Academic biography

Dr Dervila Cooke teaches in French and Francophone studies at SALIS (Dublin City University). Her research interests lie primarily in highly contemporary studies in French-speaking culture, mainly for France and Québec. Dr Cooke edited the 2016 thematic issue of the journal Comparative Literature and Culture on new work on immigration in contemporary writing in France, Québec and Ireland. Her initial research focused on the work of French writer Patrick Modiano, on whom she has published widely, including a monograph on his (auto)biographical fictions,, and a special text-image issue of French Cultural Studies. As of 2023, she has two monographs forthcoming with Palgrave MacMillan on narratives of dual culture youth in France and Québec. The first of these is focused on Indigenous, Migrant and Allophone Youth in Québec, while the second is focused on Life Writing and Transcultural Youth by authors of dual culture in France. Dr Cooke has a strong interest in Canada, particularly in Québec. She has been secretary of the Association of Canadian Studies in Ireland since summer 2018. In April 2016  she received the Prix de la délégation québécoise (Irlande) for a project on  memories of childhood in recent autobiographical writing in Québec. 

Dr Cooke is also interested in ecocritical approaches and in hands-on environmentalism. She has published on approaches to Newfoundland's overfishing crisis, in The Shipping News, and is working on expanding this area of her research. In 2021, she initiated and led the SeasonsPace project, funded by the IRCHSS. For this, Dr Cooke organised a series of seminars and events, and created links between French ,UK and Irish community gardens. Working alongside staff in the Institute of Education, the project also led and oversaw Growing and Thinking work with Irish primary and secondary schools, raising awareness of what is in season locally through hands-on growing projects and a programme of reflections on carbon footprint and food miles. 

Dr Cooke’s research interests lie in French-speaking culture, mainly the highly contemporary period, including life-writing, fiction, film, documentary work, urban studies, photography, and some song. She welcomes supervision applications from graduate students in accounts of childhood and youth (and life-writing in general); --representations of migration and of immigrant experiences;-- hybrid identities in France and Quebec in literature and film or creative visual or verbal art---eco-criticism; ---urban studies of Paris or Montreal

Other topics may also be of interest but must have a strong French element. She does not supervise doctoral students on areas outside of French or Francophone literature, unless there is French and Francophone int