Jonathan Gosnell

Jonathan Gosnell is trained in French cultural history after 1789 and works on contemporary French society and culture, in the Hexagon and the wider Francophone world. He is particularly interested in manifestations of French minority, regional, national, and pop cultures articulated in traditional and digital media. He teaches topics courses in French cultural studies, in and outside of France, as well as French language at all levels. Professor Gosnell is the author of two book-length studies on global French cultures: Franco-America in the Making: The Creole Nation Within (2018) and The Politics of Frenchness in Colonial Algeria, 1930–1954 (2002). His scholarly articles have appeared in The French Review, Contemporary French Civilization, French Cultural Studies, French Politics, Culture & Society, Québec Studies, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the Australian Journal of French Studies, and Romanic Review.

After serving as faculty director of the Smith program for International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland on three occasions in the past, Professor Gosnell will direct the JYA Paris program in spring 2027. He served as chair of French Studies between 2022 and 2026. His current book project examines French transatlantic trade routes, interrogating French work and play, joy and sorrow in the New World.

Selected Publications

“Resisting the Image: Heidi, Sheep and Swiss Trash.” Australian Journal of French Studies, Volume 59, Number 2 (2022): 198-216.

“The (French) Creole Turn?” Québec Studies, Volume 71 (Spring-Summer 2021): 19-39.

“La France d’outre-mer: rêves coloniaux d’hier et réalités postcoloniales d’aujourd’hui.” Chapter 16 in La France contemporaine: unité et diversités, polarisations et solidarités. Sous la direction de Michel Gueldry et Armelle Crouzières-Ingenthron. AATF, Volume 2 (2020): 405-431.

“Le Base ball, Assimilation and Ethnic Identity: The National Pastime in Franco-America.” Québec Studies, Volume 66, Number 4 (Winter 2018): 49-75.

“Franco-American Cultures in a New World Perspective.”  French Politics, Culture and Society, Volume 30, Number 3 (Winter 2012): 96-118.