I am an historian of sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the social and cultural history of modern southern Africa. My current book project examines the history of women's education through the case study of Inanda Seminary: the first high school for southern African women, founded by American women on the model of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1869. I am also co-editing an interdisciplinary anthology on the meanings of home in KwaZulu-Natal. My next project analyzes the role of kinship in the making of African nationalism in South Africa. I enjoy reading, talking, and writing about a range of issues in Africa's past-- particularly gender, colonialism, and development, and the connections between intimate domains and public culture.

Location

Cambridge, MA

Disciplines

• History

Affiliation

Harvard University

Website

http://scholar.harvard.edu/mehealy/