Mary Anne Lewis Cusato

Mary Anne Lewis Cusato is an Associate Professor in the Department of World Languages & Cultures at Ohio Wesleyan University, specializing in French language and Francophone cultural studies. Joining OWU in 2013 after earning her Ph.D. from Yale University, she achieved tenure in 2019 and received the Sherwood Dodge Shankland Teaching Award in 2020. Her expertise spans multicultural France, postcolonial theory, and the global Francophone world, with courses examining empire, resistance, migration, and cinema across French-speaking regions.

Her academic foundation includes:

• B.B.A., University of Notre Dame
• M.A., University of Minnesota
• Ph.D. in French, Yale University (2013)

Dr. Lewis Cusato's research centers on Postcolonial Studies, Francophone Literature, and Cultural Studies, with deep engagement in North African Studies, Maghrebi culture, and contemporary French identity formation. She investigates how Americanization and ethnic minorities have reshaped French society since 1954, particularly through Mediterranean migrations and diaspora communities. Her current book project, 'Multiculturalism à la mode: Americanization, Cultural Minorities, and the Reshaping of Contemporary French Identity (1954-2021)', synthesizes these decades-long dynamics.

Her scholarly output reveals a distinctive interdisciplinary approach merging Digital Humanities with critical cultural analysis. Recent publications address experiential pedagogy for African studies, revolutionary aesthetics in Algerian literature, and publishing's role in Maghrebi cultural production, consistently foregrounding issues of representation, migration, and identity in the Francophone world.

Her contributions have earned significant recognition:

• Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Teaching (2020)
• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute Participation (2014)
• Thomas E. Wenzlau Faculty Development Award
• Five Colleges of Ohio Mellon Digital Scholarship Grant

Dr. Lewis Cusato excels in mentoring students toward prestigious research funding for projects on Mediterranean migrations, French Caribbean identity, and cultural representations of terrorism. She has led student cohorts to Martinique, Guadeloupe, Paris, Marseille, and North African cities through OWU's Theory-to-Practice grants and NEH-funded initiatives, transforming classroom learning into immersive global experiences.

As co-founder and co-director of OWU's Global Studies Institute and Palmer Global Scholars Program, she drives institutional efforts to internationalize curricula and expand student global engagement across all disciplines.