Brian Peterson

Brian Peterson is an Associate Professor of History at Union College, specializing in African history with a focus on francophone West Africa and the Sahel. His research spans colonialism and Cold War periods, examining politics, revolutions, religious change, Islam, environmental history, gender history, and migration. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. from Yale University.

Research interests include:

• Islamization processes in colonial Mali
• Revolutionary movements in Burkina Faso
• Environmental impacts of the Sahel drought
• Transformation of Muslim communities
• Cold War geopolitics in Africa

His publications demonstrate consistent focus on political revolutions, environmental challenges, and religious transformations in West Africa, with recent work examining climate vulnerability and cinematic representations of liberation movements.