F&M Stories

As Professor of French and International Studies, Lisa Gasbarrone’s scholarly explorations have taken her from the Enlightenment philosophes, through Victor Hugo’s great masterpiece “Les Misérables,” to the early literature of Quebec. Her forthcoming book, “The Sense of the Sacred in the Early Novels of Quebec,” argues that what Paul Ricoeur called “the hermeneutics of suspicion” has led to partial, largely negative readings of the novels. With the support of a generous grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, she seeks to correct this perception through the counterintuitive lens of the sacred.

Resolutely humanist and innovative, Professor Gasbarrone has contributed broadly to the curriculum. She was the first to offer courses with Francophone content, and has taught in Africana Studies, Women’s Studies, and Comparative Literary Studies. She created several courses for the International Studies Program, and developed a community-based learning course for the general education curriculum. Drawing on the many areas that interest her, Professor Gasbarrone’s teaching in French has ranged from Marie de France to Molière, Diderot, Albert Camus, and more. She has advised students in independent work on subjects as diverse as gender in French fairy tales, Voltaire’s “Traité sur la tolérance,” and fashion icon Coco Chanel. As an acknowledgement of her remarkable teaching contributions, Professor Gasbarrone was awarded the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2005.

In her dedication to shared governance and to the profession, she has held leadership roles on major committees, task forces, and the executive board of IFE, a Paris-based study abroad program. She has also served as chair of French and Francophone Studies, chair of Women’s Studies, and director of International Studies. Trusted and admired by her colleagues and students for her intellectual virtuosity, professionalism, unfailing collegiality and insightful wit, Professor Gasbarrone has been a caring and committed adviser to her students and continues to be an exceptional mentor to her colleagues in her department and beyond.

A lifelong intellectual and humanist, in the truest sense of the word, Professor Gasbarrone is looking forward to a more balanced life, while continuing her literary and philosophical explorations with a focus on creative writing.