Center Leadership, Advisory Board, and Remembrance

Center Director: Dr. Darci Gardner

Dr. Darci Gardner is a professor of French in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, with a B.A. in Comparative Literature from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. in French with a minor in Italian from Stanford University. She specializes in nineteenth‑ and twentieth‑century French literature, and her research and teaching draw on cognitive approaches to literature while emphasizing intersections between literary texts and other arts.

Before joining App State in 2014, Gardner taught at Stanford, where she completed Oral Proficiency Interview training and became an ACTFL Certified Tester in French. At App State, she has designed a range of innovative courses — from a General Education class on filmic adaptations to a short‑term study abroad program in Paris, where she has taken student groups to visit sites of remembrance, including the Mémorial de la Shoah and the Mémorial des martyrs de la Déportation. She regularly teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in French literature, language, and pedagogy, and has experience leading professional development activities for K-12 teachers.

Since 2023, Darci has served as the founding director of High Country Humanities, a college–community partnership that has quickly become a central hub for humanities engagement. Under her leadership, the initiative has secured external grants, built strong relationships with local nonprofits, organized dozens of public events, and created new opportunities for faculty scholarship through the Travel Fund she established.