Lauren Ravalico, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of French | Chair of the Department of French, Francophone, and Italian Studies | Affiliate Faculty - Women's and Gender Studies
Ravalico specializes in French Romanticism and Exoticism. Her scholarship has appeared in The Comparatist, French Studies, George Sand Studies, Nineteenth-Century French Studies, Women in French, and the edited volume Staël’s Philosophy of the Passions. Her current research examines feminized space in 18th- and 19th-century cultural production.
She likes experimenting with high-impact teaching practices, often using food to enhance students' global perspectives, especially in language learning. Ravalico directed the "Global Foodways" initiative, supported by a South Carolina Humanities major grant. Her related work on critical food studies was published by Routledge in 2022. She recently curated several “talk and taste” cultural events on campus, supported by a Mellon Foundation grant. She also designed a French 101 first-year experience course featuring field trips to French and West African restaurants in Charleston.
She speaks French and Italian and has studied German, Latin, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish. She also claims fluency in the non-verbal language of her dog.
Education
Ph.D., Harvard University
B.A., Cornell University
Honors and Awards
ExCEL Award, Outstanding Faculty Member in the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs (2020)
Press and Media
The College Today: Mellon Foundation Award
The College Today: Beginning French Through Food
The College Today: Global Foodways Adds Cultural Perspective
Skirt! magazine: Global Foodways
Skirt! magazine: Praying for Surrender