Ousseina Alidou: Ecological Thoughts in Sahel West African Women’s Literary and Cultural Narratives
Date: November 10, 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: University Center Ballroom
47th Annual W.E.B. Du Bois Lecture
Ousseina Alidou, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Part of the Fall 2025 Humanities Forum and Social Sciences Forum
In the 47th Annual W. E. B. Du Bois Distinguished Lecture, Ousseina Alidou examines life and being human in West African Sahel women’s ecological thoughts as articulated in their literary and cultural narratives. Alidou’s aim is to expand our understanding of Sahelian women’s enduring contributions to ethical engagement with environmental concerns and preservation, climate change, vulnerability, migration, gender equity, and resilience. She highlights comparative perspectives that can be drawn between the Sahel ecological thoughts and W.E.B Du Bois’ sociological meditations on the intersection of race, class, gender, and environmental justice.
Ousseina D. Alidou is is a Distinguished Professor of Humane Letters in the School of Arts and Science, Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She teaches in the Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures and the Graduate Program in Comparative Literature. Alidou’s specialization is Theoretical Linguistics, Gender, and African Studies. She is the author of several books, including Protest Arts, Gender and Social Change: Fiction and Popular Songs in Hausa Societies Across Borders (Michigan University Press, 2023). Dr. Alidou has served as the President of the African Studies Association (2022-2023) and the Director of the Center for African Studies at Rutgers University (2009-2015, 2025-2025). Currently, she serves as a Senior Faculty Advisor to UNESCO BREDA for the design of UNESCO-Rutgers University’s Gender and Transformative Leadership Curriculum for African Universities and Civil Society Organizations.
Admission is free.
The annual W.E.B. Du Bois lecture is organized by the Department of Africana Studies. This event is co-sponsored by the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the Center for Social Science Scholarship; the Dresher Center for the Humanities; the Shriver Center; and the Division of Professional Studies.