Scott Gunther

Scott Gunther is a Professor of French and Francophone Studies in the Department of French, Francophone, and Italian Studies at Wellesley College.

His educational background includes:

• B.A. from Cornell University
• J.D. from New York University
• D.E.A. from École Normale Supérieure Paris
• Ph.D. from New York University

Professor Gunther specializes in contemporary French society and culture with interdisciplinary research spanning:

• Gender and sexuality politics in France
• Mass media regulation and cultural production
• France's evolving role in the European Union
• Franco-American legal and cultural comparisons
• Sociology of French bourgeois cultural consumption
• Gender-inclusive language reforms in French
• Comparative legal frameworks between France and the US

His work critically examines tensions between French republican values and social change, particularly regarding LGBTQ+ rights and linguistic evolution.

His scholarly output includes analyses of sexuality regulation, queer political movements, bourgeois cultural tastes, and gender-neutral language possibilities in French, culminating in his book The Elastic Closet: A History of Homosexuality in France, 1942-Present which frames LGBTQ+ history through France's unique republican lens.

Teaching integrates methodologies from sociology, legal studies, anthropology, history, and cultural theory to explore modern French identity formation across institutional and everyday contexts.