Dr. Perlmutter received her Ph.D. in seventeenth-century French literature from Duke University and her B.A. in French and Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley. She specializes in 17th- and 18th-century French literature as well as in French language and culture.
Her research projects have explored the marginalizing impact of power on nationhood and individual identity. In particular, Dr. Perlmutter has published most recently on the construction of fictional Jewish characters in early-modern French literature and on women's heroism. Earlier work focused on the novella in the once widely-read journal Le Mercure galant and on the ‘ana,’ a little-known commemorative genre. She teaches courses at all levels in French literature, language and culture.