Francie Cate

Francie Cate serves as the Kenan Professor of Modern Languages & Literatures at William & Mary's College of Arts & Sciences, where she has been a faculty member since 1986. She currently chairs the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures (since January 2022) and directs the Cádiz summer program she founded in 2003, while also advising the Semester in Sevilla program.

Educational background:

• PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Her research pioneers Memory Studies within Hispanic contexts, specializing in narratives of trauma during Spain's Civil War and Franco dictatorship. Through cultural history and translation studies, she examines how communities process collective grief through mourning practices, resistance strategies, and activist archiving—particularly regarding the 'disappeared' under authoritarian regimes. Her work bridges historical analysis with contemporary social justice movements.

Recent scholarship demonstrates consistent focus on marginalized historical narratives, culminating in the 2024 monograph analyzing grassroots memorialization of Franco's victims. This extends her award-winning research on Spanish exiles in French concentration camps, revealing patterns in how traumatic memory shapes cultural identity across generations.

Professional recognition:

• Award for Spanish Culture behind Barbed-Wire: Memory and Representation of the French Concentration Camps (1939-1945)

As an academic leader, Professor Cate mentors students through immersive study abroad programs while editing the 'Faro de la Memoria' book series for the University of Cádiz. She is currently on Fall 2025 research leave to advance her scholarship and will host the 'Spain ~ Andalucia in a Parador' faculty trip in November 2026.