Assistant Director, Kansas African Studies Center

Emily Riley has received her PhD in Cultural Anthropology with a focus on political anthropology and gender in Senegal and West Africa from Michigan State University. Her current work focuses on the campaigns of several female parliamentarians in the Senegalese government and the praise singers that animate rallies and serve to remind spectators of the politicians’ magnanimous stature. Her research and teaching interests include women and politics, identity politics, social media and social change, national identity formations, and hospitality exchange.