Thembelani Mbatha

Thembelani Mbatha is an Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, with a courtesy appointment in the English Department. He is affiliated with the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Equity and serves on the Center for the Humanities Executive Committee. His research focuses on postcolonial Africa and the African diaspora, including literary and discursive afterlives of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Education:

• Ph.D. in English and graduate certificate in African American Studies, Princeton University
• University of the Witwatersrand: English literary studies
• University of Cape Town: Philosophy

Research Interests: Mbatha’s work bridges Black Studies, postcolonial criticism, and Memory Studies. He examines apartheid archives through the TRC’s dialogue with contemporary literature and art to reimagine witnessing rituals and racialized memory frameworks for post-apartheid generations. His current monograph project explores these intersections, emphasizing decolonial intellectual traditions.