Magdala Lissa Jeudy

MAGDALA LISSA JEUDY is an Assistant Professor of French in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She holds a Ph.D. in Romance Studies from Cornell University with a focus on nineteenth-century French Literature and specializations in the history of medicine, disability studies, and biopolitics.

In her research, she examines how French realist and naturalist novels transmit medical narratives, complicating our notions of normal, which have defined modern medical practices and philosophies from the nineteenth century to the present. Her book projects include developing a theory of care that aims to advance conversations about healthcare disparities and equity, and subsequently tracing a history of reproductive, childbirth, and maternal work. They carry the objective of disrupting medical constructs of disability, gender, and race.

As a Haitian American and first-generation student, she is deeply committed to accessible learning at all levels of higher education. In her teaching, she fosters a pedagogy that is a process of inquiry, inciting students to question their deeply entrenched assumptions, reconfigure concepts of normalcy, and accept the unique circumstances of others leading to recognition and celebration of diversity.