Ousseina Alidou

Ousseina D. Alidou is a Professor in the Department of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Literatures at Rutgers University, with a secondary appointment in the Graduate Program in Comparative Literature. She holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Linguistics from Indiana University (Bloomington), an M.A. in Applied Linguistics (Literacy Studies) from Indiana University, and an M.A. in Linguistics from Université Abdou Moumouni in Niger. Her research focuses on African Muslim women’s agency, gender justice, and cultural production in African Muslim societies, with particular attention to literacy practices and oral traditions.

Her academic career includes roles as a Visiting Professor at the University of Hamburg (2003) and a Visiting Scholars’ Writing Fellow at the University of Lueneburg (2002). She has received prestigious awards such as the Warren I. Susman Teaching Award (2010-2011) and the Africa America Institute Distinguished Alumni Award (2010). Her publications include co-edited volumes like Writing through the Visual and Virtual (2015) and authored works such as Engaging Modernity: Muslim Women and the Politics of Agency in Postcolonial Niger (2005), which was a runner-up for the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize.

Alidou teaches courses on African literature, gender studies, and Islamic cultural dynamics, including 'Women Writers of Africa/African Feminism' and 'Islam and African Women Writers.' Her research spans interdisciplinary topics such as the colonial legacy in African education systems, the role of folklore in gender discourse, and the intersection of religion and legal systems in postcolonial contexts.