Deborah Hess

          Deborah Hess, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, is a Professor of French and Francophone literature. One of Deborah Hess's strong research interests is the literature and culture of French-Dspeaking North Africa. She has recently completed a book manuscript on writers representing Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia and Arab-Muslim, Berber and Jewish points of view. She has published articles on Tahar Ben Jelloun, Albert Memmi and Assia Djebar as well as on the political situation in Algeria and has read papers at conferences in Liege, Belgium, Berlin, and Montreal. Her interests include the status of women, the cultural complexity of the region and its interface with France, as well as Arab-Muslim, Berber and Jewish traditions. In 2001 Professor Hess directed a Drew International Seminar in Tunisia also sponsored by the University of Tunis and the Ecole Normale Superieure of Tunis. She teaches courses on contemporary North African literature in French.