knisely

Dr. Kris Aric Knisely (PhD, Emory University, French and Educational Studies) is Associate Professor of French and Intercultural Competence in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Arizona. He is also a faculty member of the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and is a member of the Trans Studies Research Cluster (TSRC). Knisely serves as the co-chair of the Diversity De-colonization and the French Curriculum Collective, on the Advisory Committee for Lavender Languages and Linguistics, and on several editorial boards including CFC-Intersections and Foreign Language Annals.

Research

Knisely’s research focuses on language and gender as social and relational practices that we do and do together, especially as they relate to the linguistic, sociocultural, and instructional dimensions of language learning. This includes asking questions like:

• In what ways do we do gender and language together? (How is doing language a part of how we do gender? How is doing gender a part of how we do language?) 
• How is gender a part of learning to language in new ways (i.e., How is gender a part of language teaching and learning)?
• What are the expectations, normativities, or status quos that we have about gender in language education?
• How do we --as language teachers and learners-- unscript these normativities? 
• In what ways are these shifts in how we think about what it means to do language with each other beneficial to everyone?
• In what ways does a more expansive relationship to language allow for fuller, more meaningful participation in our social worlds? To greater access to enlanguaged knowability?  

Within this general frame, Knisely focuses on the culturally-situated linguistic practices of trans, nonbinary, and gender non-compliant people, particularly as they can inform the development and articulation of trans-affirming language curricula, materials, research, training, and pedagogies. In this work, Knisely regularly engages with French languagers who challenge cislingualism (i.e., the valuing of cisnormative cultures of language and the ideologies that inflect them) through the the ways that they do language. This includes working with languagers who are also students and languagers who are also educators. This work involves asking questions such as:

• What are the direct and indirect ways that people are languaging nonbinary realities? What are the community knowledges that underlie trans cultures of language?
• What is cislingualism? What harms does this restrictive, normative relationship to language cause? What alternatives exist?
• What experiences do learners and educators have with trans linguacultures? With gender-just pedagogies?
• How can we shift our ways of languaging to be more gender-just?
• How can language teaching and learning be made more gender-just?

Dr. Knisely’s work has appeared in in English, French, and Spanish, in a variety of edited volumes and journals including Contemporary French Civilization, CFC Intersections, Critical Multilingualism Studies, Foreign Language Annals, The French Review, Gender and Language, Journal of Applied Measurement, Modern Language Journal, and Pensamiento Educativo, among others. Knisely's work has also been featured in venues such as The New York Times, The Vocal Fries Podcast, Not Your Typical Book Club (ACTFL), and the Behind the Books Youtube series (Multilingual Matters). Knisely is co-editor (with Eric Russel, UC-Davis) of Redoing linguistic worlds: Unmaking gender binaries, remaking gender pluralities (Multilingual Matters). 

You can find additional publication details both here and below.

Teaching

Dr. Knisely has a broad range of teaching interests including French language, linguistics, intercultural communication, gender and sexuality, and education, among others. Some favorite courses to teach are: FREN/AFAS 373 (US & Francophone Hip Hop Cultures), FREN 301 (Conversation), and FREN 588 (Materials Design). Dr. Knisely also particularly enjoys travelling with students to Paris for study abroad programs. Courses recently taught by Dr. Knisely include: 

• FREN 160A1 The French Speaking World
• FREN 280 Introduction to French Language, Linguistics, and Culture
• FREN 301 Pronunciation and Conversation
• FREN 320 Written French in Cultural Context
• FREN/AFAS 373 US and Francophone Hip-Hop Cultures
• FREN 498 Capstone
• FREN/HUMS 583 Materials Design

SELECT Recent Publications

Note: Please visit https://www.krisknisely.com/publications or contact me to request copies if you do not have institutional access to any of my work.

Knisely, K. and Russell, E. L. (Eds.). (2024). Redoing linguistic worlds: Unmaking gender binaries, remaking gender pluralities. Multilingual Matters. http://bit.ly/RLWbook https://www.krisknisely.com/publications [Access via UA Libraries]

Knisely, K. (2024). Gender-Just Pedagogies. In Fernández, J. & Warner, C. (Eds). CERCLL Introduction to Applied Linguistics for Language Educators. https://www.krisknisely.com/ialle

Knisely, K. (2024). Toward trans multilingualisms: Student attitudes toward and experiences with trans linguacultures in French. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 27(5), 643-655. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2024.2306414  Special issue on Queering Multilingualism, edited by Holly R. Cashman & Tommaso M. Milani. [Access via UA Libraries] [View via Publisher's Site]

Knisely, K. (2023). Gender-justice beyond inclusion: How trans knowledges and linguistic practices can and should be re-shaping language education. Modern Language Journal. 107(2), 607-623. [Access via UA Libraries] [View via Publisher's Site]

