University of Kansas

Department Member, Kansas African Studies Center

Assistant Director

University of Kansas

About

APPOINTMENTS
Assistant Director, Kansas African Studies Center, University of Kansas, 2011-
Courtesy Assistant Professor, African and African-American Studies, KU, 2011-
Affiliate Faculty, Center of Latin American Studies, KU, 2012-
Affiliate Faculty, Center for East Asian Studies, KU, 2010-
Cultural Envoy, U.S. Department of State, Brazzaville, Congo, June 2011
Language Program Coordinator, French and Italian, KU, 2007-2011 
Instructor, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Westminster College, Missouri, 2007

RESEARCH and TEACHING INTERESTS
Contemporary literature (with a focus on Africa, the Caribbean, and North America); gender; peace and conflict; women writers; migration; translation; creative writing

EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Romance Languages, University of Oregon, 2007
Thesis: Literary Warscapes in Contemporary Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa
M.A. in French, University of Oregon, 2001
Thesis: The City of Oran in Camus's La Peste
B.A. in French, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1999
Certificate in French language and Québec culture, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1999
Diploma, Rain Forest International School, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 1995

PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Lux, Christina and Joo, Hee-Jung Serenity (University of Manitoba). “Dismantling Bellicose Identities: Strategic Language Games in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s DICTEE.” Journal of Transnational American Studies, 4:1 (Summer 2012). (accepted by guest editors)

Lux, Christina. “Fluid Attachment: Reframing Peacebuilding through Ahmadou Kourouma’s Allah n’est pas obligé.” International Journal of Francophone Studies, 13:1 (June 2010): 57-74.
 
Textbook Supplement
Lux, Christina and Swanson, Kim (KU). Quant à Moi Testing Program. PowerLecture Instructor Resource CD-ROM. Boston: Heinle, 2010.

Book Reviews
Lux, Christina. Review of Shaken Wisdom: Irony and Meaning in Postcolonial African Fiction. International Journal of Francophone Studies. (invited)
Lux, Christina.  Review of Translation, Resistance, Activism. American Studies. (invited)
Lux, Christina. Review of Postcolonial Autobiographies: from Africa to the Antilles. International Journal of Francophone Studies. (invited)
Lux, Christina. Review of In Search of Brightest Africa: Reimagining the Dark Continent in American Culture, 1884-1936. American Studies. (invited)
Lux, Christina. Review of La Tribu égarée. Warscapes Magazine. (invited)

Literary Translation
Lux, Christina. “The House Facing the Sea." Translation from the French of “La Maison face à la mer” by Marie-Célie Agnant. Metamorphoses: The Five College Faculty Seminar on Literary Translation, 11.1 (Spring 2003): 193-199.

CONFERENCES and LECTURES
“Sounding the Atlantic, Shaping American Disciplines: the Translation of Race and Gender from Maryse Condé to Frantz Fanon,” Gender Seminar, Hall Humanities Center, University of Kansas, September 2011.

“Ecrire le conflit, écrire la paix: vers la transformation sociale,” Université Internationale de Brazzaville, Brazzaville, Congo, June 2011.

“Writing and Publishing in the United States,” Villa Washington, U.S. Embassy Brazzaville, Congo, June 2011.

“Dismantling Bellicose Identities: Strategic Language Games in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's DICTEE,” with Hee-Jung Serenity Joo (University of Manitoba), co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies and French and Italian, University of Kansas, Spring 2011.

“Pacifying the Subject: Cumulative Effects of Translating Race and Gender in Maryse Condé’s I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem,” National Women’s Studies Association, Denver, Colorado, Fall 2010. 

“Writing Peace and Conflict in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa,” Teacher Summer Institute, Kansas African Studies Center, Summer 2010.

“Dictating the Nation: Multilingual Textuality in Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s DICTEE,” Association for Asian American Studies, Austin, Texas, Spring 2010.

“Fluid Attachment: An Ethics of Relation in Véronique Tadjo’s Reine Pokou,” National Women’s Studies Association, Atlanta, Georgia, Fall 2009.

“Warscapes: Writing Place in Ahmadou Kourouma’s Allah n’est pas obligé,” Oregon Humanities Center, Spring 2005.

