Education and Training

Jen holds a B.A. in French and a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts with a minor in Dance from St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota).  In 2000, she received a Diplôme de Deuxième Degré in French Studies from L’Université Haute Bretagne- Rennes II (Rennes, France).  She earned her M.A. in French and Francophone Studies from University of California-Los Angeles in 2005 and fulfilled Ph.D. coursework and comprehensive exam requirements in French and Francophone Studies at University of California- Los Angeles in 2007. 

In addition to her work in French and Francophone literatures, Jen has studied Senegalese Wolof and has completed advanced-level graduate coursework in Portuguese, African studies, comparative literature, English, women's studies, gender studies, race studies, postcolonial studies, diaspora studies, film studies, art history, pedagogy and curriculum design (with an emphasis on technology), educational psychology, and translation studies.

 

Professional Experience

While maintaining a diverse writing, editing and translation career, Jen has also taught at the high school, post-secondary, and university levels in both France and the United States.  Over the past nine years, she has worked for:

ABC-CLIO Publishing (Santa Barbara, California)

Acres of Hope (Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Belgium)

Alan Wofsy Fine Arts (San Francisco, California)

Amnon Kabatchnik, Author (Santa Monica, California)

Arquos Publishing (Campbell, California)

@Large Films (Portland, Oregon)

Africa Unbound (Washington, D.C.)

Azumano Travel Show with Pat Boyle KPAM 860 (Portland, Oregon)

Blake Strategic Consulting (St. Louis, Missouri)

Border Hopping/Jamila Productions (Brooklyn, New York)

Christian Bunz, Director of "Pagasa" (Los Angeles, California)

College Connections Plus (Chanhassen, Minnesota)

Concordia Language Villages (Bemidji, Minnesota)

David Sarna, Author (Teaneck, New Jersey)

Demand Studios (Santa Monica, California)

Diversion Press (Nashville, Tennessee)

Danube Destinations (San Diego, California)

Don Mirra Photography (La Jolla, California)

Eurasia Translations (Encino, California)

Europe Up Close: The Insider's Travel Guide

Examiner.com (National Edition)

Facts on File Reference Publishing (New York, New York)

Future Resident/Naturbia (Rio Nido, California)

Gale Cengage Learning (Farmington Hills, Michigan)

Garden Translation, Inc. (St. Louis Park, Minnesota)

Global Woman Magazine (Washington, D.C.)

Greenwood Publishing Group (Westport, Connecticut)

Holy Family Catholic High School (Victoria, Minnesota)

Hopkins School District 270 (Hopkins, Minnesota)

John Menick Films (New York, New York)

Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts- ArtsEdge (Washington, D.C.)

Luxaflex Blinds (International)

Lycée du Golfe de St. Tropez (Gassin, France)

Matador Travel

M.E. Sharpe, Inc. (Armonk, New York)

Menemsha Films (Venice, California)

Migrations and Identities Journal (Liverpool, UK)

Mill City Writer's Workshop (Hopkins, Minnesota)

Minnetonka School District 276 (Minnetonka, Minnesota)

Nomadic Wax/Sol Film Productions (Holderness, New Hampshire)

Normandale Community College (Bloomington, Minnesota)

Reconfigurations: A Journal for Poetics and Poetry/Literature and Culture

Saint Hubert Catholic Community (Chanhassen, Minnesota)

Salem Press (Pasadena, California)

Studio Enso Wellness Center (Victoria, Minnesota)

Suite 101

The Savvy Explorer

Thomas Riggs and Company Publishers (Missoula, Montana)

Trans-Global Translations (Washington, D.C.)

Twen Design Studio

Twin Cities TOSCA (Edina, Minnesota)

University of California-Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California) 

Univetica     

U.S. Bank Private Banking Division (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Virtual Tourist (Manhattan Beach, California)

Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Wiley-Blackwell Publishers (Hoboken, New Jersey)

Research and Publications

Jen has presented her research on French, Francophone, and Anglophone literatures and world language and culture pedagogy across the U.S. and internationally.  She publishes regularly on these and other topics. 

Jen is a member of the BEST (Black European Studies) Research Group sponsored by the University of Mainz (Germany), Women in French (WIF), African Studies Association (ASA), American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) and serves on the editorial board of The Journal of African Literature and Culture. 

She is a regular contributor to The Journal of African Literature and Culture and Global Woman Magazine.  Her recent work has appeared in The Journal of Pan African Studies, Migrations and Identities (Liverpool University Press, UK), and in myriad books and reference volumes published through Gale Cengage Learning, Diversion Press, Greenwood Press, M.E. Sharpe, Wiley-Blackwell, ABC-CLIO, Handel African Books Network (UK), and Facts on File. 

In November of 2008, Jen completed a chapter on the Franco-Cameroonian author, Calixthe Beyala, for a forthcoming volume on international women’s literature to be published through Pencraft International Press (New Delhi) in 2009.  She recently assisted photographer, Don Mirra, with photo captions and editing for his photography book on Haiti to be published in 2009. 

In March 2009, her article on Yinka Shonibare (visual artist) and Biyi Bandele-Thomas (author and playwright) was published in Migrations and Identities (Liverpool University Press).  This September, her article on the films and novels of Senegalese writer and filmmaker, Ousmane Sembene, was published in the Journal of African Literature.

She is currently working on an article on Bessora, an author from Gabon and Switzerland who writes in French, for a volume on literature of the African Diaspora.  In addition, Jen recently a chapter on La Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave Cinema) for a volume on American film and culture to be published through ABC-CLIO in 2010. 

In May 2009, Jen was interviewed by French author and journalist, Bilguissa Diallo, and was selected as a featured educator in Le français dans le monde international magazine. The article was published in the September 2009 issue.

Jen is in the process of editing an anthology titled (In)Scribing Gender: International Female Writers and The Creative Process for Diversion Press, to be published in 2010.