2022 Fall IWL Speaker Series
Speaker: Annabelle Dolidon
Location: Zoom, Passcode: IWL

ABSTRACT
In this presentation, I will introduce my latest textbook for the French conversation class, CITOYEN.NE.S, and address some important implications of developing an open-source publication that strives to foster critical thinking through uncertainty and the contradictions inherent in national cultures. Beyond the reasons why I developed this book (addressing diversity as well as the diversity in the target cultures), I will talk about how our own shortcomings when it comes to DEI issues can become a strength, and the importance of positioning authorship not as the voice of authority but, instead, as a challenging vector of constant questioning.  Through this approach, I will read DEI alternatively as a process of “Decolonizing, (self)-Examining, and Improving.”

BIO
Dr. Annabelle Dolidon has been teaching French at Portland State University from beginning levels to M.A. literature courses. Her primary focus is 20th- and 21st- century French literature with a later focus on science fiction and now, comics. In parallel to her literary work, she has published four textbooks, the last two as OER. The first book introduces students to 9 French science fiction short stories and promotes discussions around issues such as climate change, the judicial system and community building. The second one, released in fall 2021, is CITOYEN.NE.S. Both are available on the OER platform of the Portland State library, PDXScholars.

She is currently working on an anthology of French science fiction short stories in English translation with Ooligan Press, a for-profit but educational press at Portland State – for 0 dollars. Stay tuned.

Email: dolidon@pdx.edu