Robin Mitchell

Robin Mitchell is an Associate Professor of European History at the University at Buffalo, serving as Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of History. She holds affiliations with the College of Arts and Sciences’ Departments of Africana and American Studies and Global Gender Studies. Mitchell specializes in 18th and 19th century French history, focusing on race, gender, and colonialism’s impact on Black women’s experiences. Her work critiques colonial fantasies and systemic marginalization through analyses of scandals, legal cases, and cultural representations.

Education includes a PhD from UC Berkeley (2010), MA from UC Santa Cruz (2001), and BA from Mills College (1998). Her research explores Black women’s voices in French colonial contexts, examining their roles in shaping national identities and challenging racial hierarchies.

Recent publications include Vénus Noire: Black Women and Colonial Fantasies in Nineteenth-Century France (2020), recognized by The Guardian and AAHIS. An upcoming biography of Suzanne Simone Baptiste, under contract with Princeton University Press, further expands her scholarship on marginalized figures. Mitchell has received prestigious fellowships, including the Maury Green Fellowship at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute and awards for teaching and student mentorship.

Her interdisciplinary approach integrates historical analysis with gender, queer, and postcolonial studies. Active in academic leadership, she serves on editorial boards for journals like H-France and chairs roles in professional societies such as the French Colonial Historical Society. Mitchell’s work bridges historical research with public engagement, advocating for inclusive narratives in French and global history.