Mercedes Baillargeon

Mercédès Baillargeon

Associate Professor

Pronouns
She / her; elle / elle
College
Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
World Languages and Cultures Department
Phone
978-934-4035
Office
O'Leary Library, Room 525
Email
Mercedes_Baillargeon@uml.edu

Expertise

20th and 21st century French literature; Qu茅bec studies; Gender and sexuality

Research Interests

20th and 21st century French and Francophone studies; First-person narrative and autofiction; Women's literature; Gender and sexuality studies; Critical and literary theory; Post/decolonial studies; Cinema and media studies; Reception studies; Qu茅bec studies.

Education

  • 笔丑.顿.听Romance Languages and Literature (2014),听University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill
  • M.A.听脡tudes litt茅raires (2009), concentration en 茅tudes f茅ministes, Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al
  • B.A.听脡tudes litt茅raires (2007), concentration en 茅tudes f茅ministes, Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al

Biosketch

Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon鈥檚, Ph.D., research focuses on two main areas; she is interested in contemporary women's writing, feminism, gender and sexuality studies, and the intersection of public and private. She is also interested in Qu茅bec cinema, especially its relationship to national and personal identity. She teaches courses related to gender and sexuality, nationalism, identity, and ethnicity, Francophone North America and Qu茅bec literature, politics and film, youth and counterculture as well as all-level of French language.

She is the author of 鈥淟e Personnel est politique: m茅dias, esth茅tique et politique de l'autofiction chez Christine Angot, Chlo茅 Delaume et Nelly Arcan鈥� (Purdue UP, 2019). She is co-editor (with Karine Bertrand, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada) of a special issue of the journal "Contemporary French Civilization" on the topic of the transnationalism of Qu茅bec cinema and (new) media (2019) as well as a special issue of the journal "Nouvelles Vues: revue sur les pratiques, les th茅ories et et l'histoire du cin茅ma au Qu茅bec鈥� on intercultural encounters in Qu茅bec cinema (2022). She is also co-editor of a collection of essays on third-wave feminism in Qu茅bec entitled 鈥淩emous, ressacs et d茅rivations autour de la troisi猫me vague f茅ministe鈥� (脡ditions du Remue-m茅nage, 2011). Her work has appeared in the journals 鈥淨u茅bec Studies,鈥� 鈥淲omen in French,鈥� 鈥淩ocky Mountain Review,鈥� and 鈥淣ouvelles Vues: Revue sur les pratiques, les th茅ories et l鈥檋istoire du cin茅ma au Qu茅bec,鈥� among others, as well as in several edited books.

She has co-organized several conferences, including 鈥淓veryday Heroes and Heroines: Micro and Macro-Resistances in Post-2001 Feature Films,鈥� with Florian Grandena (U of Ottawa) and Karine Bertrand (Queen鈥檚 U) in 2022, the virtual conference 鈥淩epresentation and Reception of French and Francophone Women Writers in the Media (19th-21st c.),鈥� with Maria Beliaeva Solomon (UMD) and Elsa Courant (CNRS) in 2021, and 鈥淔eminisme(s) en mouvement / Feminism(s) in motion,鈥� with Les D茅ferlantes in 2008. In fall 2023, she organized a day-long film studies symposium on the topic 鈥淭rauma, Cinema, Memory, Affect,鈥� at 小猪视频. She also organized the virtual speaker series, 鈥淭he Future of French and Francophone Studies,鈥� during AY 2020-2021.

She is also leading the initiative to establish the Greater Lowell Franco-American Digital Archives, in collaboration with the Center for Lowell History. This project鈥檚 objective is to collect, preserve, and make accessible a diverse array of documents, photographs, motion pictures, sound recordings, oral histories, and other resources that illuminate the rich history and cultural contributions of Franco-Americans in this region. Additionally, she has been involved with the Franco-American community of Lowell to help create visibility and awareness around Lowell鈥檚 rich Franco-American history and culture, and has been engaged in creating closer ties between students and the Francophone community in the area. .

