Ry Montgomery
- PhD student
Contact
About
Research Topic: Representations of trans* identities in contemporary French cinema
Supervisor: Professor Emma Wilson
Before starting their PhD, Ry completed their undergraduate degree with First-Class Honours in History and Modern Languages (French) at the University of Cambridge and graduated with Distinction from their MA in Urban History and Culture at the University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP). Their master’s thesis explored representations of seropositivity and activism in Lionel Soukaz’s Journal Annales.
Scholarships/Prizes:
ASMCF Postgraduate Paper Prize, 2024
Runner-Up, Postgraduate Poster Competition, Society for French Studies (SFS) 63rd Annual Conference, 2022
MA (Partial) Scholarship, University of London Institute in Paris, 2021–2022
Fellowships:
Invited Research Affiliate, University of London Institute in Paris, 2024
Selected Papers and Invited Talks:
· ‘‘On s’en fout de la loi’: representations of transmasculine pregnancy in contemporary French visual culture.’ Invited speaker at Broadly Conceived Conference, 2024.
· ‘‘On s’en fout de la loi’ : universalisme et transparentalité dans A Good Man de Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar (2020).’ Colloque ‘Les identités trans* et queer dans le monde francophone’, Mount Royal University, 2024.
· ‘Sous les pavés, ‘le Souk’ : reclaiming (re)public(an) space in Lionel Soukaz’s Journal Annales.’ Cambridge Modern French Research Seminar, 2023.
· ‘Sous les pavés, ‘le Souk’ : reclaiming (re)public(an) space in the films of Lionel Soukaz.’ Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) Conference, 2023.
· ‘‘Qu’est-ce qu’il y a entre les molécules?’: Seropositive visions of community in Lionel Soukaz’s Journal Annales.’ University of Cambridge French Graduate Conference, 2023.
Research
Ry’s PhD project explores contemporary cinematic representations of trans* identities in the context of French republican universalism. Their corpus comprises an array of films spanning two decades from 2003 to 2023 and includes re-readings of Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy (2011) and Sébastien Lifshitz’s Petite fille (2020). Ry’s thesis draws on the work of trans* scholars, artists and activists working in France today, many of whose contributions remain routinely overlooked in Anglophone scholarship on trans* representation.
Ry is also engaged in ongoing research into the cinema of Lionel Soukaz.
Teaching and supervision
Ry supervises on CS7 (Cinema and the Political) at Part II, and teaches Critical Theory classes across Parts IA, IB and II. In 2023, they delivered lectures and seminar teaching for the annual Cambridge Summer School on Reproduction. Ry also welcomes inquiries about undergraduate dissertation projects relevant to their interests.
Other activities and roles:
Since September 2023, Ry has been a Postgraduate Representative for the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF), co-convening the Association’s annual Postgraduate Study Day with the Society for the Study of French History (SSFH). Ry recently co-convened a reading group on ‘The Nonhuman and The Production of Space’ at the University of London Institute in Paris, with Leon Hughes (Trinity College Dublin).
Ry has contributed to several access and outreach programmes across the University, including supervisions as part of Corpus Christi College’s 2023 Bridging Course and a sample lecture for Year 12 students at Peterhouse.