As we begin the semester, we're highlighting Bryn Mawr's newest faculty members. The College supports faculty excellence in both research and teaching.
Camille Leclère-Gregory is an assistant professor of French and Francophone Studies and director of the Institut d'Avignon.
Leclère-Gregory's work centers on theater as a representation of society, particularly the portrayal of non-conforming characters.
Using feminist, queer, and gender-based theories, she has studied the fragility of gendered power and pre-established gender roles – both within major works from the seventeenth century and in early modern French society at large. Her scholarship aims to emphasize the relevance of theatrical texts in understanding the mechanisms under which past and present society in the French and Francophone world operates, and how it was shaped.
Her current book project expands on the dichotomy in the perception of female and non-conforming characters by establishing parallels with major social phenomena (witch hunts, social revolts) to explore the intrinsic link between literature, society, and power structures. She is also interested in audience perception, gender-bending, and the subversion of norms beyond the Early Modern period both on and off the stage. Through her scholarship and teaching, her goal is to shed a new light on the portrayal of rebellious/subversive figures and to amplify alternative voices to the male-dominated literary canon.
Leclère-Gregory earned her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa, an M.A. at Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, and a B.A. at Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour.