Dr Wendy Michallat

Lecturer

Telephone: (0114) 22 22879

Qualifications

MA, PhD Nottingham

Biography:

I was born and grew up in Bradford, West Yorkshire. From there I went to Warwick University to study French. I went on to work in publishing and law in London and Brighton before finally returning to academe to complete an M.A. and PhD at the University of Nottingham. My PhD thesis, 'Pilote magazine and the evolution of French bande dessinée between 1959 and 1974', examines the cultural and historical context for the post-war evolution of French comic strip art.

Research Interests

My research interests lie primarily in the field of French social and cultural history. I am currently completing a book based on my thesis research: 'The Ninth Art: A Cultural History of the French Bande Dessinée' to be published by Edwin Mellen in 2007. I am also preparing a second book for publication. `Droit au But: Football and Women in Twentieth Century France´ focuses on the political and social history of women´s football in France with a particular focus on its links with both first and second wave feminism.

In January 2007 I was awarded a British Academy grant to research women and football in France.

My main areas of interest are:

Sport and its socio-cultural context
Franco-British cultural links of the immediate post-war and 1950s; particularly those pertaining to working class cultures.
French youth culture.

Professional Activities

Executive member of the Society for French Studies

Current Research Projects

A Cultural History of Women's Football in France
Bande Dessinée in Twentieth Century France

Recent Publications

Lesbian Inscriptions in Francophone Society and Culture, edited Renate Gunther and Wendy Michallat Durham Modern Languages Series June 2007
'Modern life is still rubbish: Houellebecq and the refiguring of ‘reactionary’ retro', Journal of European Studies, Autumn 2007.
'Pilote magazine and the teenager bande dessinée', Modern and Contemporary France, Special Issue, Youth Culture in the Fifth Republic, Autumn 2007. Edited Wendy Michallat and Chris Tinker.
'Terrain de lutte: Women’s Football and Feminism in ‘Les anneés folles’', French Cultural Studies – Autumn 2007.
‘Pilote: Puberty, Pedagogy and Parents’, in Charles Forsdick and Billy Groves (eds), The Francophone Bande Dessinée, Rodopi 2005.
‘Gay-Rites: The Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Marriage in France’, Modern and Contemporary France, Spring 2006
‘Droit au but: Violette Morris and Women's Football in 'Les années folles'’, French Studies Bulletin, Winter (2005).
‘Fishing and the North Atlantic’ and ‘Whaling and the North Atlantic’, in France and the Americas, ed. by Bill Marshall (Oxford, ABC Clio, 2005)

Undergraduate Teaching:

I teach on a number of courses in the French Department specializing in the cultural history of the Fourth and Fifth Republics and the cultural production associated with that era. I run two specialist options. `France in the Fifties´ examines the 1950s as a period of economic, social and cultural transformation using historical data and material sourced from the popular press, film and literature as a focus for discussion and debate. 'La Bande Dessinée' examines the medium of comic strip art against the cultural, economic and political context which shaped its evolution over the course of the 1950s and 1960s. The course also looks at more recent bande dessinée production in a contemporary social and cultural context. Attention is also paid to the methodologies of reading and interpreting the bande dessinée aesthetic.

I teach the following courses:

FRE269/FRE270 La Bande Dessinée (Web CT enhanced)
FRE375/FRE376 France in the '50s (Web CT enhanced)
FRE101/102 Language and Communication Skills and French Studies I and II
FRE106 French Film Classics
FRE201/202 French Language and Communication Skills
FRE240 Actualités Françaises (Bande dessinée, History of the Press, History of Television and Radio Broadcasting)

Postgraduate Teaching

FRE6653 /6654 French Cultural Studies I & II

New Constructs of the Hero in the Fifth Republic

Departmental Responsibilities

Director of the Year Abroad
Departmental IT