Biography
Louisa Mackenzie grew up in Scotland and did their graduate work in Berkeley, California before moving to the UW in 2002. They have research interests in early modern and contemporary Francophone and Anglophone culture, ecocriticism, Animal Studies, and gender studies, from a comparative perspective. Their first book The Poetry of Place (2011) is an interdisciplinary study of landscape and ideology in 16th-century poetry, articulating cartographic and land use histories with literary criticism. The book won an honorable mention from the Modern Language Association. With Stephanie Posthumus, they co-edited a volume of academic essays on Animal Studies, French Thinking About Animals (2015). Their focus then shifted to transgender and non-binary identity formation, including pedagogical implications in the language classroom, and they have collaborated with Vinay Swamy at Vassar College on several related events and publications, including book-length edited collections in English (H-France Salon, "Legitimizing Iel", 2019,) and in French ("Devenir non-binaire", Le Manuscrit, 2022). They teach a broad variety of classes on many periods and themes, including science fiction, the "idea of Europe", and comparative gender studies. Community activities include volunteering with the GSBA scholarship fund, providing academic scholarships to LGBT-identified students. Louisa has also served as a College Board Commissioner for AP French. They are very involved in shared governance at the UW, and will serve as Vice-Chair for the Faculty Senate in 2023-24, and Chair in 2024-25, looking forward to working with ASUW to represent student and faculty interests to the administration. Particular priorities will include support for inclusive pedagogy, and better recognition of the often-hidden work of service and community-building.