Masha Belenky

Masha Belenky is a Professor of French and Director of the Centre d'Excellence at George Washington University (GW). She holds affiliations with GW's Global Food Institute and serves on the executive committee of the MLA's 19th-century French literature forum. Her academic leadership includes former roles as co-editor of Dix-Neuvième (2018-2023) and H-France's forum editor (2018-2021).

Dr. Belenky earned her M.A. from NYU and Ph.D. in French Literature from Columbia University. Her research focuses on 19th-century French literature, urban culture, and cultural studies. Notable publications include Engine of Modernity: The Omnibus and Urban Culture in Nineteenth-Century Paris (2019) and co-edited volumes like Popular Literature from Nineteenth-Century France (2021). Her work bridges textual analysis with sociohistorical contexts, examining themes like jealousy, class representation, and modernity's emergence.

Teaching highlights include courses on French cultural politics, power dynamics in 19th-century media, and Jewish identity in modern France. Her recent scholarship explores intersections between food culture and French identity through the Cultural Politics of Food in France course. Active in academic service, she co-convenes the NCFS Unbound virtual book series.