Nicole Bourbonnais

Nicole Bourbonnais is an Associate Professor of International History and Politics at The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, co-director of its Gender Centre. She holds a BA from the University of British Columbia and MA/PhD in History from the University of Pittsburgh.

Her research focuses on intersections of global politics, transnational activism, and intimate lives, particularly in decolonization contexts. Key themes include reproductive politics in the Caribbean, maternal health governance at the WHO, and the historical evolution of family planning as a global project. Current work traces WHO’s maternity policies since the 1940s across four pillars: maternal mortality statistics, childbirth guidelines, infant feeding recommendations, and maternal mental health advocacy.

Teaching specialties include reproductive politics, global health diplomacy, decolonization studies, and oral history methodologies. She hosts the New Books Network podcast, interviewing authors on reproduction/sexuality across disciplines. Her work bridges historical analysis with contemporary policy debates on intersectional inequalities, gendered public policies, and colonial/postcolonial power structures.

Advising and supervision focus on Caribbean history, global health governance, and gendered activism. Active in interdisciplinary collaborations through the Gender Centre, she critiques epistemic hierarchies in global health narratives and advocates for decolonizing historical methodologies.