Rate My Professor Cynthia Laborde

Cynthia Laborde serves as Associate Professor of French and Chair ad interim of the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds a PhD in French and Francophone World Studies from the University of Iowa (2015) and an MA in Languages, Literatures, and Cultures from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2010). Joining the University of Texas at Arlington as Assistant Professor of French around 2017, she advanced to Associate Professor, with her promotion recognized by a presentation to the UTA Libraries. Laborde has been actively involved in university service, including membership on committees for 2024-2025 and participation in the Faculty Leadership Academy (class of 2025). She was listed among recipients in the 2023 Faculty Awards as Assistant Professor in Modern Languages.

Laborde's research centers on twentieth-century French studies, with an exclusive focus on comics books, particularly autobiographical bande dessinée addressing health, intimacy, and identity. Her monograph, Santé, intimité, et identité dans la bande dessinée autobiographique de tradition franco-belge, was published by Purdue University Press in 2024. She has authored peer-reviewed articles including 'Le 13 novembre 2015 en bande dessinée: Traumatisme et témoignage' in European Comic Art (2020) and 'Existentialist Comics “Bande Dessinée” and the Art of Living Authentically' (2023). Additional publications comprise book chapters on French classics and lesser-known nonfiction works. Laborde has led pedagogical workshops on bandes dessinées and delivered invited lectures, such as 'Making a Splash: Women Cartoonists in France' at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has organized academic conferences, including the Cultural Constructions Conference at UTA, contributing to the scholarly discourse on French literature and visual culture.