Cynthia Running-Johnson
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Cynthia Running-Johnson
Cynthia Running-Johnson
Professor of French
Joint Appointment in Gender and Women Studies
Office: (269) 387-3021
Email: c.running-johnson@wmich.edu
Office hours: Off campus until fall 2013
Location
819 Sprau Tower, Mail Stop 5338
Mailing Address
Department of World Languages and Literatures
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5338 USA
Education
Ph.D., French Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1985
M.A., French Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976
B.A., French, Art, and Education, Luther College, 1975
Background
Dr. Running-Johnson knew the joys of languages and art from an early age, accompanying her artist parents when they led study abroad trips in Europe. In college she learned to appreciate literature through her French classes. In graduate school, she worked in theater production along with her studies of French literature and culture. During her graduate studies she had the opportunity to teach as an assistant to English teachers at a high school in Lyon, France, and earned a certificate in art at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. Dr. Running-Johnson has taught French and Francophone language, literature, and culture at Western Michigan University since 1986. From 1984 to 1986, she taught French language and literature and humanities courses at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. She has regularly led WMU study abroad programs to France since 1989, founding the summer program in Lyon and serving on the committee that established our semester-long program in Besançon. From 2003 to 2012, she was chair of the department.
Research
A scholar of modern and contemporary French literature, Dr. Running-Johnson has published articles and contributed to books on modern French and Francophone drama and performance, French-language writing and the visual arts, and gender studies. In her current work she is focusing on the increasing engagement of French national theaters with Europe. She is also writing on the productions of distinguished French theater director Brigitte Jaques-Wajeman, chronicling the development of the director's next play.