Core Faculty Member

Education

Ph.D.,  Washington University in St. Louis
M.F.A., Columbia University
B.A, The College of Wooster, Ohio
Translation Studies Certificate
Chancellor’s Fellow and an Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Fellow
Inaugural Postdoctoral Associate with The Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ) and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University in New Brunswick  (Cohort I-2021-2022)
Inaugural James Baldwin Artist and Scholar in Residence at The University of Virginia, in The Department of French (Cohort I-2022)

Fields of Research:

Poetry, Interdisciplinary and Comparative Poetics, Négritude, Studies of Translation, Postcolonial Literature and Theory, Decoloniality, Black France, Literary criticism, Slavery Afterlives, Creative Writing, Translation Within

I am an Assistant Professor of French and Creative Writing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, where I teach students in both the French and English departments. As a dedicated educator, I strive to inspire a love for literature and foster creativity in my students. In addition to my academic role, I am a proud Senegalese-American poet, translator, and comparatist. I draw from my rich cultural background to explore themes of identity and connection in my work, both critically and creatively. My passion for language and literature informs both my teaching and my writing, allowing me to bridge diverse perspectives and experiences. My multi-dimensional research explores French and Francophone cultures, critical translation studies, poetry and poetics studies, Négritude, and the African diaspora. In my critical and creative scholarship, I explore an interdisciplinary analysis of Négritude that recognizes the differences of people, cultures, and the systems of colonization within Africa and beyond. My first scholarly book in progress, Habits of Négritude: A Black Poetic Imagination in the African Diaspora, reexamines Négritude through interdisciplinary lenses. I conceptualize Négritude as a set of rehearsals, worldbuilding, and translation practices, asserting that these habits can manifest within Négritude’s diverse geographical and genealogical frameworks. A chapter and a Coda from Habits of Négritude will be published soon in peer-reviewed scholarly journals.  

My second interdisciplinary and scholarly book project is a close study of Francis Ledwidge and Léopold Sédar Senghor. It illustrates how Ledwidge and Senghor pursued a poetic galaxy in the trenches that became a place of withdrawal. Exilic Trenches: Francis Ledwidge and Léopold Sédar Senghor contend that if Ledwidge, an Irishman, fought for England, and Senghor, a Senegalese, fought for France, their fractured identity, exile, and alienation occurred in the trenches. Senghor and Ledwidge’s war poems are at the forefront of my overall argument in the book to show poetic tactics that illuminate their defiance, their exilic sense, and patriotism in their lived experience of war. I conclude that their poems are nationalistic elegies that operate in a pastoral mood.

A full-length poetry manuscript entitled Ghost of Tirailleurs retraces memories of war and the violence of colonialism through Senegalese soldiers who fought for France during WWI and WWII, is in progress, and poems have been published here https://apela.hypotheses.org/11111

A novel titled Madame Diawara is in progress. Read a chapter of the book here https://www.journaloftheplagueyears.ink/blog/madame-diawara

Building on my previous interdisciplinary research, I integrated my research and creative writing into my third scholarly book, Arrivals to Orality: Landscape, Home & Grief. The book begins with trilingual poems from Ghosts of Tirailleurs, showcasing how poetic forms in English, Wolof, Diola, Manding, and French allow for a fusion of my Senegalese and American backgrounds within Négritude traditions. The first chapter analyzes Ousmane Sembène’s engagement with Négritude in his films “Guélowar”, “Faat Kiné”, and “Camp de Thiaroye”. The second chapter situates the works of Légitime Défense, Tropiques, and Présence Africaine within their historical contexts. The third chapter compares the engagement with Négritude poetics by Édouard Glissant, Derek Walcott, and Kamau Brathwaite. The fourth chapter examines the vernacular politics of Galandou Diouf, Blaise Diagne, and Léopold Sédar Senghor.  Chapter five addresses contemporary debates surrounding Négritude, focusing on Sylvia Wynter’s interrogation of race, culture, and history; Christina Sharpe’s exploration of Black life and history in the present; and Saidiya Hartman’s reflections on Black individuals and the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade. In the epilogue, I include a close reading of excerpts from my novel Madame Diawara, which reflects African and Senegalese rhythms and syntax across multiple languages, embodying a diasporic crossing both bodily and linguistically.

