Venita Datta
Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Specialist of French cultural and intellectual history.
A specialist of nineteenth- and twentieth-century French cultural and intellectual history, Vinni Datta is interested in the relationship of politics and culture, particularly in the formation of national identity. She is the author of Heroes and legends of Fin-de-Siècle France: Gender, Politics and National Identity (2011) and Birth of a National Icon: The Literary Avant-Garde and the Origins of the Intellectual in France (1999). She has recently begun work on a new book project on French images of Americans and the United States in Belle-Epoque France. Professor Datta teaches a variety of courses in cultural history, among them French 332, “Myth and Memory in Modern France,” French 349, “La Belle Epoque,” French 229, “America Through French Eyes: Perspectives and Realities;” and French 207, the introductory course in French Cultural Studies. Professor Datta is a past president of the Western Society for French History (2001) and is currently the co-Editor of the H-France Forum and a member of the editorial board of French Historical Studies.
Education
- B.A., Bryn Mawr College
- M.A., New York University
- Ph.D., New York University
Current and upcoming courses
Intermediate Spoken French
FREN206
This course develops the skills of listening and speaking in French, with special emphasis on pronunciation and attention to the related skills of reading, writing, and grammatical accuracy. Participants will practice conversation through discussion of a wide variety of materials, including websites, magazine articles, short stories and films.
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Intermediate Spoken French
FREN206H
This course develops the skills of listening and speaking in French, with special emphasis on pronunciation and attention to the related skills of reading, writing, and grammatical accuracy. Participants will practice conversation through discussion of a wide variety of materials, including websites, magazine articles, short stories and films. -
Occupation and Resistance: The French Memory and Experience of World War II
FREN232
Few experiences in recent French history have marked French collective memory as profoundly as World War II. During these years, the French dealt not only with the trauma of defeat and the German Occupation, but also with the divisive legacy of the collaborationist Vichy regime, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, a revered World War I hero. Memories of the war have continued to mark the public imagination to the present day, manifesting themselves in the various arenas of French national life. This course examines the history and memory of the French experience of World War II through historical documents, memoirs, films, literature, and songs.