Rachel Jean-Baptiste

Rachel Jean-Baptiste is an Associate Professor in the History Department at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on 20th and 21st century French-speaking Central and West Africa, with expertise in gender, women’s and sexuality studies, marriage and family law, race, citizenship, and urbanization. She currently serves as Co-President (through 2024) of the Coordinating Council for Women in History (an American Historical Association affiliate) and on the Board of Directors (through 2025) of the African Studies Association.

Education:

• Ph.D. in History, Stanford University
• M.A. in History, Stanford University
• B.A. in History and French, Bryn Mawr College

Her research examines cross-cultural intersections of gender, law, and race in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Key themes include métis identities, colonial legal systems, and the sociolegal construction of race and citizenship. Recent work explores how African women navigated French colonial welfare structures and legal frameworks regarding mixed-race children.

Publications highlight her interdisciplinary approach, with monographs like Conjugal Rights (2014) and forthcoming Multiracial Identities (2023) analyzing marriage, urban life, and racial categorization. Her articles in Journal of the History of Sexuality and Cahiers d'études africaines reveal patterns of legal contestation over family law and gender roles in colonial settings.

Teaching specialties include African history since 1945, global histories of race, and gender studies in African contexts. She actively contributes to academic governance through editorial roles (UK Editorial Collective, Gender and History) and professional organizations.