Iona Wynter Parks
Teaching, Coaching and Athletic experience
About
I teach French language courses, French-language literatures (yes, with an 's' for variance & multiplicity) and Core Studies at Oglethorpe University and I advise student-athletes as one of the two NCAA Faculty Athletics Representatives on campus. I first started teaching at my old high school in Kingston, Jamaica before becoming a professional triathlete in a bid to make the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Post-Olympics, I took a teaching position in Atlanta, Georgia at Woodward Academy, where I also coached swimming and XC running. I settled in culturally, rode my bike, met my husband, and got my masters degree in French linguistics.
We did a stint in Jamaica at Goldeneye, the property that belonged to Ian Fleming, and where he penned his Bond series. There, I helped put the Fieldspa in place to help owner Chris Blackwell expand the hotel, and was involved in foundation work for the community with the fish sanctuary. Chris Blackwell's financial support was one of the major reasons for me making it to the Games, so to work on a development project of his benefitting the community, region and the country is still something I am proud to be associated with today. After the project we returned to Atlanta, and happily, my teaching and sports experience are foregrounded in my current position.
Focus
Research and Teaching
Francophone and Anglophone Caribbean literatures
I speak varieties of French and English and I'm from the Caribbean, so it's easy to start here and look at the interconnectedness of the world from these imaginaries
"Political animals" and "Beasts"
Humanimals, humans and nonhuman animals, looking at who is considered "animal" in different cultural imaginaries reveals much about structural and attitudinal oppressions
Language and Identity
It matters. It's the expression that carries the content. I like to think of it as its own environment
Narrative Technique
The forms that compel writers for conveying their content reflect the "real face of a people, their problems, hopes and battles" (Jacques Stephen Alexis)
"Sea is History."
derek walcott
Education
University of Georgia, Athens, USA
Doctor of Philosophy - Romance Languages, French literature
Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA
Master of Arts - French, linguistics track
Université Laval (Québec City, Canada)
Bachelor of Arts -French
Teaching, Projects, Mentions
Books for Benin & Haiti
Service Learning in Intermediate French at OU.
Ecocriticism
FRE-490/INT 490 The Human and its Others in French-language Literatures and Media
- thinking about....
in absolutely no particular order
© 2017