I am a specialist of the French 18th century, where I work largely in the fields of Autobiography Studies and Law and Literature. I received my PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures (French and Francophone Studies) from the University of Chicago in 2025. My dissertation, “Self-Writing as Self-Defense: the Literary Role of Judicial Proof in the French Enlightenment,” was an analysis of the way in which Louise d’Épinay, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire used various forms of judicial proof – witness testimonies, confessions, documentary evidence – in their self-writings. This proof was furnished with the intention of proving the factuality of the account and the sincerity of each author’s intentions before the court of public opinion.
My work around the relationship between literary and legal practices is shaped by a particular interest in the relationship between the law and cultural production. The law is an omnipresent force, shaping our behavior, our relationships, our thoughts, and our being in the world. Literature can be used to reimagine the possibilities of the law, to envision new forms of justice and fairness in society. Moreover, legal questions in literature are fundamentally shaped by the author’s unique knowledge of the law itself. My research attempts to straddle these two lines of inquiry. I am currently working on two research projects: the first is an examination of how marital separation was represented in 18th-century women’s literature. The second is a study on how the 18th-century novel was used to reimagine the structure and practices of legal tribunals.
I was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Graduate Student Teaching Excellence in 2025.
Other research interests include: Revolutionary pamphlet literature; foreign language pedagogy; and the history of French-speaking Chicago
Selected Publications
- Brown, Ryan. “The Autobiographer as Jurist: Rousseau’s Confessions, the Practice of Judicial Proof, and the Court of Public Opinion.” Le Pouvoir En Procès. Opinion Publique et Légitimité Politique Des Lumières Au Premier Empire, edited by Maximilien Novak and Ryan Brown, Classiques Garnier, Paris. (2024).
- Novak, Maximilien, and Ryan Brown, editors. Le Pouvoir En Procès. Opinion Publique et Légitimité Politique Des Lumières Au Premier Empire. Classiques Garnier. (2024).
Recent Courses in RLL
- FREN 10100 Beginning Elementary French I (Autumn 2025)
- FREN 10200 Beginning Elementary French (Autumn 2022, Winter 2025)
- FREN 10300 Beginning Elementary French (Winter 2023)
- FREN 23724 Law and Letters in France (17th-20th Century) (Spring 2024)
- FREN 23926 Écrivaines des Lumières (Autumn 2025)