معرفی
Rebecca Shumway is an Associate Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). She is also an Affiliated Professor in African and African Diaspora Studies and Faculty Coordinator of the African Studies Forum. Her research focuses on 18th–19th century West Africa, particularly coastal Ghana (Fante), with expertise in precolonial political systems, slavery, and Atlantic World connections.
Shumway holds a PhD (2004), MA (1998), and BA (1995) in History from Emory University and Northwestern University, respectively. She teaches courses on West African history, the transatlantic slave trade, and Africa’s global engagements. Her work emphasizes African agency, cultural identity, and the interplay between local and transnational histories.
Her research interests include state formation in precolonial West Africa, the impact of the slave trade, and the African diaspora. Key themes in her scholarship address Fante sovereignty, treaty-making with European powers, and the role of oral traditions in reconstructing precolonial societies.
