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Education:
1970 B. A. cum laude. Smith College . Major : French. Minors : Spanish, history, English, education.
1971 M.A. University of Rochester . Major : French. Minor : Spanish.
1974 Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Major : French. Minor : Spanish. Holmes dissertation prize
Professional experience:
Appointments
2000-present Virginia Commonwealth University
Professor of French, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (2000-01)
1995-2000 University of Toledo
Professor of Romance Languages, Dean of Arts and Sciences (1995-99)
1989-95 SUNY College at Buffalo
Professor of Romance Languages, Dean of Arts and Humanities
1984-89 Northern Arizona University
Professor of Romance Languages, Chairman of Modern Languages
1974-84 West Virginia University
1983-84 Professor of Romance Languages
1979-83 Associate Professor of Romance Languages
1974-79 Assistant Professor of Romance Languages
1981-83 Assistant Dean of the Graduate School
1980-81 Associate Coordinator of the Honors Program
1973-74 Lafayette College
Assistant Professor of French
Research and Professional Recognitions of Her Work
Her publications cover French civilization, language pedagogy, and medieval literature. Her textbook Commercial French, designed for international exams of the Paris Chamber of Commerce, was identified as a classic in reviews of later books. One of her articles in French Review won a Gilbert Chinard prize awarded by the Institut Français de Washington. She won the 1974 Holmes prize for her dissertation in medieval studies, and she was selected to talk before the Medieval Academy of America as a winner in the Academy's 1977 Competition for Young Scholars. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs designated her a knight in the Order of Academic Palms for her lifetime contributions. More detail on these and other contributions appear below.
Teaching
Dr. Cummins has taught a wide range of courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. At VCU she teaches French language, literature, and civilization, as well as interdisciplinary courses on the European Union, intercultural communication, and Egyptian Civilization. At the University of Toledo (1995-2000) she both served as a Dean of Arts and Sciences and taught French language and literature, multicultural literature, and interdisciplinary courses on the European Union. At SUNY College at Buffalo (1989-1995) she taught advanced French language courses and served as Dean of Arts and Humanities. As a department chairman at Northern Arizona University (1984-89), she taught courses on business French, French for international relations, and advanced French language. At West Virginia University (1974-84), she taught a wide range of French language and literature courses as well as humanities courses and honors courses. While at WVU she served for a year as Associate Coordinator of the Honors Program and two years as Assistant Dean of the Graduate School , and she was designated twice as an outstanding teacher. While finishing her dissertation, she taught advanced language and medieval literature for 3 semesters at Lafayette College (1973-74). |
