Geneviève (Gene, [ʒənə]) Ferrier-Rainey, a native of southwestern France, is a linguist and a language instructor. She earned her Ph.D. in French Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin in 2026, after completing a portfolio in Language Program Direction (UT Austin, 2023), a Master in French Linguistics (UT Austin, 2022), and a Master Français Langue Étrangère (Université de Pau Pays de l’Adour, 2017). She is joining the Department of French at the University of Arizona in the Fall of 2026 as Assistant Professor and Director of the Basic Language Program. Her research interests focus on Second Language Pragmatics and intercultural communication, with a focus on irony understanding and formulaic language. Gene’s teaching philosophy is centered on raising students’ awareness of languacultural norms in their first and second languages, and she endeavors to support student learning through language play and practical communication strategies.