Dr. Mathieu loves teaching and interacting with students. He was the proud recipient of Southwestern’s Teaching Award in 2023. He enjoys teaching all periods and aspects of the French language, literature, and culture. His main recent goal has been to strengthen students’ Intercultural Skills throughout the French curriculum. Intercultural Skills are the ability to understand a foreign cultural context, its norms, and its viewpoints and to reflect on one’s own culture by drawing comparisons with other cultural norms. Successful communication in the target language entails more than mastering grammar and vocabulary: knowledge of the other culture is essential.

Dr. Mathieu regularly teaches second-year French language classes. He also teaches upper-level courses on various aspects of French culture and society, such as History of French Civilization; Translation; Food & Health; World War Two France; Multi-Cultural France; Introduction to Modern Literature; or African Literature.

Dr. Mathieu is proud to be a professor at a small school like Southwestern, which emphasizes quality teaching, values student mentoring and advising, and encourages close interactions between students and faculty. At Southwestern, students are not anonymous individuals “lost” in a crowd of thousands. Faculty and students get to know each other.

Dr. Mathieu welcomes students to visit him in his office to talk in English or French about any aspect of the courses he teaches, the French program, study abroad in France, or anything else. This kind of one-on-one service is one of the great benefits of a Southwestern education.

Dr. Mathieu was born in Besancon, France. This small city is located in Eastern France, on the border with Switzerland. Studying abroad for a full year in Ireland during his undergraduate studies gave him a life-long passion for travel and experiencing foreign cultures. In addition to France, Ireland, and the USA, he has lived in Japan for two years and spent a full year traveling in South-East Asia.

Dr. Mathieu obtained his MA from Ohio University and his PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2007. 

He has been a professor of French at Southwestern University since 2007.

Links

• Austin International School
• French Consulate in Houston
• Alliance francaise d’Austin
• France Book List
• Food & Wine Documentaries
• Wine Booklist
• Food Booklist
• My Home Town: Besancon
• Crepes Recipe

As a scholar, Dr. Mathieu’s research and publications focus on Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century France, and more specifically on the early modern novel and on rhetoric.

Dr. Mathieu has published one book and nine scholarly articles.

Book: The Art of Aestheticizing Precepts: Rhetorical Exemplarity in the Early Modern Novel [L’Art d’esthétiser le précepte: L’exemplarité rhétorique dans le roman d’Ancien Régime]. Tubingen: Gunter Narr, 2012.

Articles:

“Lafayette’s The Princess of Clèves as an Early Modern Case-Study in Sexual Harassment”. Women in French Studies, 2025.

“Contrition, Confession, and Mortification Against Love as a Passion in Lafayette’s Princesse de Clèves”. French Review. Vol. 95, 4 (2022): 51-64.

“Women, Politics and the Salic Law in Marie-Catherine de Villedieu’s Nitétis”. French Review. Vol. 90, 4 (2017): 119-131.

“An All-Divine Love: Conjugal Love Versus Romantic Love in Lafayette’s Princesse de Clèves”. Cahiers du dix-septième: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Vol. XIX, (2021).

« Louanges empoisonnées » : Deception, Persuasion and Education in The Princess of Clèves [« Louanges empoisonnées » : feinte, persuasion et éducation dans La Princesse de Clèves.]” Papers on Seventeenth-Century French Literature. Ed. Charlotte Trinquet. Vol. XLII, 83 (2015): 341-53.

“Madame de Clèves and Courtesy: Analyzing The Princess of Clèves in the Light of a Treatise on Civility. [Mme de Clèves modèle de bienséances: Lecture de La Princesse de Clèves à la lumière d’un traité de civilité.]” Women in French Studies. Select Essays from Women in French International Conference, 2012. Ed. Mark Cruse (2015): 42-58.

“Early Modern Women Writers in a History of Ideas Survey Course.” Teaching Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century French Women Writers. Ed. Faith Beasley. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2011. 317-25.

“Panegyric, Sacred and Exemplarity in Racine’s Bérénice [Panégyrique, sacré et exemplarité dans Bérénice de Racine.]” French Review. Vol. 82, 4 (2009): 788-99.

“Mme de Lafayette and the Human Condition: Pascalian Reading of The Princess of Clèves [Mme de Lafayette et la condition humaine: Lecture pascalienne de La Princesse de Clèves.]” Cahiers du dix-septième: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Vol. XII, 1 (2008): 61–85.

“The Rhetorical and Moral Pact: Exemplarity and the French Classical Novel [Le Pacte rhétorique et moral: l’exemplarité et le roman à l’âge classique.]” Cincinnati Romance Review 27 (2008): 99-112.

“A Female Refusal Denied: The case of the Princesse de Clèves” presented at the Women in French conference, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, March 2024.

“Research Method for An All-Divine Love: Conjugal Love Versus Romantic Love in Lafayette’s Princesse de Clèves” presented at the 42^nd annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, University of Rochester, New York, October 2023.

Paper “Racial Marginalization and Romanticism in Claire de Duras’s Ourika” presented at the 75^th annual Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association Convention, Albuquerque, October 2022.

Chair of the Women In French session entitled “Violence against Women in French and Francophone Literature and Film” at the 2021 Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association convention, Las Vagas, Nevada, November 2021.

“An All-Divine Love: Conjugal Love Versus Romantic Love in Lafayette’s Princesse de Clèves” presented at the 51^st annual Northeast Modern Languages Association Convention, Boston, March 2020.

Chair of the special Women In French session entitled “Women’s Infidelity” at the 2019 Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association convention, San Diego, California, November 2019.

