Rate My Professor Carla Freccero

Freccero's research specialized in early modern literature, particularly sixteenth-century French literature reconceptualized as early modernity, with explorations of continuities and discontinuities linking the classical past to modernity and postmodernity. Her scholarship intersected gender, feminist, and queer studies, evident in works such as the co-edited volume Premodern Sexualities (1996), studies on Louise Labé and Marguerite de Navarre, and the monograph Queer/Early/Modern (2006). She examined early modern discourses on cannibals in relation to coloniality, race, post-humanism, and monster studies, and made foundational contributions to Animal Studies through analyses of Derrida’s writings on cats and canids. Other key publications include Popular Culture: An Introduction (1999), which became a standard classroom text, Father Figures: Genealogy and Narrative Structure in Rabelais (1991), and nearly eighty articles and book chapters. Her prolific output earned multiple prizes, grants, and honors. Renowned as a mentor, Freccero served on hundreds of doctoral and master’s committees, guiding numerous graduate students. As Principal Investigator for the Coha-Gunderson Prize in Speculative Futures, she curated student multimedia exhibits in 2023 and 2025. Carla Freccero passed away on January 28, 2026, at the age of 69.