George Sand’s French novel Indiana touches on inequitable marriage laws during the 19th century as well as class and social restraints placed on women during that time. Dr. Margaret McColley, assistant professor of French at Rhodes, is traveling to the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius this month to present a talk on using the novel to teach geography. McColley will address the Conseil International d′Études Francophones attended by scholars from all over the world.
George Sand was actually the pseudonym of French writer Amandine Aurore Dupin who described some of the places inIndiana based on travels by friend Jules Néraud.
At Rhodes, McColley teaches courses in language and literature and is interested in the intersections of travel writing, colonial studies, and environmental studies. She also will be traveling to the French colony of Reunion this month to research the confluence of environmentalism and artistic production.