Sandrine Simeon

Sandrine Simeon, PhD

Faculty - Full-Time
Image of Sandrine Simeon.
Associate Professor of French Language and Culture
Director of the Language and Culture Program
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Originally from Paris, I completed my undergraduate studies at the university of Paris III, the Sorbonne Nouvelle. I then pursued a master’s degree in film at Concordia University in Montréal, and worked in the film industry. Returning to my academic endeavors, I obtained additional degrees in French and Francophone Studies from Penn State University, where I wrote a doctoral dissertation on the filming of live theater.

My research continues to focus on “film-théâtre” and the teaching methods of theater through film. The practice of filming theater for digital distribution and archival preservation has expanded in recent years; venues to broadcast these recordings have proliferated, and audiences welcome the mediation of the screens enabling them opportunity to remotely attend theatrical productions. Yet, to date, a monograph has yet to be published on the aesthetics of filming theater, its theoretical relevance and its applicability in academia. My book-length study, Film-Theater: Ethics and Aesthetics of Filming Theater, intends to address this gap.

  • Pennsylvania State University–PhD in French and Francophone Studies 
  • Pennsylvania State University–MA in French and Francophone Studies 
  • Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris III–MA Cinema Studies
  • First-year French I
  • Second-year French II
  • Advanced French Composition
  • Advanced French Conversation
  • Intermediate French Conversation for Study Abroad
  • Culture History of the French-Speaking World
  • Women, Space and the Image in Francophone Contexts
  • Adaptation: page, stage, screen
  • Culture History of French Cinema
  • French literature (course on Love)
  • The Art of Filming Theater
  • Film Theory
  • Filming theater
  • French theater and literature
  • Film aesthetics
  • Early modern French literature

Edited volume:

  • « À vos écrans : la scène Anglophone en 2D » Siméon, Sandrine & Agathe Torti-Alcayaga, eds. Coup de Théâtre 31, RADAC, 2017.
  • Les marges du Soleil. Siméon, Sandrine & Agathe Torti-Alcayaga, eds. (forthcoming, L’Harmattan June 2023).

Articles:

  • « Le film-théâtre, « vrai film de cinéma » ou film hors-norme ? » Les marges du Soleil, Siméon, Sandrine & Agathe Torti-Alcayaga, eds. (forthcoming June 2023).
  • “Is it Live? Liveness as Lure, or the (Live)cast Illusion.” Intermedialités/Intermediality, nº 37-38, 2021, p. 1-20.   
  • « Rostand au prisme du film-théâtre. Deux regards sur la mise en scène de Cyrano de Bergerac par Denis Podalydès » European Drama and Performance Studies. Ed. Gomez, Françoise et Daniel Loayza. Paris : Classiques Garnier, 2021-1, nº16. 231-247.   
  • « Film-théâtre, intermédialité et nouveaux enjeux esthétiques » Intermedialités/Intermediality, nº33, 2019.   
  • « Enregistrer et diffuser le répertoire théâtral. Retour sur les relations d’interdépendance entre la Comédie-Française et les écrans » Revue d’Histoire du Théâtre. Ed. Léonor Delaunay. Paris : Société d’histoire du théâtre, 2019-3, vol. 1. 161-175.   
  • “Film-Theater as an Intermedial Occurrence of Theater: Recycling Ionesco’s Bald Soprano” Romance Studies. 35.4 (2018): 248-259.   
  • « ‘Effets de présence’ : quels procédés pour le « film-théâtre ? » Brasilian Journal on Presence Studies. 7.3 (2017) (translated in Portuguese).
  • « Dominique Thiel filme Douze hommes en colère » Coup de Théâtre 31. Ed. Sandrine Siméon & Agathe Torti Alcayaga. Paris : Radac, 2017. 169-184.
  • « L’impossible document : Le Dernier Caravansérail d’Ariane Mnouchkine, un monument ? » European Drama and Performance Studies. Ed. Folco, Alice et Jean-Yves Vialleton. Paris : Classiques Garnier, 2014-2, nº3. 265-276. Nominated for the Malcolm Bowie Prize.   
  • « Le film-théâtre, un troisième temps du théâtre ? » Théâtre, levain du cinéma ; théâtre, destin du cinéma. Ed. Torti-Alcayaga, Agathe et Kiehl, Christine. Paris : Le Manuscrit, 2013. 169-183.   
  • « Une imposture peut en cacher une autre : le frontispice de Tartuffe démasqué » Cahiers du dix-septième. XIII, 2 (2011) : 160-183. Co-authored with Sophia Khadraoui.   
  • « L’esthétique spatiale du Lancelot de Bresson » Sites. 15. 4 (Sept. 2011) : 433-441.   
  • « Allotopie: vers une problématisation de l’espace scénique filmé » Lexique commun/Lexique spécialisé. Centre de Recherche sur la Théorie et la Pratique Discursives. (2010) : 275-278.

