Erin Mosely

Erin Mosely specializes in modern East and Central African history with a thematic interest in the politics of history and memory after mass violence; truth, justice, and reconciliation efforts; and the impact of human rights paradigms on historical research and writing. Geographically, her work focuses on the Great Lakes region (Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, and Uganda), though she has also done comparative research on South Africa, Kenya, and Sierra Leone.

Mosely’s current book manuscript, “The Future of Rwanda’s Past,” examines the deep and reverberating impact of the 1994 genocide on Rwandan historians and historiography, as seen through key developments in the political, legal, intellectual, and archival realms. This project was supported by a Fulbright grant, Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship, and Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, and draws on 27 months of fieldwork in Rwanda carried out between 2011-2018.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Mosely has been involved in various other projects, including long-term volunteer work with the Genocide Archive of Rwanda; research for the landmark Mau Mau reparations case in London’s High Court (which in 2013 culminated in a financial payout and public apology by the British government for torture and other crimes committed in colonial Kenya during the 1950s); and youth empowerment and arts advocacy in Goma, DRC as a volunteer for the 2012 Congo International Film Festival.

Mosely earned her PhD in African Studies and History from Harvard University, an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA from Northwestern University. Before coming to Maryland, she was an assistant professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.