Paper “Seduction or Harassment? The Case of Lafayette’s Princesse de Clèves [Séduction ou harcèlement? Le cas de La Princesse de Clèves]” presented at the 50^th annual Northeast Modern Languages Association convention, Georgetown University, Washington DC, March 2019.

Chair of the special Women In French session entitled “Married Female Characters of French Women Authors” at the 2018 Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association convention, Bellingham, Washington, November 2018.

Chair of the session entitled “French Literature Before 1800” at the 2017 Rocky Mountains Modern Languages Association convention, Spokane, Washington, October 2017.

“Confession as a Cure to Seduction in La Princesse de Clèves [« La confession comme remède à la séduction dans La Princesse de Clèves.]” Paper presented at the 35^th annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, November 2016.

“Secrets of France Unveiled: Teaching Intercultural Skills”. Keynote address delivered at the biannual meeting of the American Association of Teachers of French’s Central Texas Chapter, Saint Edwards University, Austin, Texas, October 2016.

“Eloquence, Espionnage and Subversion in Marie-Catherine de Villedieu’s Les Désordres de l’amour [Eloquence, espionnage et subversion au féminin dans Les Désordres de l’amour de Marie-Catherine de Villedieu.]” Paper presented at the 113^th annual Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, November 2015.

“« Louanges Empoisonnées » : Rhetoric, Education and Erudition in La Princesse de Clèves [« Louanges empoisonnées » : rhétorique, éducation et érudition dans La Princesse de Clèves.]” Paper presented at the 33^rd annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, Western University, Ontario, Canada, October 2014.

“Political Crime Versus Respect for the Law in Villedieu’s Nitétis [Crime politique contre respect des lois dans Nitétis de Mme de Villedieu.]” Paper presented at the 32^nd annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, California State University Long Beach, November 2013.

Rousseau’s Novelistic and Rhetorical Genius [Rousseau ou le genie de la rhétorique Romanesque].” Paper presented at the 66^th Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, Lexington, April 2013.

Chair of the session entitled “Women and Philosophy in the 17^th and 18^th Century” at the 2012 Women in French conference, University of Arizona, Phoenix, February 2012.

“Civility, Good Manners and the Regulation of Affects in Mme de Lafayette’s La Princesse de Clèves [Civilité, bienséances et régulation des affects dans La Princesse de Clèves de Mme de Lafayette.]” Paper presented at the 2012 Women in French conference, University of Arizona, Phoenix, February 2012.

“To See and to Know: The Rhetoric and Didactics of the Image in the French Classical Novel [Voir et savoir : Rhétorique et didactique de l’image dans le roman classique.]” Paper presented at the 30^th annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, University of Kentucky, Lexington, November 2011.

“Mme de Clèves and Courtesy: Analyzing La Princesse de Clèves in the Light of a Treatise on Civility [Mme de Clèves modèle de bienséances: Lecture de La Princesse de Clèves à la lumière d’un traité de civilité.]” Paper presented at the 29^th annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, October 2010.

Chair of the session entitled “Unmasking Aesthetics” at the 16^th annual Carolina Conference on Romance Literatures, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, March 2010.

“Libertine Subversion and Parody of the French Classical Esthetic in Crébillon’s Les Lettres de la marquise [Subversion libertine et parodie de l’esthétique classique dans Les Lettres de la marquise de Crébillon Fils.]” Paper presented at the 16^th annual Carolina Conference on Romance Literatures, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, March 2010.

“The Rhetoric of Exemplum in the Novel: The Discordant Harmony of Literary Entertainment and Instruction [La Rhétorique de l’exemplum dans le roman : L’harmonie discordante du « plaire » et de l’« instruire ».]” Paper presented at the 41^st annual conference of the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature, New York University, New York, May 2009.

“Staging Louis XIV’s Power of Divine Right: Legitimizing Absolutist Monarchy in Racine’s Bérénice.” Paper presented at the regional conference on “Power and its Influences”, James Madison University, April 2009.

Chair of the session entitled “Appetites and Desires” at the 40^th annual conference of the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature, Lafayette College, Easton, April 2008.

“Mme de Lafayette and the Triumph of Feminine Reason: Refusal and Retreat in La Princesse de Clèves [Mme de Lafayette et le triomphe de la raison au féminin: Le Refus et la retraite dans La Princesse de Clèves.]” Paper presented at the 2008 Women in French conference, University of north Texas, Fort Worth, April 2008.

“Variations on the Theme of Love: Mme de Villedieu and the Rhetoric of Exemplarity in Les Désordres de l’amour [Variations sur le même « t’aime »: Mme      de Villedieu rhétoricienne de l’exemple dans Les Désordres de l’amour.]” Paper presented at the international colloquium on Femmes, rhétorique et éloquence sous l’Ancien Régime, University of Québec at Rimouski, September 2007.

“Exemplarity and Anthropological Determinism Versus « natural light » in Descartes’s Discourse on the Method [Exemplarité et déterminisme anthropologique contre « lumière naturelle » dans Le Discours de la méthode de Descartes.]” Paper presented at the 39^th annual conference of the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, May 2007.

“Wholehearted Passion: Pascalian Reading of La Princesse de Clèves [La Passion corps et âme: lecture pascalienne de La Princesse de Clèves.]” Paper presented at the 25^th annual conference of the Society for Interdisciplinary French Seventeenth-Century Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa City, October 2006.

“Rhetorical and Moral Alchemy: Exemplarity and Novelistic Genres in the French Classical Era [Alchimie rhétorique et morale: l’exemplarité et les genres romanesques à l’âge classique.]” Paper presented at the 26^th Cincinnati Conference on Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, May 2006.