RoseMary Jolly

RoseMary Jolly is a Professor at Penn State University and holds the Weiss Chair of the Humanities in Literature and Human Rights. Her research focuses on Sub-Saharan African literatures, narratives of violence and reconciliation, and the intersection of critical medical humanities with sub-Saharan health frameworks, particularly addressing gender-based violence prevention in HIV/AIDS contexts.

• Specialization: Sub-Saharan African literatures, postcolonial theory, ethics of research with vulnerable communities
• Methodology: Mixed quantitative and qualitative approaches, qualitative analysis of oral testimony, embodied gesture analysis

She investigates how representations of violence and reconciliation influence intergovernmental, intercommunity, and interpersonal relations in conflict zones, emphasizing the links between extreme deprivation, gender-based violence, and the HIV pandemic. Her work includes collaborations with victim-survivors of state-sponsored torture and communities impacted by structural violence.