About
Maria Andam is the Gwendolen Carter Lecturer in African Studies at Smith College. She specializes in the intersection of law and gender/sexuality in Africa, teaching courses such as Women and the Law in Africa, Introduction to Human Rights in Africa, and Hot Topics in African Feminisms Today. As a lawyer with experience in Ghana and San Francisco, she provides country conditions expertise for international human rights organizations.
- LL.M, Cornell University
- LL.B., Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
- PLC, Ghana School of Law
Her research focuses on gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and postcolonial legal frameworks in Africa. She has authored influential publications on anti-SRHR mobilization, sexual minority rights, and non-binary gender roles in African societies.
Prominent publications include Contesting gender and neo-coloniality (2023), Sexual Minority Rights (2019), and Boy Wives, Female Husbands (2019). Her work bridges legal analysis with feminist and decolonial activism.
