Mame-Fatou Niang
Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies; Founder/Director of Center for Black European Studies and the Atlantic
- 357
- 412-268-1073
341 Posner Hall
Department of Modern Languages
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Education: Ph.D., Louisiana State University, (USA), French and Francophone Studies. M.A. Université Lyon II, (France) Anglophone Studies. BA Université Lyon II, (France). Licence, English and Urban Planning.
Bio
I am an Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies, the author of Identités Françaises (Brill, 2019), the co-author of Universalisme (Anamosa, 2022), and the founder and director of the Center for Black European Studies and the Atlantic. I conduct research on economies of the living/living economy, Blackness in Contemporary France, and French Universalism.
I am an Artist-in-Residence at the Ateliers Médicis in Paris, working on a project entitled “Échoïques” (Sounds of Silence).
In 2015, I co-directed “Mariannes Noires: Mosaïques Afropéennes” with Kaytie Nielsen, a sophomore in my French class. The film follows seven Afro-French women as they investigate the pieces of their mosaic identities, and unravel what it means to be Black and French, Black in France. In 2021, I served as the Melodia Jones Distinguished Chair of French Studies at University at Buffalo.
I have collaborated with Slate, Jacobin, and several news outlets in France. I am currently working on a manuscript tentatively titled Mosaica Nigra: Blackness in 21st-century France.
Areas of Interest
- Blackness in contemporary France
- Black/African diaspora
- Biopolitics and the living
- Film studies
- Gender in urban studies
- Race and (de)commemoration
- Race and/in Digital Humanities
Courses Taught
- FR-527: Rethinking Universalism in 21st century France (Developed)
- FR-482: Histoires, Mémoires et Commémorations (Developed)
- 82-416: The New Paris: Post-terror Impacts on the City of Light (Developed)
- 82-416: Growing Up Black or Asian in Contemporary France (Developed)
- 82-415: From the 1889 Paris Exposition to Charlie Hebdo: Cross-Cultural Encounters in French Society (Developed)
- 82-415: Cities and Suburban Spaces in French and Francophone Literature (Developed)
- 82-201/202: Intermediate French 1 & 2
Selected Awards and Honors
- Melodia Jones Distinguished Chair in French and Francophone Studies. University at Buffalo
- “The "Black (In)Visibilities Project" Advancing Black Arts Grant (2019-2020) Awarded by The Heinz Endowments/The Pittsburgh Foundation
- “The AMF Project: As Monuments Fall – Memory and Remembrance in France.” Falk Fund (Spring 2021)
- Awarded by Carnegie Mellon University, Office of the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences
Selected Community, University, and Professional Service
- Editor H-France Forum. 2022-
- Associate Editor CFC Intersections, Liverpool University Press. 2021-
- Associate Editor Decolonizing and Queering Francophone Studies, Edinburg University Press. 2021-
- Member MLA Executive Committee. LLC Francophone. 2022-2027
- Member Governing Council of the Western Society for French History
- Member Faculty Diversity Committee, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2019-
- Member Dean Reappointment Committee College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, 2018-2019
- Member Jennings Brave Companion Fund Committee, 2016, 2018, 2019
- Member Faculty Senate representing Modern Languages, Carnegie Mellon University, 2012-2014; 2016-2017; 2019-2020
Selected Publications
- “Unsilenced Past: A Conversation with Maboula Soumahoro”. Unsilenced Past. Debates in the Digital Humanities. Eds. Matthew K. Gold and Lauren F. Klein. University of Minnesota Press. (Refereed – forthcoming).
- “The Three Graces of 21st-century French Racism: Innocence, Ignorance and Arrogance”. France and Post-Racial Utopia, Eds. Audrey Brunetaux and Lam-Thao Nguyen. Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 26.5.(Refereed –forthcoming)
- Mame-Fatou Niang (2020). “Mariannes Noires: Blackness in French”. Slaveries and Post-Slaveries. Paris: CNRS-USR.
- Mame-Fatou Niang (2020). “Des particularités françaises de la négrophobie.” Racismes de France. Eds. Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison and Omar Slaouti. Paris: La Découverte, 2020. 151-169.
- “Afro-French Women in the Pan-African Movement”. Transnational African Feminisms. Ed. Rama Salla Dieng. Paris: Présence Africaine, 2021.
- Mame-Fatou Niang, Julien Suaudeau. (2020). “21st-century universalism will be anti-racist, or it won't be at all”. Rosa Luxemburg. 26 Oct. 2020.
- Mame-Fatou Niang. (2020).“France’s summer of racial reckoning”. The Jacobin x Rosa Luxemburg. 3 Sept. 2020.
- “The DiRosa Fresco and the Problematic Space of AfroFrenchness.” Monitor Racism, European University Institute/Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies. Florence, June 2019.
- “Pratiques et Poétiques de l’Espace dans le Port-au-Prince de l’Après 12 janvier 2010.” Horizons multiples de l’écriture haïtienne contemporaine. Ed. Joubert Satyre. Montréal: Les Editions du CIDIHCA, 2017. 15-37.
- “Des Rodéos des Minguettes à Charlie Hebdo: Trente-cinq ans de Production Médiatique des Banlieues en France.” Genre et Diversité: Les Enjeux de la Représentativité des Femmes. Ed. Ibrahima Sarr. Revue Africaine de Communication. Dakar: CESTI, 2017. 109-134.
- “Être ou ne pas Être Charlie: Conversations avec de Jeunes Habitants de la Grande Borne.” The Impossible Subject of Charlie Hebdo. Eds. Catherine Rassiguier and Mayanthi Fernando. Contemporary French Civilization. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2016. 319-334.
Journalism and Public Writing
- “21st-century universalism will be anti-racist, or it won't be at all.” Mame-Fatou Niang, Julien Suaudeau. Rosa Luxemburg. 26 Oct. 2020.
- “France’s summer of racial reckoning.” Mame-Fatou Niang. The Jacobin x Rosa Luxemburg. 3 Sept. 2020.
- “Pour un universalisme antiraciste.” Mame-Fatou Niang, Julien Suaudeau. Slate, 24 June 2020.
- “Ce tableau d' Hervé di Rosa est-il la meilleure oeuvre pour commémorer la première abolition de l'esclavage?” Mame-Fatou Niang, Julien Suaudeau. Slate, 21 May 2020.
- “L'Afrique cobaye ou le corps noir dans la médecine occidentale.” Mame-Fatou Niang. Slate, 9 April 2020.
Media Engagement
- France Culture, Le Temps du Débat, “Woke”
- France24: https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/perspective/20201201-racism-in-france-there-is-no-french-word-for-blackness?ref=tw
- Mediapart: https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/261120/violences-policieres-racisme-un-puissant-deni-valide-chaque-jour-par-les-politiques#at_medium=custom7&at_campaign=1047
- Arte: https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/097402-009-A/28-minutes/
- France Culture: https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/l-ete-comme-jamais/l-ete-comme-jamais-10-juillet-2020-0
- Le Courrier International: https://www.courrierinternational.com/video/video-mobilisation-antiraciste-comment-la-mort-de-george-floyd-ouvert-la-voie
- Arte: https://www.revue-elements.com/polemiques-et-scandales-et-lart-dans-tout-ca/