Elizabeth Blood


Professional Details

Title Professor
Department World Languages and Cultures
Office Sullivan Building 117B
Phone 978.542.6867
Email elizabeth.blood@salemstate.edu
Photo of Elizabeth Blood

Recent and Upcoming Courses

FRE 201 Intermediate French I
FRE 202 Intermediate French II
FRE 360 Contemporary France
FRE 362 Quebec: Culture and Literature
FRE 400 French Translation Seminar
FRE 450 French Experience
FRE 501 Senior Seminar Thesis
FYWL 100 First Year Seminar (world Languages & Cultures)
WLC 120 Perspectives On World Cultures
WLC 251 Continental European Literature I
WLC 501 Translation Studies Capstone Practicum

Professional Biography

Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, Sept. 1992-May 1998

Doctoral degree:   Ph.D., received May 1998, with distinction, in Romance Literatures

Specializations: French, Italian, & English Theater; 18th-Century Studies

Dissertation Title: "Literary Recycling: Authorship, Adaptation, and the Circulation of the Stories of Pamela and the Gambler in 18th-Century Europe" (Defended March 1998)

Research Awards: Chateaubriand Fellowship/Ecole Normale Superieure (Paris, 1994-5); NEMLA Summer Grant (Venice, 1995);  AATF Summer Research Seminar Grant (Québec & Montréal, 2001)

Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, Sept. 1990-May 1992

Master of Arts degree:  M.A. May 1993, with distinction, in French Literature & Culture

Connecticut College, New London, CT, Sept. 1985-May 1989

Bachelor of Arts degree: B.A. received May 1989, in Anthropology & French

Study Abroad:  Florence, Italy (Spring 1988); Avignon, France (Fall 1987)

Professional Interests

As a world language educator with a background in French and Italian literatures, my research interests are in foreign language pedagogy, French North American cultural studies, and translation. I am also a French to English translator.

My work in second language pedagogy focuses on creating meaningful, contextualized and multidisciplinary materials to attract students to the study of languages and cultures. My intermediate French textbook project, Intrigue (Pearson Education), aimed to combine the best of communicative teaching techniques with the intellectual draw of a mystery-story narrative, offering the student meaningful contexts in which to learn French. The fictional story invites the readers to act as detectives and to interact with the characters and plot twists presented in the book.

As a doctoral student and in the early years of my career, my literary research focused on exploring the concept of authorship in 18th-century Europe, with an emphasis on literary adaptation in the theater in France, Italy and England. Recently, I have shifted my research interests to focus on the cultures of French-speaking Quebec and Franco-American New England. I am particularly interested in the themes of language and place in Quebecois and Franco-American literature and the ways in which contemporary authors construct and continually re-imagine North American Francophone identities.

My post-intermediate textbook, Je me souviens (Georgetown University Press), is an interdisciplinary introduction to the history and culture of Francophone Quebec. Literary excerpts, songs, art, films and authentic historical narratives are presented with historical notes and timelines and texts are glossed so as to be accessible to anglophone students who are learning French as a second language. This project invites students to explore the rich heritage of our French-speaking neighbors to the north.

Franco-American Studies--the study of American descendants of French-Canadian origin--is both a personal interest (my grandmother immigrated to the U.S. from Quebec in the early 20th century) and an academic specialization. My collection of English translations of public domain French-Canadian and Franco-American texts aims to make the history and culture of French North Americans accessible to the widest possible audience, so that the rich cultural legacy of this population may be studied, appreciated, and transmitted to future generations. This French-Canadian Heritage Collection is ever growing and is free and accessible through the Library's Digital Learning Commons.

With Dr. Duclos-Orsello from the Interdisciplinary Studies department, I am co-creator of a public history project and website documenting French-Canadian and Franco-American heritage in Salem, Massachusetts which includes a brief history, self-guided walking tour of Salem, an oral history archive, and classroom activities for teachers of French who want to teach their students about our region's Franco-American heritage.

Responsibilities

Professor of French: I teach French language, literature and culture courses at all levels, from elementary through advanced courses, including advanced courses on translation for our Certificate in Translation program. I also teach courses in English, including First Year Seminars, World Cultures courses, and European literature.

Faculty Fellow for First Year Experience: As faculty fellow, I support the FYE office in coordinating the Exploratory Program and the First Year Seminar program. I serve as faculty advisor to over 100 undeclared first year students each year in support of the Exploratory Program, and I develop and present professional development workshops for faculty teaching in our First Year Seminar program.

Academic Advisor for the French Summer Program in Quebec: I recruit and advise students who attend the summer study abroad program at Laval University in Quebec City, Canada.

French Club Advisor: I assist and support the student leaders who run the French Club to organize on-campus and off-campus cultural activities for students interested in French.

