Eirann Cohen

Eirann Cohen works at the intersection of Francophone Caribbean studies, environmental humanities, gender studies, and decolonial thought. Her dissertation, "Cultivating the Creole Garden: Feminist Ecologies of the Postcolonial French Antilles," examined representations of the Creole garden in French Antillean literature and art. Focusing on women writers and artists from Martinique and Guadeloupe, the project considered how depictions of the Creole garden unsettle expected narratives, both those shaped by the power structures of the plantation and more liberatory discourses seeking to overcome these imperial patterns. Her postdoctoral research turns to the garden's individual botanical components, exploring how specific plants function as dense, living archives and potent narrative agents. Investigating the Creole garden as a vegetal archive, the project traces the intertwined circulation of plants and humans through close readings, biographical research, and ethnobotanical archives. Eirann is also co-convener of Ecologies Entrelacées, a public-facing bilingual digital humanities project focused on the themes of gender and environmental justice in the Franco-Creole Caribbean. She holds a PhD in French Literature, Thought & Culture from NYU, an MA in French from Middlebury College, and a BA in French and Environmental Policy from Williams College.