Research in progress:

  • Le film-théâtre. Éthique et esthétique du filmage de la scène. Book project.

Conferences and Presentations:

  • « Le roi Lear. Shakespeare, André Engel et Don Kent. Film-théâtre et intermédialité », Théâtre et Intermédialité, Université Grenoble Alpes, France, November 2022 (invited talk).   
  • « Les déclinaisons de la raison spectaculaire dans Le Bourgeois gentilhomme », Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, France, July 2022.   
  • « Le film-théâtre d’Ariane Mnouchkine : éloge d’un film en marge du cinéma ». 10th International Women in French Conference, Iowa State University, May 2022 (panel organizer and presenter).   
  • « Il n’y a pas de bons professeurs qui ne soient aussi en train d’apprendre ». The Pennsylvania State University, State College, April 2021 (invited talk).   
  • “‘Events Cinema’: Not a Lesser Film, Rather the Best Seat in the House!’ International Screen Studies Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, June 2019.   
  • “The Gleaners and I: gleaning ‘en abyme’, a reflexive cinematic writing of the authorial self.” NeMLA (North-east Modern Language Association), Pittsburgh, USA, April 2018.   
  • « Complicités conceptuelles et hybridité du film-théâtre ». APFUCC (Association des Professeur.e.s de Français des Universités et Collèges Canadiens), Toronto, CA, May 2017.   
  • “Theatre in 2D: The Rhetoric of the NT Live Films.” SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies), Atlanta, USA, April 2016.   
  • “Intermedial Embodiments in Ionesco’s La Cantatrice chauve.” Romance Studies Colloquium, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, July 2015.   
  • « La Haine : une chronique d’émeutes annoncées ? » 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Baton Rouge, USA, March 2015.   
  • « Plaire pour instruire ou instruire pour plaire ? Un texte et son contexte : le film-théâtre revisite Phèdre de Racine. » Shippensburg University Fifth Biennial Modern Languages Conference, Shippensburg, USA, May 2014.   
  • “Filming the Stage: A New Rhetoric for a New Kind of Film.” Presenter and Panel Chair. North Eastern Modern Language Association Convention, Harrisburg, USA, April 2014.   
  • « Validations et invalidations : le “film-théâtre“, une herméneutique des formes théâtrales textuelles et scéniques. » Modern Language Association Convention, Chicago, USA, January 2014.   
  • « Le film-théâtre : entre théâtre et cinéma. » Laboratoires CRIDAF de Paris 13 and New York University, Paris, France, March 2012.
  • « Entre film et théâtre : l’espace frontière de la rampe. » 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Long Beach, USA, March 2012.   
  • « Filmer le théâtre: plaidoyer pour une forme d’art autonome. » Société québécoise d’études théâtrales, Montréal, Canada, June 2011.
  • « Le théâtre à l’écran ou le “troisième temps” du théâtre. » Conseil International d’Etudes Francophones, Montréal, Canada, July 2010.   
  • « Le Lancelot de Bresson, une esthétique spatiale. » 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Toronto, Canada, March 2010.
  • « Signe d’une imposture ou imposture du signe : sémio-analyse du frontispice de Tartuffe. » Société d’Etudes pluridisciplinaires du XVIIe siècle, Saskatoon, Canada, October 2008.

Interviews

  • Siméon, Sandrine. Interview of Flo Buckeridge, NT Live General Manager (January 2016). Coup de théâtre. 31. (2017).

