Dr Caroline Verdier

Publications

Voices of liminal bodies : Anne Cuneo and Lydia Flem's cancer narratives

Verdier Caroline

Women in French Studies Vol 8, pp. 67-77 (2023)

Putting Hodgkin's lymphoma into words : Anne François's Nu-tête

Verdier Caroline

Francosphères Vol 12, pp. 45-61 (2023)

https://doi.org/10.3828/franc.2023.4

Reframing the HPV narrative

Verdier Caroline

(2023)

Digital Story - HPV : (un)cut narratives

Verdier Caroline, Sarabadzic Lou, Nyssonnen Anne

(2023)

HPV : (un)cut narratives

Verdier Caroline

(2023)

« La petite dernière ». Entretien avec Fatima Daas

Verdier Caroline

(2022)

More publications

Teaching

I teach across the French and Gender Studies programme. I am the class co-ordinator for 'Writing the Body in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature' (R1395/R1499), for the French Honours Dissertation (R1498) and for French Culure and Hisotry 2 and 3 (R1215/R1315)

I currently teach the following classes:

P3974: Feminisms: Continuity and Change

R1215/R1315 French Culture and History 2 & 3

R1395/R1499 Writing the Body in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature

R1498 French Dissertation

R1509 French Honours Spoken Language

R1510 French Honours Written Language

I supervise undergraduate dissertations and postgraduate projects on a variety of topics linked to my research and teaching interests.

I have been nominated for Strathclyde Teaching Excellence Awards every year since 2011; I was shortlisted for the 'Most Supportive Teacher' Award in 2017 and for 'Best in HaSS', 'Most Innovative' and 'Best Overall Teacher' Awards in 2018.

Research Interests

I am a specialist in French and Francophone Studies with expertise in 20th and 21st Century literature, Gender Studies and Medical Humanities. I have published extensively on a range of French and Francophone women authors, with an increasing focus on illness narratives and creative practices. I am also interested in issues surrounding cultural identities in Francophone countries.

The interdisciplinary nature of my research leads to regular collaboration on projects. I work with artist and writer Lou Sarabadzic on my current Carnegie Trust funded ‘Reframing the HPV Narrative’ and co-organised the Women in French UK-Ireland international conference in May 2023 with Dr Véronique Desnain (University of Edinburgh). In 2018, I worked with Historian Dr Jacqueline Jenkinson (University of Stirling) as part of a Royal Society of Edinburgh funded project looking into the lives of Belgian refugees in the West of Scotland during World War 1 and, in particular, into women’s health during their time in exile from Belgium. In 2016, I collaborated with Dr Beatriz Caballero-Rodriguez on the Trauma and Gender in 20th Century European Literature project was funded by the Wellcome Trust and led to the organisation of an international conference.

I am sitting on the committees for Women in French UK-Ireland and the Association Européenne d’Etudes Francophones. I am an Honorary Fellow in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures at the University of Edinburgh where I contribute to the activities of the Centre de Recherches Francophones Belges. I am a member of Strathclyde University Feminist Research Network and of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH) research groups at the University of Strathclyde.

Professional Activities

Nottingham French Studies (Journal)

Guest editor

15/6/2025

'Curiouser and curiouser': the use of the Alice figure in Lydia Flem's writings and photography.

Speaker

27/2/2025

L'esprit créateur (Journal)

Guest editor

15/9/2024

Living with Miss P.: François Nourissier and Parkinson's Disease

Speaker

21/6/2024

Autofiction, maladie et féminisme

Speaker

5/4/2024

Revisiting words from HPV narratives

Speaker

14/11/2023

More professional activities

Projects

Belgitude and Feminism: Intersection and Impact.

Verdier, Caroline (Principal Investigator)

This project focuses on the link between four Belgian women writers and the Belgitude movement. This movement of Belgitude meant to claim and stress the differences and specificities of Belgian culture, art and literature. It was primarily led by male writers (Pierre Mertens (1939- ), Marc Quaghebeur (1947- ) to name but a few) but interestingly, the female writers involved in exploring the meaning of Belgitude (Françoise Lalande (1941- ), Françoise Collin (1928-2012), Michèle Fabien (1945-1999), Nicole Malinconi (1946- )) were also either involved in the Belgian Feminist Movement or exploring feminist issues in their writings. This project seeks to explore why and how these women writers took part in both these movements in their own way – finding their own voices and paths - and the impact that this participation had in turn on their literary production.

06-Jan-2020 - 06-Jan-2021

Reframing the HPV Narrative

Verdier, Caroline (Principal Investigator)

The project seeks to explore the topic of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and the feelings stigma and shame attached to it for women. We seek to capture the experience of diagnosis and living with HPV through writing and art making.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) can lead to cervical and other cancers, but in many cases it doesn’t. Although extremely common and often relatively harmless, those diagnosed tend to remain silent about the condition, hiding their worry and fears, significantly impacting their emotional wellbeing and social lives. Using co-creation as research, and art as a medium, this project seeks to encourage discussion around HPV and reframe its numerous – yet often unspoken – narratives.

06-Jan-2020 - 15-Jan-2023

Uncovering civilian war trauma among female Belgian refugees in Scotland during the First World War

Verdier, Caroline (Co-investigator) Jenkinson, Jacqueline (Principal Investigator)

This series of workshops and events arises from a Royal Society of Edinburgh collaborative workshops award of £8,261.
This project intends to stimulate research on the timely subject of civilian war trauma via a case study of female Belgian refugees in Scotland 1914-18. ‘Shell shock’ during that conflict is overwhelmingly associated with male frontline soldiers. Few academic studies consider the impact of warfare on female well-being (Poynter, 2008, McEwen, 2006) particularly on the health of female civilians (Grayzel, 2014). Among Scotland’s c. 20,000 wartime Belgian refugees were dozens who applied for poor law assistance, a preliminary analysis of these by the PI indicated 40% of female and 25% of male Belgian refugee applicants were diagnosed as suffering ‘insanity’, yet they presented with symptoms of trauma. Project outcomes will be a co-authored article, and outlining plans for a digital research resource of Belgian refugee medical case histories combining a diffuse range of primary sources.

01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2018

Trauma and Gender in 20th Century European Literature

Caballero Rodriguez, Beatriz (Principal Investigator) Verdier, Caroline (Co-investigator)

01-Jan-2015 - 31-Jan-2016

Funding from the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH)

Verdier, Caroline (Principal Investigator)

This funding (£500) was awarded for an archival trip to the Wellcome Trust Library in London to undertake further research in preparation for of the 2016 international Trauma and Gender in 20th Century European Literature conference.

01-Jan-2015 - 31-Jan-2015

Funding for Archival trip to the Wellcome Trust Library

Verdier, Caroline (Principal Investigator)

£500 Funding from the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare (CSHHH - Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare). This funding was awarded for an archival trip to the Wellcome Trust Library in London to undertake further research in preparation for of the 2016 international Trauma and Gender in 20th Century European Literature conference.

01-Jan-2015 - 01-Jan-2015

More projects