Merve Fejzula is a historian of modern Africa and its diaspora, specializing in twentieth-century West Africa's global connections. Her research interests bridge African intellectual and art history, Black internationalism, and the history of political thought. She is currently at work on a book manuscript, which examines the transformation of the Black public sphere between 1947-77 through a history of negritude - the philosophy of Black humanism most associated with the francophone Black world. This study reconstructs a network of francophone and anglophone West African and diasporic intellectuals, artists, and institutions crucial to negritude's dissemination and conceptual reinvention. It argues that this history pushes us to reexamine conventional understandings of the development of publics. Concurrently, she is also working on a curatorial project about Younousse Seye, Senegal's first female contemporary artist. A self-taught painter and sculptor whose work has been exhibited across Africa, who consistently advocates for African women, and whose acting credits include films with the legendary director Ousmane Sembene - Seye has had a remarkable career in both the visual arts and film.

Merve's work has been the recipient of prizes, including the Institute of Historical Research's Sarah Pollard Prize and the University of Cambridge's Sarah Norton Prize. Her research has been funded by numerous fellowships and grants, including the University of Chicago, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Harry Ransom Center, the Royal Historical Society, and the Beinecke Library, among others. She began as a Preparing Future Faculty Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Missouri in 2019 and completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge.

*Note: Merve Fejzula will be on research leave during the current academic year, from July 2024-July 2025