Selected Publications

Books:

• A History of St. Joseph’s Parish in Salem, Massachusetts: 1873-1948. Translation (French to English) of La Paroisse Saint-Joseph, Salem, Massachusetts (1948) by the Laurier Association. Edited by Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello. Salem State University Digital Archive. French-Canadian Heritage Collection, 2019. https://digitalcommons.salemstate.edu/fchc/1/

• History of the Ile d’Orléans. Translation (French to English) of L’Histoire de l’Ile d’Orléans (1867) by L.P. Turcotte. Salem State University Digital Archive. French-Canadian Heritage Collection, 2019. https://digitalcommons.salemstate.edu/fchc/2/

• History of the Franco-Americans of Southbridge, Massachusetts. Translation (French to English) of Histoire des Franco-Américains de Southbridge, Massachusetts (1919) by Félix Gatineau. Via Appia Press, 2018. [also available through the Salem State University Digital Archive. French-Canadian Heritage Collection, 2020. Online edition. https://digitalcommons.salemstate.edu/fchc/3/]

Je me souviens: histoire, culture, et littérature du Québec francophone. Co-authored with Joseph-Vincent Morrissette (Fairfield University). Georgetown University Press, 2015.

 • Intrigue: langue, culture et mystère dans le monde francophone (with audio CD). 3rd Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011.

Articles:

• "On Being a French Heritage Woman in America Today: An Interview with Rhea Côté Robbins" French Review 91.4 (May 2018): 164-173.

• “La Pointe : site de patrimoine franco-américain à Salem, Massachusetts” / “The Point : A Franco-American Cultural Heritage Site in Salem, Massachusetts”  Encyclopédie du patrimoine culturel de l'Amérique du nord / Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America. Co-authored with Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello. Online. (April 2018)

• “Creating Franco-American Identity in the New Millenium: Normand Beaupré’s La Souillonne” Co-authored with Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello (Salem State University). Québec Studies (Spring/Summer 2016): 3-18.

• “Ici on parle français : A Fresh Look at Salem" Art Throb (September 2012)

• “Review of La Souillonne: Monologue sur scène. By Normand Beaupré.”  Moé pi toé  Vol.4 (Spring 2012), No. 1: 66.

• "Exploring Québec: hier, aujourd'hui, demain" AATF National Bulletin 27:3 (January 2002): 19-20.

Selected Presentations

Pedagogical Conference Presentations

“French Connections: Promoting French In and Out of the Classroom” Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) annual conference (Springfield, MA, October 2017)

“Beyond the Three P’s: Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Competence” American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) annual meeting (Boston, MA, November 2016)

"Incorporating the study of Quebec and Franco-America into the French curriculum" American Council on Quebec Studies annual conference (Portland, ME, November 2016)

“Language and Identity: le français au Québec” Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) annual conference (Sturbridge, MA, October 2015)

“Multiculturalism in French-Speaking Montréal: Many Voices, One Language” with Dr. Louissa Abdelghany (Boston College), American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) annual meeting (Philadelphia, PA, November 2012)

“Franco-Americans in New England Today: history, culture, literature” Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) annual meeting (Sturbridge, MA, October 2012)

“Le Québec aujourd’hui: identité, diversité, fierté” Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) Annual Meeting (Sturbridge, Massachusetts, October 2011)

"Les Francophones d'ici: Franco-Americans in Massachusetts" American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Meeting (Boston, Massachusetts, November 2010).

"Breaking News: Using Online News Resources to Teach Language and Culture" Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) Annual Meeting (Sturbridge, Massachusetts, October 2008)

"Using Art to Teach Language, Culture, and Literature" Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL) Annual Meeting (New York, New York, April 2007)

"Building Community Connections with Service-Learning Projects" American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 2003)

"Constructing Active Language Learners: Inclusiveness, Empowerment and the Second Language Textbook Genre" Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Meeting (New York, New York, December 2002)

Literary Conference Presentations

“’De fervents patriotes’: Negotiating Identity in Félix Gatineau’s Histoire des Franco Américains de Southbridge, Massachusetts (1919)” American Council on Quebec Studies (New Orleans, LA, November 2018)

“Flâneuses québécoises: Québec Women Writers in Paris” Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) annual conference (Hartford, CT, March 2016)

"Switching Codes: Language, Memory and Identity in Contemporary Franco-American Women's Writing" Amcerican Council for Quéec Studies (ACQS) Annual Meeting (Montréal, Canada, October 2014)

"Language and Identity in Salem's Franco-American Community" with Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello (IDS), American Council for Québec Studies (ACQS) Annual Meeting (Montréal, Canada, October 2014)

"Le Grand Feu: Franco-American Memories of the Great Fire of Salem" with Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello (IDS), Conflagration! The Great Salem Fire of 1914: A Centennial Symposium (Salem, MA, June 2014)

“Franco-American Literature of New England: Readings and Discussion with Contemporary Authors” Panel organizer and Respondent, at the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association (MLA) in Boston, MA (January 2013)

"'La ville que nous avons adoptée': Franco-American Identity and the Courrier de Salem Newspaper in Salem, Massachusetts in 1908" American Council on Québec Studies (ACQS) Annual Meeting (Québec City, Canada, November 2008)

Personal Interests

Member of the Richelieu Club of Salem

Member of 100 Women Who Care (Boston North)

Genealogical research (New England, Quebec, Ireland)