Interdisciplinary Publications and Public Outreach:

Ancient Algorithms, 2025, a collaborative poetry book by Katrine Øgaard Jensen with contributors Sawako Nakayasu, Aditi Machado, CAConrad, Paul Cunningham, and Ursula Andkjær Olsen, Sarabande Books, 2025 https://www.sarabandebooks.org/all-titles/p/ancient-algorithms

Jazz en Waxtaan: Archiving Black Sound and Memory (2025) Medina Marmiyal, Saint Louis, Senegal, https://www.instagram.com/p/DKR8aDuogoZ/

https://www.action-spectacle.com/summer-2024-part-i/badji

National Endowment for the Arts

Literary Arts: FY 2024 Grants Panelist reader (Translation)

https://poetrysociety.org/events/a-tribute-to-richard-howard

https://www.theafricanistpodcast.com/e/decolonizing-the-mind-in-conversation-with-ngugi-wa-thiong-o/

https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2023-04/the-city-and-the-writer-in-ziguinchor-senegal-with-baba-badji-nathalie-handal/

https://pen.org/meet-the-2023-literary-awards-judges/

https://gaecafrica.org/afrik-bu-nuy-xaar/

Scholarly publication: “Jesus Died to Guide the Prophet in the Moon’s Blue Chunk: After Mahershala Ali Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, Michigan State University Press, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2022 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/862877 Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, Michigan State University Press, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2022 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/862877 

Book(s):

https://www.europenowjournal.org/2018/02/28/four-poems-by-leopold-sedar-senghor/

https://www.europenowjournal.org/2018/02/28/five-poems-by-mohammed-kair-eddine/

Teaching Statement:

I strive for teaching excellence, which involves learning from both my students and my colleagues while also developing my interdisciplinary research, writing, and teaching. My teaching and learning goals have evolved significantly due to the influence of my students and colleagues. Drawing on Rutgers University’s commitment to excellence in teaching, innovative research, and mentoring, I place my research, teaching, and learning alongside my students’ intellectual curiosity, believing that these elements are symbiotic and essential for my scholarship both at home and abroad. In my teaching, I employ a methodological approach that utilizes a comparative framework, both in the classroom and beyond. This comparative framework helps me create meaningful relationships with my students, focusing on wisdom, kindness, and the joy of learning. What inspires me in my courses is the comparative approach, which captures my students’ interest and attention. This fosters a learning environment of trust and creates a stimulating, profound learning community. My students are integral to my research and teaching, helping me strive to be a better and more generous scholar. I adopt an instructional attitude that emphasizes group work, encouraging students to engage in dialogue with one another. I view the classroom as a collaborative space and workroom— where students interact intellectually with the material and with each other in various ways—linguistically, thematically, intimately, and physically.  On an interpersonal level, I deeply enjoy interacting with my students, driven by their curiosity. I embody the values that are essential for any good relationship: trust, communication, compassion, and care. Over the years, I have found that what motivates me most as a teacher is understanding the relevance of cultures through comparative thinking. Supporting my students’ intellectual curiosity, struggles, and growth has been the most rewarding aspect of my academic journey. I emphasize the importance of humility, determination, tolerance, and a passion for learning—habits that help students become independent—free thinkers. As a writer, translator, and teacher, I believe strongly in nurturing my students’ creative and critical growth. I want them to find meaning and voice in their writing projects, critically and creatively.  Voicing one’s meaning is another form of communication that must be emptied of the inner self. The author must give themself away on the otherwise empty page. That voice and meaning eventually emerge with a community in practice and patience.

Student Supervision & Advising:

I welcome the opportunity to provide guidance and support to students whose research interests align with my own. My goal is to ensure that they have the resources and encouragement they need to excel in their studies and achieve their research objectives. I am committed to cultivating an inclusive academic environment that positively and productively supports students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds who may face challenges in their academic journeys. I encourage prospective students to reach out to me with their ideas and aspirations, especially in the following areas: Francophone cultures, comparative literature and poetry, Négritude, French theory, studies of translation, poetics, postcolonial literature and theory, decoloniality, Black France, literary criticism, Africa, and creative writing.

Services, Mentoring, and intellectual projects at Rutgers:

Founder and co-organizer of the Fanon Research Collective https://cca.rutgers.edu/working-groups/working-groups-details/84-working-groups/870-frc

I am the co-founder and Project leader of The Dakar Translation Symposium  (DTS) that is a 5-days international, interdisciplinary, multilingual scholarly meeting centered on the African diaspora-(https://globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/event/dakar-translation-symposium-africa-and-her-diasporas). The second edition of the Dakar Translation Symposium was scheduled on Jun 3-9, 2024, and it was held in Ghana https://globalracialjustice.rutgers.edu/Global_Initiatives.

The third edition of The Dakar Translation Symposium is scheduled to take place in Tanzania, at The University of Dar es Salaam, (15-19, 2026).

I am also the co-founder of the Center for Translation Studies, Literature and Cultures at Assane Seck University in Ziguinchor, Casamance, Senegal https://mail.seneplus.com/education/vers-la-creation-dun-centre-de-traduction-de-litterature-et

Awards and Honors:

Washington University in St. Louis
Translation Studies Certificate
Chancellor’s Fellow and an Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Fellow

Rutgers University in New Brunswick
Inaugural Postdoctoral Associate with The Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ) and Comparative Literature (Cohort I)

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of French and the Department of English (Cohort II) 

The University of Virginia
Inaugural James Baldwin Artist and Scholar in Residence in The Department of French (Cohort I-2022)