Juliet O'Brien

Dr. Juliet O'Brien is a Lecturer of French at the University of British Columbia (UBC), based in the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies within the Faculty of Arts. She has been at UBC since 2009, previously teaching at Princeton University, Trinity College Dublin, and University College Dublin. Her research focuses on Medieval French and Occitan poetry, with a particular interest in the interplay between medieval and post-medieval textuality, digital pedagogy, and applied medievalism. She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University (2006), and B.A. degrees from the University of Manchester (2000) and the University of Cambridge (1994).

Dr. O'Brien’s teaching spans French language, literature, and culture, emphasizing innovative approaches to learning that integrate digital technologies and interactive methods. Her current research project explores 'Consent in medieval Occitan poetry' and its relevance to 21st-century contexts. She has designed numerous courses at UBC, including FREN 101/102 (Beginners’ French), FREN 215 (Oral French Practice), and courses in Medieval Studies, among others. Her work also includes translation projects, such as the 13th-century Old Occitan Life of Sainte Énimie.

Her interests extend to speculative fictions, medieval marginalia, graphic novels, and ecocriticism, reflecting her broader engagement with hybridity, migrancy, and cosmopolitanism shaped by her multicultural upbringing in Belgium.