Jacob Abell

Research/Teaching Interests

• Ecocritical themes in medieval French literature
• Medieval French religious poetry
• Francophone and Anglophone reception of Dante
• Media Studies

Education

Ph.D., French Studies and Comparative Media Analysis and Practice, Vanderbilt University

M.A., French Studies, Vanderbilt University

M.T.S., Vanderbilt Divinity School

B.A., University Scholars, Baylor University

Courses Taught at Baylor

• Elementary French I (FRE 1301)
• Exploring the French-Speaking World (FRE 2320)
• Conversational French (FRE 3302)
• Intro to French Cinema (FRE 3330)
• French Civilization (FRE 3337)
• Contemporary France (FRE 3338)
• Survey of French Cinema (FRE 4330)

Selected Publications

Monograph 

Spiritual and Material Boundaries in Old French Verse: Contemplating the Walls of the Earthly Paradise. Berlin/Boston: Medieval Institute Publications/De Gruyter, 2023. 131 pages. ISBN 9781501520570.

Articles

“Caribbean and Medieval Wounds: The Poetics of Trauma in Dante’s Commedia and Aimé Césaire’s Cahier d’un retour au pays natal.” Medieval Perspectives 34 (2019-2020). 

“Connections: Exploring Charles Moravia’s Le fils du tapissier: épisode de la vie de Molière in the Introductory French Language Classroom.” Dimension 56 (2021). Co-authored with Dr. Stacey Margarita-Johnson.  

Co-authored with Dr. Holly Collins. “From Trauma to Drama: Creating a Polymorphous Space for Witnessing (to) the Rwandan Genocide through Theater.” The International Journal of Francophone Studies 20.3-4 (September 2017).

Book Review

Review of William Franke. Dante’s Paradiso and the Theological Origins of Modern Thought: Toward a Speculative Philosophy of Self-Reflection (New York: Routledge, 2021). The Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 33 (2021): 175-177.