She is currently the faculty mentor for the Emerging Scholars program from the American Association for Qu茅bec Studies (ACQS), and is an active member of the research group EPIC (Esth茅tique et politique de l鈥檌mage cin茅matographique). She also serves on the editorial board for the journals 鈥淨u茅bec Studie鈥漵 and 鈥淰oix et images.鈥�

Baillargeon has been awarded a visiting fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Universit茅 de Strasbourg for 2025, where she will be affiliated with the Centre d鈥櫭﹖udes sur les repr茅sentations: Id茅es, esth茅tique, litt茅rature (CERIEL), where she will work on her new book project, 鈥淲omen鈥檚 Writing and Self-Disclosure in France and the United States, 1995-2015.鈥�

Baillargeon also serves as co-director of the Lowell Film Festival for Future Filmmakers, alongside Dan Frank from Endicott College. This student film festival showcases short films from students worldwide. The inaugural edition, held in April 2024 at the Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center in downtown Lowell, featured 27 films from five countries and attracted 150 attendees over two days. .

A native of Montr茅al, Canada, Baillargeon came to the United States to complete her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to joining 小猪视频, she was associate professor in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Maryland from 2014 to 2022.

She joined the Department of World Languages and Cultures in September 2022.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • Recipient of the 2024 Department Teaching Excellence Award, Department of World Languages and Cultures, 小猪视频, Lowell, MA.
  • Jonathan Auerbach Cinema and Media Studies Research Award (2021-22) School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Spring 2021 (one course release in Spring 2022).
  • Research & Scholarship Award (2015-2016), Graduate School, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, (on research leave spring 2017)
  • Start-up Research Fund from Frank W. Klingberg Fund for the Enhancement of the College of Arts and Sciences (2009-2011), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Selected Publications

  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon. (2024) 鈥淚mpossible Queerness in Three Transnational Films by Xavier Dolan,鈥� Quebec Cinema in the 21st Century, eds. Michael Gott and Thibaut Schilt, Liverpool University Press, pp. 229-48.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon. (2023) 鈥淎ccepter le doute : 茅crire dans le contexte universitaire n茅olib茅ral,鈥� 脡checs et vomissements. R茅flexions sur l鈥檌nsucc猫s comme mode de vie et philosophie, eds. Florian Grandena and Eric Mathieu, 脡ditions Somme Toute, pp. 79-87.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon. (2023) 鈥淒euil, communaut茅 et connexion dans le cin茅ma de Denis C么t茅,鈥� Antihumanisme(s). Formes, r茅flexions et repr茅sentations, ed. Carlos Tello, Hermann, pp. 61-76.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon. (2022) 鈥淒e La Haine au d茅s艙uvrement : contre-culture, r茅sistance et politique du refus dans La Ferme des humains d鈥橭nur Karaman (2013),鈥� Nouvelles Vues: Revue sur les pratiques, les th茅ories et l鈥檋istoire du cin茅ma au Qu茅bec, no. 22, 2022. .
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2022).听鈥淧utting Us Back in Our Place: #Metoo, Women and the Literary/Cultural Establishment,鈥� Taking Up Space: Woman at Work in Contemporary France, eds. Siham Bouamer and Sonja Stojanovic, University of Wales Press, pp. 355-83.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2019). 鈥淛oy, Melancholy, and The Promise of Happiness in Xavier Dolan鈥檚 Mommy (2014),鈥� ReFocus: The Films of Xavier Dolan, ed. Andr茅e Lafontaine, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 177-190.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2019). Le personnel est politique. M茅dias, esth茅tique et politique de l鈥檃utofiction chez Christine Angot, Chlo茅 Delaume et Nelly Arcan. Purdue University Press, 206 pages.听
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon听et Karine Bertrand (co-eds). (2019). 鈥淭he Transnationalism of Qu茅bec Cinema and (New) Media,鈥� Special issue of the journal Contemporary French Civilization, vol. 44, nos. 2-3.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2018). 鈥淶ones de tension : (D茅)construction et subversion des genres dans Les Chiennes savantes de Virginie Despentes,鈥� Rocky Mountain Review of Language and Literature, vol. 72, no.1, pp. 59-76.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2017). 鈥淢茅dias, hypersexualisation et mise en sc猫ne de soi: le pari dangereux de Nelly Arcan,鈥� Qu茅bec Studies, no. 63, pp. 9-18.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2015). 鈥淰ictime ou martyre? Scandale, parano茂a et trag茅die dans L鈥橧nceste et Quitter la ville de Christine Angot,鈥� Women In French Studies, no. 23, pp. 85-103.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2014). 鈥淩omantic Disillusionment, (Dis)Identification and the Sublimation of National Identity in Qu茅bec鈥檚 鈥楴ew Wave鈥�: Heartbeats by Xavier Dolan and Night #1 by Anne 脡mond,鈥� Qu茅bec Studies, no. 56, pp. 171-191.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2012). 鈥淧ostf茅minisme/posthumanisme chez Nelly Arcan. La remise en question de l鈥檕rigine et la mise en sc猫ne du cyborg dans 脌 Ciel ouvert,鈥� Loin des yeux pr猫s du corps, ed. Th茅r猫se St-Gelais, Remue-m茅nage and Galerie de l鈥橴QAM, pp. 81-6.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon听(ed.). (2011). Remous, ressacs et d茅rivations autour de la troisi猫me vague f茅ministe, with Les D茅ferlantes, Remue-m茅nage, 228 pages.
  • Merc茅d猫s Baillargeon.听(2007). 鈥淓ntre le p茅ril et l'affirmation de soi: un jeu dangereux. L'abject dans Baise-moi de Virginie Despentes,鈥� Postures, no. 9, pp. 37-47.

