Joan Tasker Grimbert

Biography

Joan Tasker Grimbert earned her B.A. in French from Middlebury College (1968) and her Ph.D. in Romance Philology from the University of Chicago (1981). Having spent her junior year in Paris, she returned there after graduation to work at the American Chamber of Commerce, Chrysler France, and Plant Location International (1969-71). She also spent two years there doing research for her dissertation and auditing courses at the University of Paris-IV (1977-79). While a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Grimbert taught for two years as a lecturer. She then taught at Hollins College and the University of Oklahoma before coming to CUA in 1987. She was Chair of the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures from 2004 to 2010, and ever since she has served as Coordinator of the French Section. She has taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses, including Courtly/Uncourtly: Medieval French Lays and Fabliaux, The Romance of Arthur in Literature, Art, & Film, Old French, Old Occitan, Saints and Sinners, Chrétien de Troyes & Marie de France, Medieval French Lyric, Medieval and Renaissance Women Writers, Tristan and Iseult: 12th to 20th c., The Romance of Arthur in Literature, Art, & Film, The Roman noir in French literature & film, French Civilization, Business French, Phonetics, Translation and Stylistics, and Senior Seminar. In spring 2004, she organized and taught "Sacred and Secular Music in Medieval Culture" with a colleague in the School of Music; it brought the acclaimed early music ensemble, Anonymous 4 to campus for a concert, two classes, and a weeklong residency.

Research Interest

Arthurian Literature and medieval lyric.