now teaches Introduction to Women’s Studies, in addition to French and Italian, and directs the minor. She and Dr. Zan Schuweiler have led a trip to Barcelona, the region of Provence, and Paris. Dr. Jones’ other trips have included traveling to Italian-speaking regions—to Martinique in the French West Indies, to Cajun country in Louisiana, and to Tuscany. She now regularly leads trips to France and Tunisia.

Scholarly & Research Activity

Her research focuses on autobiographical works by women from mainland France and from the francophone literature of the Caribbean and the Maghreb. She has several book chapters and articles on authors ranging from Nathalie Sarraute to Simone Schwarz-Bart, and has completed a translation of Christine de Pizan’s Lavision—Christine, which is soon scheduled to be published. Currently, she is working on a book entitled Lyme Lessons: Thoughts on Chronic Illness, Disconnectedness and Renewal.