Hons B.A., French Language and Literature, Brescia University College
Previous Work Experience
Huron University College, Part-Time Instructor
King’s University College, Part-Time Instructor
Western University, Instructor (Limited Term)
Collège Boréal, Instructor (Adult FSL)
Huron University College Writing Centre, Writing Assistant
Representative Publications
As Author
Kirk, Heather. “Le suicide comme revendication d’indépendance dans La Vraye Didon de
Boisrobert”. Papers on French Seventeenth Century Literature XLII.81. June 2015. Kirk, Heather. “Brutalité, vengeance et repentance : le viol dans l’œuvre d’Alexandre
Hardy”. Le viol et le ravissement à la Renaissance. Le Verger 4. June 2013. Book Review Kirk, Heather. “The Unbridled Tongue: Babble and Gossip in Renaissance France by Emily
Butterworth (review)”. French Forum, vol. 43 no. 2, 2018, pp. 347-349.
As Editor
Kirk, Heather and Jessy Neau, eds. “Introduction.” L’Émotion et la danse/Emotion and Dance. Le monde français du XVIIIe siècle2.1 (Dec. 2017): 1-5.
Representative Conferences
“‘Notre sexe est fort vindicatif’ : les femmes tragiques sous la plume de Tristan
L’Hermite”, Innovation, 37th Annual Conference of the Société d’études pluridisciplinaires
du XVIIe siècle français (SE-17). University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte
(NC), 14-16 October 2019.
“La rhétorique du désenchantement chez Tristan L’Hermite”, Enchantement et désillusion en France au XVIIe siècle, 49th Annual Congress of the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French
Literature, Salt Lake City, UT (Hosted by Brigham Young University), 16-19 May, 2019.
“La Querelle du Cid et la critique institutionnalisée”, L’honnêteté au Grand Siècle: belles manières et Belles Lettres, 48th Annual Congress of the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French
Literature. Università del Salento, Lecce (Italy), 27-30 June 2018.
“Lessons from the Writing Centre: Essay Dossiers in French Literature”, Interrupting Pedagogies? Campuses Connected: The Affiliate Teaching and Learning Conference. King’s University
College, London (ON), 22 February 2018.
“Exemple et contre-exemple de la vertu féminine sous la plume de Tristan L’Hermite
: Mariane et Salomé”, Passages, 35th Annual Conference of the Société d’études pluridisciplinaires
du XVIIe siècle français (SE-17). Mills College, Oakland (CA) and Stanford University,
Palo Alto (CA), 2-4 November 2017.
“La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers de Charles de l’Espine (1614) : une recréation théâtrale de l’épisode ovidien”, Création, recréation, et récréation : pré-modernité et post-modernité, 46th Annual Congress of the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Literature.
Rollins College, Orlando (FL), 1-3 June 2016.
“‘L’échafaud mortel’ et la mélancolie, ou le théâtre de la cruauté du premier XVIIe siècle:
le cas de Lucrèce, ou l’adultère puny d’Alexandre Hardy”, In the Shadow of the Sun King, 34th Annual Conference of the Société d’études pluridisciplinaires du XVIIe siècle
français (SE-17). Rutgers University, New Brunswick (NJ), 5-7 November 2015.
Areas of Teaching
French Literature (Introduction to Literature, Renaissance, 17th-Century, 19th-Century,
20th-Century, and Franco-Canadian Literatures)
French Culture (History, Art, Politics)
French Language
French-English/English-French Translation
Research Specialization(s)
Seventeenth Century French literature, specifically:
Renaissance and Pre-Academic theatre (1570-1640)
Tragedy and tragicomedy
Authorship, authors, copyright, publication
Polemics, quarrels, rumour, and gossip
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Writing self-efficacy and anxiety
Publication
Awards and Recognition
Fellowship at the Mellon Summer Institute of French Palaeography, Newberry Library
(2021)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant (2019-2021)
ALT Centre Faculty Scholar (2019-2020)
Other Relevant Information
Founding Editor, Scholaris (SoTL journal)
President (2019-2022) of the Société ontarienne de chercheurs en Ancien Régime (SOCAR)