Anya Bounar

Matriculated September 2016

Research Interests

France, Senegal, colonialism, postcolonialism, neocolonialism, race, language, international migration, boundary-making, identity, spatial mapping.

About

Stemming from an interest in structural and personal legacies of French colonialism, my research is focused on French citizens who reside in Senegal. Specifically, their experiences and expectations before, during, and after migration, their perception of Senegal and the Senegalese, and Senegalese perceptions of their presence in the country and capital. My interest lies in the tensions between retirement-age French residents of Dakar and their Senegalese neighbors, and delves topically into concepts of colonialism, neocolonialism, race and racism, linguistic dynamics, and spatial organization of residences and social spheres. My dissertation is focused on personal perceptions and experiences and how they tie into processes that could be considered “macro-level” such as migration of the economically privileged from the Global North to the Global South along colonial or imperial pathways. I am also interested in how such processes are played out and conceptualized by the individuals who participate in them.

Awards & Grants

• Social Science Summer Internship with Partners in Health. $7000. (Summer 2023).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $1500. (2022).
• Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship. $5,000 (Summer 2021). Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. $23,923 (AY2020-2021).
• Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship. $2686 (Summer 2019).
• Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. $22,660 (AY2018-2019).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $3000. (2018).
• Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant. $665. (2017).

Publications

• forthcoming