Africana Studies

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DR. Mariam Konate Deme
Assistant Professor of Africana Studies

Ph.D., Temple University
M.A., Temple University

Research and Teaching:

Mariam Konate Deme, Assistant Professor, Africana Studies holds "Licence Es Lettres" in English and "Maitrise Es Lettres" (African Literature), from Universite de Ouagadougou; M.A. and a Ph.D. in African-American Studies from Temple University in Philadelphia. Dr. Deme has both a keen interest and a strong background in the study of Francophone and Anglophone African literature and culture, as well as in African-American history, literature and culture. Her dissertation examines "The Role and Functions of the Supernatural in the African Epic." Her forthcoming article in The Journal of Black Studies, "The Supernatural in the African Epic: Toward a Critical Analysis" argues the failure of Western literary criticism to acknowledge the distinctiveness of African literary aesthetics and the need to revise traditional literary canons to reflect the social, cultural and historical specificity of Africa and its peoples. Dr. Deme's research interests include reformulating traditional literary canons where literature, culture and society intersect, as well as Black women's collective thought as a critical theory that reflects their efforts to fight against, intersecting oppressions of race, class, gender. Her particular interest in comparative literature and cultural studies focuses on the impact of the oral tradition on African, African-American, and Caribbean literatures and cinemas. Dr. Deme is coming to Western Michigan University from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio where she has been teaching in both the Ethnic and Africana Studies programs for the past three years. She is also a member of the curriculum development of Culture Connections.

Email: mariam.k.deme@wmich.edu
Phone: 387-2643