“Dépiécer le temps apocalyptique, rythmer l’Histoire dans La Polka de Kossi Efoui," Conseil International d’Etudes Francophones, Liège, Belgium, Summer 2004.

“The Body as Text: Masculinity, Femininity, and Androgyny in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Literature of War,” University of Northern Iowa, Spring 2004.

“Reading Gender in Contemporary Sub-Saharan Literature of War,” Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon, Spring 2004.

SELECT GRANTS, AWARDS, and FELLOWSHIPS
NEH Workshop Participant Grant, Language Matters IV, Toni Morrison Society, 2010
Travel Grant, Kansas African Studies Center, 2010
Travel Grant, National Women’s Studies Association, 2010
Travel Grant, Center for East Asian Studies, KU, 2010
Travel Grant, Kansas African Studies Center, KU, 2009
Research Fellowship, Oregon Humanities Center, UO, 2005
Wetzel Research Scholarship, Romance Languages, UO, 2004
Beall Fellowship, University of Oregon, UO, 2004
Research Grant, Center for the Study of Women in Society, UO, 2002

SERVICE
National and International Service
Manuscript Referee, Comparative Literature Studies (2012)
Manuscript Referee, African Studies Review (2011; 2012)
Roundtable Organizer, “Higher Education in the U.S.,” U.S. Embassy Brazzaville and Marien Ngouabi University, Brazzaville, Congo (via Skype from KU), Fall 2011
Chair, “Women’s Liberation at 50+: from Representation to Empowerment,” African Studies Association, Washington, D.C., Fall 2011
Facilitator, “Language Matters IV,” (NEH workshop on teaching Toni Morrison in translation), Paris, France, Fall 2010
Moderator, “Languages and Landscapes  / Le langage et les voix/voies de la langue,” Toni Morrison Society Conference, Paris, France, Fall 2010
Session Organizer, “Engendering Nations: The Politics of Narrative” National Women’s Studies Association, Denver, Colorado, Fall 2010

University Service
Senator, Unclassified Senate, KU, 2012-2015
Grant Evaluator, Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, KU, 2012
Doctoral Comprehensive Exam Committee, Tugce Kurtis, KU, 2011-2012
Peace and Conflict Studies Steering Committee, University of Kansas, 2011-
Committee Member, Honor’s Thesis, Derek Kern, 2010-2011
Director, Honor’s Thesis, Brenna Mae Thompson Daldorph, Spring 2010
Advisor, Dissertation Prospectus, Mary Mba, Spring 2010
Undergraduate Program Review Committee, French and Italian, KU, Fall 2009
Search Committee, Language Program Assistants, French and Italian, KU, Spring 2009
Participant, Graduate Teaching Assistant Orientation, French and Italian, KU, 2007-09
Moderator, Public Reading by Donato Ndongo, Westminster College, 2007
Conference Planning Committee, “Literature Matters,” University of Oregon, 2005-06
Conference Planning Committee, “Transparent Borders: Movement, Migration and Globalization in the Romance World,” University of Oregon, 2003-04
Conference Planning Committee Director, “Cryptic Cartographies: A Symposium on Literature and Space,” University of Oregon, 2001-02
Panel Chair, “A Space of Their Own: Women and Fiction,” Cryptic Cartographies: A Symposium on Literature and Space, University of Oregon, Fall 2002

COURSES TAUGHT
University of Kansas 
AAAS 680: Introduction to Modern Africa
AAAS 432 / FR 432: Francophone African Literature
FR 430: Contemporary France
FR 376: Advanced Conversation
FR 326: Writing Peace and Conflict
FR 310: French Phonetics
FR 230, FR 234: Intermediate French
FR 100: French for Reading

Westminster College
FR 360: Contemporary War Literature
FR 204: Intermediate French
FR 102: Beginning French

University of Oregon
FR 410 / 510: French for Reading
FR 303: Francophone Identities
FR 307: French Conversation
FR 201, 202, 203: Intermediate French
FR 101, 102, 103: Beginning French

LANGUAGES
English, native
Spanish, intermediate
French, near-native

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS and AFFILIATIONS
African Studies Association
National Women’s Studies Association