Rachel Jean-Baptiste

Michelle Mercer and Bruce Golden Family Professor of Feminist and Gender Studies, Professor of History and of African and African American Studies

Bio

Ph.D., Stanford University
M.A., Stanford University
A.B., Bryn Mawr College

Rachel Jean-Baptiste is a historian of 19th-21st century West and Equatorial Africa and the French-speaking Atlantic World. Her research interests include the histories of: marriage and family law; citizenship; urbanization; family and childhood; women, gender, and sexuality; colonialism; and race.

Academic Appointments

Professor, History
Professor, African and African American Studies

Administrative Appointments

Faculty Director, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program (2023 - Present)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

Board Member, African Studies Association (2022 - Present)
Board Member, Society for French Historical Studies (2025 - Present)
Co-President, Coordinating Council for Women in History (2021 - 2024)
Editorial Board, Gender and History (2022 - Present)

2025-26 Courses

Haiti: Past, Present, and Futures
FRENCH 274, GLOBAL 275, HISTORY 275, HISTORY 375 (Win)
Introduction to Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
AMSTUD 107, CSRE 108, FEMGEN 101, HISTORY 108A (Aut)
Why College? Your Education and the Good Life
COLLEGE 101 (Aut)
Independent Studies (5)
- Directed Engagement
  HISTORY 399Y (Aut)
- Graduate Directed Reading
  HISTORY 399W (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Graduate Research
  HISTORY 499X (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Honors Work
  FEMGEN 105 (Aut, Win, Spr)
- Undergraduate Directed Research and Writing
  HISTORY 299S (Win)
Prior Year Courses
2024-25 Courses
- Doing Research and Experiential Learning in Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
  FEMGEN 104X (Spr)
- Graduate Workshop: Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  FEMGEN 299 (Spr)
- History of West Africa
  AFRICAAM 243, HISTORY 246A, HISTORY 346A (Spr)
- Introduction to Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  AMSTUD 107, CSRE 108, FEMGEN 101, TAPS 108 (Aut)
- Slavery, Africa, and the Atlantic and Indian Ocean Worlds
  HISTORY 446A (Aut)
- Slavery, Africa, and the Atlantic and Indian Ocean Worlds
  HISTORY 446B (Win)
2023-24 Courses
- Gender and Sexuality in African History
  AFRICAAM 247, FEMGEN 247, FEMGEN 347, HISTORY 247, HISTORY 347 (Spr)
- Graduate Workshop: Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  ARTHIST 499, FEMGEN 299 (Aut)
- Introduction to Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  AMSTUD 107, CSRE 108, FEMGEN 101, TAPS 108 (Spr)

Stanford Advisees

Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Seyi Osundeko
Orals Evaluator
Mathew Ayodele
Doctoral (Program)
Selam Kidane, Lucy Stark

All Publications

Runaway Enslaved Families in Senegal: Mothers, Children, Resistance, and Vulnerabilities, 1857-1903 SLAVERY & ABOLITION Aponte, B., Balde, M., Cheng, C., Goodwin, J., Jean-Baptiste, R., Roberts, R., Sene, A., Sy, M., Teska, W. 2025; 46 (3): 671-701

View details for DOI 10.1080/0144039X.2025.2532910

View details for Web of Science ID 001576053400001
Emotional Histories of Relational Rupture GENDER AND HISTORY Jean-Baptiste, R., Vallgarda, K., Celello, K. 2025; 37 (2): 457-461

View details for DOI 10.1111/1468-0424.12863

View details for Web of Science ID 001521294200010
To BeWorthy of the Name of My Father: Métis, Paternity and Belonging in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Colonial and Postcolonial French Africa and France Gender & History, Jean-Baptiste, R. 2025; 37: 462–476

View details for DOI 10.1111/1468-0424.12859
Multiracial Identities in Colonial French Africa: Race, Childhood, and Citizenship Jean-Baptiste, R. Cambridge University Press. 2023
Conjugal Rights: Marriage, Sexuality, and Urban Life in Colonial Libreville, Gabon New African Histories Jean-Baptiste, R. Ohio University Press. 2014
"Miss Eurafrica": Men, Women's Sexuality, and Metis Identity in Late Colonial French Africa, 1945-1960 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF SEXUALITY Jean-Baptiste, R. 2011; 20 (3): 568-593

View details for Web of Science ID 000296213900007

View details for PubMedID 22180937
"A BLACK GIRL SHOULD NOT BE WITH A WHITE MAN" Sex, Race, and African Women's Social and Legal Status in Colonial Gabon, c. 1900-1946 JOURNAL OF WOMENS HISTORY Jean-Baptiste, R. 2010; 22 (2): 56-82

View details for Web of Science ID 000278523800004
'THESE LAWS SHOULD BE MADE BY US': CUSTOMARY MARRIAGE LAW, CODIFICATION AND POLITICAL AUTHORITY IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY COLONIAL GABON JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY Jean-Baptiste, R. 2008; 49 (2): 217-240

View details for DOI 10.1017/S0021853708003617

View details for Web of Science ID 000260482500003