Papers

  • “‘Events Cinema’: Not a Lesser Film, Rather the Best Seat in the House!’ Screen Studies Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, June 2019.
  • “The Gleaners and I: gleaning ‘en abyme’, a reflexive cinematic writing of the authorial self”. NeMLA (North-east Modern Language Association), Pittsburgh, USA, April 2018.
  • Complicités conceptuelles et hybridité du film-théâtre. APFUCC (Association des Professeur.e.s de Français des Universités et Collèges Canadiens), Toronto, CA, May 2017.
  • “Theatre in 2D: The Rhetoric of the NT Live Films.” SCMS (Society for Cinema and Media Studies), Atlanta, USA, April 2016.
  • “Intermedial Embodiments in Ionesco’s La Cantatrice chauve.” Romance Studies Colloquium, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, July 2015.
  • La Haine: une chronique d’émeutes annoncées? 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Baton Rouge, USA, March 2015.
  • Plaire pour instruire ou instruire pour plaire ? Un texte et son contexte: le film-théâtre revisite Phèdre de Racine. Shippensburg University Fifth Biennial Modern Languages Conference, Shippensburg, USA, May 2014.
  • “Filming the Stage: A New Rhetoric for a New Kind of Film.” Presenter and Panel Chair. North Eastern Modern Language Association Convention, Harrisburg, USA, April 2014.
  • Validations et invalidations: le film-théâtre, une herméneutique des formes théâtrales textuelles et scéniques. Modern Language Association Convention, Chicago, USA, January 2014.
  • Le film-théâtre: entre théâtre et cinéma. Laboratoires CRIDAF de Paris 13 and New York University, Paris, France, March 2012.
  • Entre film et théâtre: l’espace frontière de la rampe. 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Long Beach, USA, March 2012.
  • Filmer le théâtre: plaidoyer pour une forme d’art autonome. Société québécoise d’études théâtrales, Montréal, Canada, June 2011.
  • Le théâtre à l’écran ou le “troisième temps” du théâtre. Conseil International d’Études Francophones, Montréal, Canada, July 2010.
  • Le Lancelot de Bresson, une esthétique spatiale. 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies Colloquium, Toronto, Canada, March 2010.
  • Signe d’une imposture ou imposture du signe: sémio-analyse du frontispice de Tartuffe. Société d’Études pluridisciplinaires du XVIIe siècle, Saskatoon, Canada, October 2008.
  • 2018-present, Assistant Professor of French Language and Culture, Soka University of America
  • 2016-2018, Visiting Assistant Professor, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster PA
  • 2013-2016, Assistant Professor, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA
  • 2007-2013, Instructor/Grad. assistant, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 
  • Merit Award. $2500. Soka University of America (Spring 2022). This award honors faculty who have published in top-tier academic presses and journals, and recognizes their activities in the academy.
  • Teaching Innovation Grant. $1200. This grant served to implement TalkAbroad, a platform that connects language students with conversation partners across the world, in FRN 311 and 202. Soka University of America (Spring 2020).    
  • OCG Resource Fund. $2500 awarded. This fund was granted to faculty members for scholarly projects. It enabled me to conduct research for a chapter for my book on the Comédie-Fançaise and its relations with French television (Summer 2017).    
  • Academic Innovation Fund Award. $150 awarded. This fund serves to underwrite innovations in teaching, course development or curricular design that show promise of having a significant and positive impact on the academic environment at Franklin & Marshall College. These funds served to rent a 35mm film for my course, “Le cinéma francophone au féminin.” (Fall 2016).    
  • Malcolm Bowie Prize Nomination. My article « L’impossible document : Le Dernier Caravansérail d’Ariane Mnouchkine, un monument ? » was nominated as best article published in 2014 by an early-career researcher in the broader discipline of French Studies.    
  • Tournées Festival Grant. $4400 awarded. This grant helps fund Susquehanna University’s French Program Film Festival. French American Cultural Exchange (Spring 2015; Spring 2016).    
  • Weber Chair in the Humanities. $6000 awarded. This fund, established by the Women's Auxiliary of Susquehanna University and the National Endowment for the Humanities, supports an outstanding new teacher/scholar in a humanities discipline. Susquehanna University (2013-2015).    
  • Faculty Research Mini-Grant. $2000 awarded. Susquehanna University (2014; 2015).    
  • Alumni Association Dissertation Award Nomination. Nominated as a full-time doctoral student who has passed her comprehensive exams, has received approval of the dissertation topic and is within her final year. Department of French and Francophone Studies, The Pennsylvania State University (2012).    
  • Faculty recognition. Nominated as a faculty member who has been instrumental to the academic achievement of first year students at Penn State. The Pennsylvania State University (2010).