Sophie M. Lavoie

Sophie LavoieAssociate Professor

Sophie M. Lavoie conducts research in the areas of women’s writing and social change in Central America and the Caribbean. Her studies focus on women in contemporary Nicaragua during the first Sandinista era (1970-1990), but she is also interested in other revolutionary movements in the area, such as Cuba and El Salvador and in women’s writing in Latin America. Her current research project focuses on the link between women’s writing, empowerment, and revolutionary action during the Sandinista era in Nicaragua.

Dr. Lavoie is also an associate faculty member in the International Development Studies program, the Women's Studies program, and the Film Studies Program at UNB.

Dr. Lavoie previously taught in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Laurentian University (Sudbury) and in the Department of Spanish at Dalhousie University (Halifax).

  • PhD and DEA (Diplôme d’Études Approfondies) in Études Romanes, France’s Université de Provence
  • MA in Spanish, Queen’s University
  • BA from the University of King’s College (Halifax)

Selected Publications

“Périphérie historique et portée contemporaine d’un personnage: Itzà de La mujer habitada de l’auteur nicaraguayen Gioconda Belli” Pandora: Revue d’Études Hispaniques, Département d’Études Hispaniques et Hispano-américaines, Université Paris 8, Vol. 9 (Marge(s)) 2009: 131-147.
 
Guest Editor. Belphégor: Littérature Populaire et Culture Médiatique Vol. 9 No. 3 (The Politics of the Detective Novel) Décembre 2010.
http://etc.dal.ca/belphegor/vol9_no3/en/main_en.html

"Le féminisme en Amérique centrale : L’exemple du Nicaragua à la fin du XXe siècle" Canadian Woman Studies / les cahiers de la femme, Vol. 27 No. 1 (Latin American Women), Fall 2008 / Winter 2009: 58-62.

“Gioconda Belli,” “Sergio Ramírez.” Dictionnaire des littératures hispaniques. Espagne et Amérique latine. Jordi Bonells (Dir.). Paris: Robert Laffont, coll. "Bouquins", 2009.

“Waslala : memorial del futuro de Gioconda Belli: l’auberge microcosme” Cahiers d'études romanes, Nouvelle série, Centre Aixois d’Études Romanes, Université de Provence (Aix-Marseille I), n° 17/1 (Auberges, hôtels et autres lieux d’étape), 2007: 253-262.

"Pasado perfecto de Leonardo Padura Fuentes: reflet parfait ou approximatif de la société cubaine?” Cahiers d'Études Romanes, Nouvelle série, Centre Aixois d’Études Romanes, Université de Provence (Aix-Marseille I), n° 15/2 (Le roman policier italien et latino-américain), 2006: 109-121.

with John Kirk. “Leonardo Padura Fuentes, Symbol of the New Cuban Literature: Comments on Pasado perfecto” in The Crime Fiction of Leonardo Padura Fuentes. Carlos Uxo,  ed. Manchester Metropolitan University Press, Manchester, U.K., 2006:  88-105.

“Fidel’s Cuba, aka The Prolific Purgatory of Leonardo Padura Fuentes’ star detective” Descant, Toronto, Canada, No 134 (Vol 37/3), Fall 2006: 244-250.

“‘Terreno Fértil’: La posición social de la mujer nicaragüense hasta la revolución sandinista”, Revista Centroamericana, Dante Liano, Ed. Cattedra di Lingua e Letteratura Spagnola, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, vol. 11, 2005: 59-76.

Courses Taught

  • SPAN 1203 - Introductory Spanish
  • SPAN/ WLCS 1014 - The Culture of Spain and Latin America II
  • SPAN 3202 - Advanced Oral Spanish I
  • SPAN 3203 - Advanced Spanish I: Advanced Grammar
  • SPAN 3204 - Advanced Spanish II: Conversation and Composition
  • SPAN 3205 - Advanced Translation
  • SPAN 3202 - Advanced Oral Spanish I
  • SPAN/WLCS 3904 - Background of Latin American Cultures
  • SPAN/WLCS 3455 - Latin American Cinema
  • SPAN/WLCS 3456 - The Cinema of Spain
  • WLCS 3003 Contemporary Issues in World Literature and Culture (The Greening of Culture: Ecocriticism, Environment & Ecological Thought)

Contact Sophie Lavoie 

Office: 337 Carleton Hall
Phone: 458-7469

Email: Sophie M. Lavoie