This week, people across Canada and around the world celebrate the French Language and Francophonie, the global French-speaking community. Canadian Studies is pleased to join in by announcing that William M. Burton, an assistant professor of French with a love for Quebec, has joined the program as our newest faculty affiliate.
Professor Burton is an expert in 18th- and 20th-century French literature and philosophy, with a focus on gender, sexuality, and feminism. Their current project, The End of Sex, approaches this topic through a case-study of Monique Wittig and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Burton also has an interest in Quebec culture and literature. This semester, they are teaching "Montreal: Colonization, Urbanization, Migration", a course that explores the development of the unique literary and artistic voice of the world's second-largest Francophone city.
Professor Burton joined the Berkeley faculty in August 2021. They received their B.A. in French literature and translation from McGill University; an M.A. in English studies from Université de Montréal; and an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in French and Romance philology from Columbia University.