Charles Tshimanga-Kashama
joined the History Department as a post-doctoral fellow (2003-2005)
and as an Assistant Professor of History in Fall 2005. He
earned his MA and PhD in History from the University of Paris 7-Denis
Diderot, France (1999). The author, co-author and co-editor of four books,
his research specialties include African Studies, Colonial/Post-Colonial
Studies and Diaspora Studies. His first book “
Youth, Education
and Society in the Congo/Kinshasa, 1890-1960,” published in
Paris by L’Harmattan Editions (2001), is a revised version of his
PhD thesis in history. This book outlines the way in which youths
were at the heart of the Belgian plan to colonize the Congo. It explains
how popular culture (i.e. sports, youth movements, religious movements),
was appropriated to articulate and challenge power in the Belgian Congo.
His current research focuses on the African Diaspora in France, Belgium,
and the United States. He is looking at music, leisure activities, ethnic
associations, and religious movements as a way to interpret and theorize
with regard to identity formation within the African Diaspora. In addition
to his Core Humanities classes, he teaches courses in “African
History” and “African Diaspora and Popular Culture,” in
which he addresses historical and cultural issues. Before coming to UNR,
he taught in Paris at the University of Marne-la-Vallée and at
the University of Paris 8. He also spent one year at the University of
Michigan-Ann Arbor (2002-2003).
