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Why Did I Want to Teach a Black Expatriate Writers Study Travel Course in France?

Matthew Teutsch
6 min readApr 2, 2023

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St. Paul de Vence, France

I’m not sure when I started thinking about leading a study travel trip to France; I only know that I really started thinking about when I was on the job market following my graduation in 2014. In some of my cover letters, if I discussed study travel trips, I would always mention my desire construct a course on African American expatriate writers in France. This year I’m finally getting the opportunity to teach that course. I’ve written, previously, about the syllabus for the “Black Expatriate Writers in France” course, and today I just want to take some time and walk through why I’ve always wanted to teach this course, my construction of the course, and why I’m excited about the opportunities that this course provides for students.

Looking back, I think that my interest in teaching this course arose during my PhD program when I had to show competency in a foreign language by translating a journal article and writing about it. Being in South Louisiana, and working on African American literature, my professor chose an article on Victor Séjour and Armand Lanusse’s Les Cenelles, an edited collection of Black poets in New Orleans. Being from Louisiana, I had always known about the French influence on the state, but reading about Séjour’s work, specifically his short story “Le Mulâtre,” and Les Cenelles, led me…

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Matthew Teutsch
Matthew Teutsch

Written by Matthew Teutsch

Here, you will find reflections on African American, American, and Southern Literature, American popular culture and politics, and pedagogy.

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