Gerard Keubeung, Ph.D.

An empathetic and enthusiastic leader who takes students on a trip inside other cultures when teaching French.

Empathetic | Enthusiastic | Patient: Teaching languages and literature is like having a trip inside other cultures, especially when Gerard Keubeung is teaching French to his students at McDaniel. His classes open a whole new world of possibilities to McDaniel students. After teaching French at a high school in Cameroon, Keubeung pursued a graduate degree in French Studies in the United States in 2011, completing a master’s degree at the University of Oregon and then his doctorate degree at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Prior to coming to the Hill, Keubeung served as a visiting assistant professor at Bowdoin College in Maine. At McDaniel, he teaches French language courses from the beginning to the advanced level as well as classes in French or in English on Francophone cultures and the French-speaking world.
What is the most challenging part in learning a new language like French?: Learning a new language requires patience and dedication. I must confess that French is a very rigid language with grammar structures, many regular and irregular conjugations, and a number of idiomatic expressions to master. I will say that the challenge is to learn, understand, and apply those structures when talking. You must practice and practice again! At McDaniel, we start with our students at the most basic level, such as the alphabet and basic greetings. That helps students for those who were not comfortable with the language in high school to get back into the core structures of the language and get to a level of confidence they did not think they could attain.
When students take courses in World Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, what do you hope they take away from the experience?: A foreign language always carries experiences, cultures, new ways of thinking, and different perspectives. I would like each student to benefit from those opportunities. A world language, literature and culture course should possess and share the diversity that is the essential even beyond our department and the Hill.
You’ve contributed to numerous publications. Which holds a special place for you and why?: All these publications are small pieces of a big picture to my intellectual project, which is to analyze the conditions of African subjects transitioning from the colonial to the postcolonial period with all the difficulties they encounter. The book project I am currently working on entitled, “From Native to Banlieue Dweller: Figures of Alterity in Francophone African Novels,” holds a special place in my heart for me because it gives an overview of the relationship between a former colonial master and colonial subjects from the colonial encounter until now.

Directory Profile for Gerard Keubeung

Hobbies

He loves reading fiction books and autobiographies.

Films

When not reading, he is watching documentaries.

Activities

He loves hiking.

Gerard Keubeung, Ph.D.

About Prof. Keubeung

Outside of the Classroom