Dr. Laurel Cummins earned a Bachelor’s degree in French at Grinnell College; two Master's degrees from the University of Michigan, in French and in Linguistics; and a PhD in French from Indiana University, with a thesis on the evolution of authorial voice in Colette’s corpus of semi-autobiographical writings.

Recent publications have focused on selected short stories of Linda Lê, in a reading drawing on postcolonial and gender theory; Assia Djebar’s exploration of language, history, and memory in Le blanc de l’Algérie; and an analysis of the child figure in Colette’s construction of self in key semi-autobiographical writings.

Having previously taught at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) and Indiana State University, Dr. Cummins joined the faculty at Bronx Community College in 2004.

As well as literature, she enjoys teaching all levels of French language.

She has served as Chairperson of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, and currently serves as Book Review Editor for the journal Women in French Studies.