Vincent P. DeSantis Lecture: Professor Rachel Jean-Baptiste

Professor Rachel Jean-Baptiste

Please join the History Department for the semi-annual Vincent P. DeSantis Lecture. Dr. Rachel Jean-Baptiste, who is a Professor of History, the Faculty Director for the Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, and the Michelle Mercer and Bruce Golden Family Professor in Feminist and Gender Studies at Stanford University, will deliver a lecture titled "How Multiracial Identities Shaped Citizenship in Late Colonial French West and Equatorial Africa and France." The lecture will take place in 442 Decio from 4:00-5:00 PM on Friday, April 5, 2024. A reception will follow on the fourth floor of Decio Hall. The lecture is open to all, and registration is not required.

Professor Jean-Baptise holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University, and her research focuses on 20th and 21st-century French-speaking Central and West Africa and the French-speaking Atlantic World. Her research interests include gender, women and sexuality, marriage and family law, race, citizenship, and urbanization. Her books include Multiracial Identities in Colonial French Africa: Race, Childhood and Citizenship (2023) and Conjugal Rights: Marriage, Sexuality, and Urban Life in Colonial Libreville, Gabon (2014). Her current projects include the co-authored Marriage and Families in African History (2024). Dr. Jean-Baptiste has also published in a host of journals, such as the Journal of the History of Sexuality, Journal of Women’s History, and The Journal of African History. Dr. Jean-Baptise is the former Co-President of the Coordinating Council for Women in History, an affiliate organization of the American Historical Association, and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association and the UK Editorial Collective for Gender and History.

Dr. Jean-Baptiste’s scholarship, teaching, and service have garnered several awards including the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity Coach Excellence Award (2022), University of California System Women’s Initiative for Professional Development Program (2021), and the Chancellor’s Award for International Engagement (2019) at University of California-Davis.