Research output per year
Research output per year
Professor Hannah Thompson studied French and Spanish at Newnham College, Cambridge before completing an MPhil and a PhD in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages, University of Cambridge. She spent three years as a postdoctoral research fellow at Darwin College, Cambridge before moving to Royal Holloway as a Lecturer in 2003. She became a Senior Lecturer in 2006 and a Reader in 2014 and was promoted to Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies in 2018. Between 2018 she was the Director of the College's Humanities and Arts Research Institute. In 2021 she was an AHRC EDI Fellow for the Inclusive Description for Equality and Access (IDEA) project. In April 2023 she became PI on the AHRC funded Sensational Museum project.
Professor Thompson has published widely on French literature and theory, the body, gender, sexuality and disability. She is the author of three books on French literature and culture: Naturalism Redressed: Identity and Clothing in the Novels of Emile Zola (Legenda 2004); Taboo: Corporeal Secrets in Nineteenth-Century French Fiction (Legenda, 2013) and Reviewing Blindness in French Fiction (1789-2013) (Palgrave, 2017) This third book marks the start of Professor Thompson's influential work on the cross-overs between French Studies and Critical Disability Studies. This research is evident in her most recent articles, such as her 2017 review article for French Studies 'French and Francophone Disability Studies'.
Professor Thompson has published two edited volumes: New Approaches to Emile Zola and Corporeal Practices: (Re)Figuring the Body in French Studies (with Julia Prest). In 2015 she co-organised the Blind Creations conference and micro-arts festival with Vanessa Warne, she is the author of the popular Blind Spot Blog and she has written for The Guardian (here and here) and The Conversation (here).
Reviews of Naturalism Redressed:
Reviews of Taboo: Corporeal Secrets in Nineteenth-Century France:
Reviews of Reviewing Blindness in FRench Fiction:
Professor Thompson teaches courses in French literature, Comparative Literature and Culture and Translation Studies. In 2017 she published a study guide to A-level French set text No et moi with Oxford University Press.
She offers masters and doctoral supervision in nineteenth- and twentieth-century French literature and culture, Critical Disability Studies, Blindness Studies and Gender Studies.
Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy
Member, Society of French Studies
Member, Society of Dix-Neuviemistes
Member, Society of Disability Studies
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
French, PhD, Clothing and Identity: The Naturalist Project in Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart Novels, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Feb 2001
Senior Fellow, Higher Education Academy
Member, Society for Disability Studies
Member, Society for French Studies
Research output: Book/Report › Book
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
Thompson, H. (Mentor) & XU, Y. (Fellow)
1/02/24 → 31/01/27
Project: Research
Thompson, H. (PI)
Arts & Humanities Res Coun AHRC
11/04/23 → 10/07/25
Project: Research
Thompson, H. (PI)
27/11/23 → 30/06/24
Project: Research
Thompson, H. (Invited speaker)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Thompson, H. (Organiser)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Thompson, H. (Participant)
Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Thompson, H. (Consultant)
Activity: Consultancy
Thompson, H. (Consultant)
Activity: Consultancy