Selected Presentations

  • 鈥淕oing global and globalization in the Qu茅bec New Wave,鈥� Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) 25rd Biennial Conference, Washington DC, 8-12 Nov. 2023.
  • 鈥淎ntih茅ros et antisocialit茅 dans le cin茅ma fictionnel de Denis C么t茅,鈥� Everyday Heroes and Heroines: Micro and Macro-Resistances in Post-2001 Feature Films,鈥� Department of Film and Media, Queen鈥檚 University (Kingston, ON), 22-23 Oct. 2022.
  • 鈥淒e La Haine au d茅soeuvrement : contre-culture, r茅sistance et politique du refus dans La Ferme des humains d鈥橭nur Karaman (2013),鈥� Congr猫s du Conseil international d鈥櫭﹖udes francophones (CI脡F), Trento, Italy, 20-26 June 2022.
  • 鈥淒euil, communaut茅 et connexion dans le cin茅ma de Denis C么t茅,鈥� Antihumanisme(s). Formes, r茅flexions et repr茅sentations (litt茅rature et cin茅ma), Universit茅 de Paris, 25-26 Nov. 2021
  • 鈥淭he Personal is Political: Autofiction And/As Engagement,鈥� Autofiction: Theory, Practices, Cultures 鈥� A Comparative Perspective, Wolfson College, Oxford, UK, 19-20 Oct. 2019.
  • 鈥淭he Transnationalism of Qu茅bec Cinema and (New) Media: Collective Writing and Contemporary Problems,鈥� Contemporary French Civilization(s) Conference, Tucson, AZ, 29-31 Aug. 2019.
  • 鈥淛oy, Melancholy, and Queerness in Xavier Dolan鈥檚 Mommy (2014),鈥� American Council for Qu茅bec Studies (ACQS) 21st Biennial Conference, New Orleans, LA, 1-4 Nov. 2018.
  • 鈥淐in茅ma ind茅 et esth茅tique de l鈥檈nnui dans le renouveau du cin茅ma qu茅b茅cois,鈥� Canadian Re-Generation(s), Association of Canadian Studies in Ireland (ACSI), Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland, 26-28 Apr. 2018.
  • 鈥淟鈥檃utofiction exp茅rimentale de Chlo茅 Delaume: l鈥檃ffect comme engagement,鈥� Le Sens et les sens/Sense and the Senses, International Colloquium for 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 6-8 Apr. 2017.
  • 鈥淢issed Connections: Intimacy, Identity, and (Post)Nationalism in the Qu茅bec New Wave,鈥� American Council for Qu茅bec Studies (ACQS) 20th Biennial Conference, Portland, ME, 3-6 Nov. 2016.
  • 鈥淧ossible parjure? V茅rit茅, mensonge et fiction dans l鈥櫯搖vre de Chlo茅 Delaume,鈥� Overstepping the Boundaries/ Transgresser les limites: 21st-Century Women鈥檚 Writing in French, Contemporary Women鈥檚 Writing in French (CWWF) Conference, Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London, 28-29 Oct. 2016.
  • 鈥淢ourning, Community, and Connection in Denis C么t茅鈥檚 Cinema,鈥� Association for Canadian Studies in the United States (ACSUS) 23rd Biennial Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 14-17 Oct. 2015.
