Antoine Sassine
Antoine Sassine, Ph.D.
(retired in August 2015)
Professor of Francophone and Romance Studies and Mediterranean Cultures
Mount Royal University
Calgary, Alberta
E-mail:[email protected]
Professor Sassine has a Doctorate Degree in French Language and Literature with a Minor in Spanish from Wayne State University (Detroit, Michigan), a Master’s Degree and a B.A. Degree (Honours) in French Language and Literature from the University of Windsor (Windsor, Ontario).
He moved to Mount Royal University in 1989. He served as Chair of the Department of Languages and Cultures from August 2005 to August 2008. He is presently a Professor of Francophone and Mediterranean Studies.
Presently, he is the Chair of the Faculty of Arts Diversity Committee and the Chair of the Languages Articulation Committee which is an advisory group to Alberta Advanced Education and the Alberta Council on Admissions and Transfers.
He has developed and taught courses on French Literature and Culture, French Language and composition, Francophone literatures, Classical and conversational Arabic, Quebec Culture and Literature, and Mediterranean (Arab, French and Spanish) cultures.
He is currently the Chair of the Languages Articulation Committee, which is a part of the Alberta Council of Admissions and Transfers in the Ministry of Alberta Advanced Education
He has been a member of the following MRU committee: Arts Council, Scholarly Pursuits Committee, Special Events Committee, Academic Development Instructional Projects Committee, and Professional Development Committee. He has also been the Coordinator of French Studies, and of Romance Studies course.
In the springs of 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014, he led a group of MRU students (ROST 4401 – Mediterranean Cultural Discovery – 3 credits)on a 21-day interdisciplinary Study Tour of France, Spain and Morocco. The next study tour is scheduled for May 2015.
He has published articles on:
French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and French poet Pierre Torreilles
Quebec writers Louis Fréchette, Gabrielle Roy, Saint-Denys Garneau
Francophone writers Amin Maalouf, Georges Schehadé, Andrée Chedid, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Nadine Ltaif
And an article on "les Symboles de la dualité identitaire canadienne".
He wrote biographies in French on 9 Egyptian women writers in the International Encyclopedia of Creative Women which was published in Paris in spring 2013.
He interviewed playwright and poet Georges Schehadé and Canadian novelist Nancy Huston.
He published interviews with writers Amin Maalouf, Andrée Chedid and Nadine Ltaif.
In addition, he has presented numerous research papers on different authors and poets such as Anne Hébert, Nancy Huston, on Aboriginal questions, the status of the French language in Lebanon and on the American influence on Canadian identity.
He is presently working on two articles: “Cultural Symbols of Native Canadians and Native Berbers” and “The Question of Identity in Amin Maalouf’s Works” and editing a book on The Theme of Exile in African Francophone Literatures.
He is a member of the “Comité Scientifique International” of the literary magazine Nouvelles Études Francophones, published by the International Council of Francophone Studies, and in charge of Middle East book and article reviews for the same magazine.
He is a member of the following Canadian and international professional associations:
The Canadian Studies Association, the International Council of Francophone Studies, the French Association of Canadian Studies, the Middle East Studies Association.
Originally from Lebanon, Dr. Sassine travels extensively every summer to present papers at international conferences.
He has visited France and the United States many times, in addition to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, Netherlands, Romania, Tunisia, Turkey, Spain, and Syria.