Jimia Boutouba is an associate professor of French and Francophone Studies, specializing in 20th and 21st century French & Francophone literature and cinema, and in 19th century colonial discourse.  She holds a BA and an MA in English from the University of Paris X, France, a certificate in Arabic from the Sorbonne University, and a Ph.D. in French Studies from the University of Southern California. Her scholarly work has arisen from her long-standing interests in cross-cultural encounters, minority discourses and in the intersections of political and cultural histories. Focusing on the intertwined histories of North Africa and France, she has explored works by Francophone women writers and filmmakers, examining the way their narratives address the violent legacies of the past and counteract the competitive discourses and practices of power to carve a new space of representation. The other major part of her research focuses on the articulation between race, gender and national representation in contemporary France. In particular, it explores how children born in France to immigrants redefine national belonging and enact new ways of relating to and imagining communities from within the French Republican tradition. She is committed to advocating this work in all her areas of teaching as a matter of social justice issue.