  • 鈥淟ove, Disability, and Identity in Contemporary Qu茅b茅cois Cinema: The Case of Gabrielle by Louise Archambault and Romeo Eleven by Ivan Grbovic,鈥� 40 Years of Contemporary French Civilization, Baltimore, MD, 3-5 Sept. 2015.
  • 鈥淟e Qu茅bec est-il toujours d茅j脿 queer? (Post)Nationalisme dans le Qu茅bec contemporain,鈥� American Council for Qu茅bec Studies (ACQS) 19th Biennial Conference, Queer Qu茅bec Colloquium, Montr茅al, 16-18 Oct. 2014.
  • 鈥淣ew Radicals: Postfeminism, Queer, and French Women Writers of the 2000s,鈥� MLA Annual Conference, Panel: French and Francophone Feminism(s) 2014鈥�, Chicago, IL, 9-12 Jan. 2014.
  • 鈥淟a politique du tragique ou la nouvelle figure de l鈥櫭ヽrivain,鈥� The Art and Politics of Irony, Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas, McGill University, Montr茅al, Canada, 12-14 Apr. 2012.
  • 鈥淧ostf茅minisme/Posthumanisme chez Nelly Arcan: le spectre de la monstruosit茅 ou nouvelles identit茅s cyborgiennes?鈥� Femmes: th茅orie et cr茅ation dans la francophonie, Institut de recherches et d鈥櫭﹖udes f茅ministes, Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al, Canada, 30 Sept.-3 Oct. 2010.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • Lowell Cultural Council Grant (2024), for the Lowell Film Festival for Future Filmmakers, 小猪视频, Lowell, MA.
  • Qu茅bec/United States University Grant (2022), Minist猫re des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie, Gouvernement du Qu茅bec.
  • ARHU Advancement Grant (2021), College of Arts and Humanities, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
  • Visiting Research Fellowship (2021), Centre for French-Canadian and Qu茅bec Studies, Institute of Modern Languages Research, University of London, UK, (cancelled because of Covid).听
  • Qu茅bec/United States University Grant (2016), Minist猫re des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie, Gouvernement du Qu茅bec.
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship (2009-2013), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
  • Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship 鈥� Master鈥檚 Scholarship (2008-2009), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
  • Bourse d鈥檈xcellence Anita Caron en 茅tudes f茅ministes, Institut de recherches et d鈥櫭﹖udes f茅ministes (2006-2008), Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al, Montr茅al, QC, Canada.

Research Currently in Progress

  • Missed Connections: (Post/Trans)Nationalism, Intimacy, and Identity in Contemporary Qu茅bec Cinema - book manuscript in preparation
  • , in collaboration with the Center for Lowell History and the Franco-American Digital Archives / Portail Franco-Am茅ricain