Knisely, K. (2022). A Starter Kit for Rethinking TGNC Representation and Inclusion in French L2 Classrooms. In E.N. Meyer & E. Hoft-March (Eds.) Teaching Diversity and Inclusion: Examples from a French-Speaking Classroom. Routledge. 22-33. [Access via UA Libraries] [View via Publisher's Site]

Knisely, K. (2022). Gender-just language teaching and linguistic competence development. Foreign Language Annals. 55(3), 644-667. https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12641

Knisely, K. (2022). Gender-justice and the development of intersectional thinking: Evidence from an intermediate French course. CFC Intersections. 1(1), 147-160. https://doi.org/10.3828/cfci.2022.11

Knisely, K. (2023). Teaching trans: The Impetus for trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming inclusivity in L2 classrooms. In K. Davidson, S. Johnson, & L. Randolph (Eds.) How We Take Action: Social Justice in K-16 Language Classrooms. Information Age. 81-90.

Knisely, K. (2022). Teaching trans knowledges: Situating expansive possibilities in an intermediate French course. In S. Bouamer & L. Bourdeau (Eds.) Diversity and Decolonization in French Studies: New Approaches to Teaching. Palgrave Macmillan. 165-180. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95357-7_11 Available open access at: https://rdcu.be/cKP37

Knisely, K. (2022). A Starter Kit for Rethinking Trans Representation and Inclusion in French L2 Classrooms. In E.N. Meyer & E. Hoft-March (Eds.) Teaching Diversity and Inclusion: Examples from a French-Speaking Classroom. Routledge. 22-33. https://bit.ly/3oZRsbM

Knisely, K. and Paiz, J.M. (2021) Bringing Trans, Non-binary, and Queer Understandings to Bear in Language Education. Critical Multilingualism Studies. 9(1), 23-45. [View Open-Access via Publisher's Site] 

Knisely, K. (2021). L/G/B and T: Queer Excisions, Entailments, and Intersections. In J. M. Paiz & J. E. Coda (Eds.) Intersectional Perspectives on LGBTQ+ Issues in Modern Language Teaching and Learning. Palgrave Macmillan. 153-182. [Access via UA Libraries] [View via Publisher's Site] 

Knisely, K. (2020). Le français non-binaire: linguistic forms used by non-binary speakers of French. Foreign Language Annals. 53(4), 850-876. doi: 10.1111/flan.12500 [View via Publisher's Site] [View Open-Access Read Only Version] 

Knisely, K. (2020). “How do you say the singular they in French?”: How non-binary people are adapting the French language. OASIS Summary of Knisely (2020). Le français non-binaire: linguistic forms used by non-binary speakers of French. Foreign Language Annals. 53(4). 1-27. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/flan.12500. https://oasis-database.org/concern/summaries/np1939428?locale=en

Knisely, K. (2020). Subverting the culturally unreadable: Understanding the self-positioning of non-binary speakers of French. The French Review. 94(2), 149-168.

Knisely, K. (2020). Read this realness: How non-binary people are taking up and subverting cultural and linguistic spaces in French. OASIS Summary of Knisely (2020). Subverting the culturally unreadable: Understanding the self-positioning of non-binary speakers of French. The French Review. 94(2). 149-168. https://oasis-database.org/concern/summaries/2227mp912?locale=en 

Knisely, K. and Gorham, J. (2019). Systems in Need of Activism: Considering the Effects of Segregation and Policy on French and U.S. Primary and Secondary Education. The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association.

Knisely, K. (2018). Intégration des réseaux sociaux dans les cours de langue: justifications et mises en garde. The French Review. 92(1), 97-111.

Knisely, K. and Wind, S. (2017). Developing a Survey to Explore Sense of Belongingness related to Language Learning Using Rasch Measurement Theory. Pensamiento Educativo. 54(2), 1-20. [English version].

Knisely, K. and Wind, S. (2017). Desarrollando un cuestionario exploratorio de la sensación de pertenencia relacionado al aprendizaje de idiomas utilizando la teoría de medición educacional de Rasch. Pensamiento Educativo. 54(2), 1-20. DOI 10.7764/PEL.54.2.2017.2 [Spanish version].

Knisely, K. (2017). Exploring the role of culture in the formation of French language ideologies among US post-secondary students. Contemporary French Civilization 42(2), 189-210.

Knisely, K. (2016). Language Learning and the Gendered Self: The Case of French and Masculinity in a US Context. Gender and Language 10(2), 216-239.

Zorko, D., Alkhas, A. and Knisely, K. (2015). Should we go high or low? A few tips on using and choosing technology wisely. The Voice of WAFLT: A Wisconsin Association of Foreign Language Teachers Publication.

Knisely, K. and Wind, S. (2015). Gendered language attitudes: Exploring language as a gendered construct using Rasch measurement theory. Journal of Applied Measurement 16(1), 95-112.