Annie Jouan-Westlund obtained her Licence in English Literature and Maîtrise in American Civilization at the Université de Nantes, France. Her American career started in 1989 when she came to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to teach French and be a French Teaching Assistant at The French House. She became the Resident Director of The French House and earned an MA in French Literature and a doctorate, which she obtained with Distinction in 1997. Her research bears mostly on Twentieth-century and Contemporary French Literature, specifically autobiography and self-writing with a strong interest in the risk involved in writing the self. Her thesis entitled "Coming to self-consciousness through writing: Simone de Beauvoir and Serge Doubrovsky", focused on the narrative strategies used by the two authors in their autobiographical works and compared the different ways in which Beauvoir and Doubrovsky have been able to accommodate their self-reflexive works to literary forms.

Annie Jouan-Westlund published over 30 articles and book chapters on a wide range of French and Francophone authors (Serge Doubrovsky, Simone de Beauvoir, George Sand, Annie Ernaux, Andreï Makine, Pierre Jourde, Didier Eribon, Ivan Jablonka), French cinema and TV series. She published in The French Review, Contemporary French & Francophone Studies, L'Esprit Créateur, Simone de Beauvoir Studies, French Politics, Culture & Society, Roman 20/50, Modernités, Recherches et Travaux, Nouvelles Francographies, Genre en séries: Télévision, cinéma, média, Cahiers d'Etudes sur la Représentation, Literaport: Revue annuelle de littérature francophone, Cultures & Autofictions, Auto/Fiction, French Literature Series, Romance Notes, Romance Languages Annual. She gave papers in the United States and around the world (France, Hungary, Morocco, Canada, England) at International conferences such as Colloque de Cerisy, Maison de la Recherche de Sorbonne Université, Université de Bordeaux-Montaigne, Conseil International des Etudes Francophones, ACFAS International Conference, The Contemporary French Civilization Conference, Maison des Sciences de L'homme-Université Blaise Pascal, The Modern Language Association Conference, The MMLA /NEMLA/SMLA Conferences, The International Simone de Beauvoir Colloquium, the Twentieth-Century French Studies International Conference, the French Literature Conference, the Purdue University Conference on Romance Languages, Twentieth Century Literature Conference, Women in French International Conference, Société des Professeurs français et francophones d'Amérique, AATF Convention, OFLA conference. She was invited to participate in French literary programs on French radio France Culture.

Her current research interest focuses on the friction between history and fiction, literary representations of real life stories, gender and social constructions in first person narratives. When she does not teach, read or write, Annie Jouan-Westlund enjoys going to see films and plays. She also cultivates a passion for traveling, cooking and gardening.