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Department ofModern Languages and Literatures

Keziah Poole

Keziah Poole

Lecturer

Keziah Poole received her doctorate from the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California, where her research centered on queer and feminist writing from francophone regions of North Africa. Her doctoral project, "Writing Resistance: sex, love and feminine protest in Moroccan literature and film," studied the discursive strategies used by women and LGBTQIA+ artists and activists to resist being co-opted into French and Moroccan national/ist discourses.

As a French instructor, she is fascinated by the intersections between language and culture, and believes social and political engagement is a key component of language learning. She is also Founder/Director of The Readers' Circle, a national prison writing program that pairs university volunteers with incarcerated authors to support their creative work.

Courses
  • FREN 1, 2, 3: Introduction to French Language & Culture I, II, III
  • FREN 11A/12A (Cultures & Ideas): Visual Politics in the French-Speaking World
  • FREN 120E: Writing Beyond Walls: Prison Writing Across Global Contexts
Publications
  • “‘Structuring the Conduit’: Expanding Prison-University Partnerships Through the Readers’ Circle.” in Higher Education and the Carceral State: Transforming Together, edited by Annie Buckley, Routledge, 2024, pp207-214.

  • “To the rhythm of feminine memory: decoloniality and dissonance in the films of Assia Djebar.” Expressions maghrébines, Vol. 20, no. 1, Summer 2021, pp 79-93.

  • “From the Horse’s Mouth: resisting origin in Meryem Alaoui’s La vérité sort de la bouche du cheval.” Francosphères, Vol. 10, no. 2, Winter 2021.