Downing Thomas

Candidate statement

Downing A. Thomas is Professor of French at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Aesthetics of Opera in the Ancien Régime: 1647-1785 (CambridgeUP, 2002) and Music and the Origins of Language: Theories from the French Enlightenment (CambridgeUP, 1995). He is also co-editor (with Roberta Montemorra Marvin) of Operatic Migrations: Transforming Works and Crossing Boundaries in Musical Drama (Ashgate, 2006) and has published in ECS, SECC, SVEC, Representations, L’Esprit Créateur, and Common Knowledge, among others. He has received grants and fellowships from NEH (Summer Stipend), ACLS (travel grant), McMaster University/ASECS, the Department of State, and the FACE Foundation. He has also been elected President of ADFL (2007) and named Chevalier (Knight) in the Order of Academic Palms by the French Government and Honorary Professor (Hebei Normal Univ., China). Previous service to ASECS include President, MWSECS (2001), Editor and Assoc. Editor, SECC (2006-09), and Nominating Committee, ASECS (2002-03). Other board and administrative experience include serving as associate provost and dean of International Programs (Iowa, 2008-19); chair of the Department of French & Italian (1999-2002; 2003-07); member, Board of Directors, Pyxera Global (2012-2019); and US Advisory Board member, UniQuest (2021-). He is a lifetime member of ASECS, committed to supporting its role as an inspiring home for a diverse community of scholars and teachers.