Nadia Naomi Mbonde

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Education

2019 – present

Ph.D. Candidate | NYU, Department of Anthropology

~ 2017 ~

B.A. in Africana Studies & Dance | Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City

~ 2012 ~

International Baccalaureate | Campus des Nations of Ecolint, Geneva, Switzerland

Certificates

~ 2022 ~

Culture & Media | NYU Departments of Anthropology & Cinema Studies 

Feminist Research Methodologies and Digital Feminist Research | The New School

Training

~ 2023 ~

Full Spectrum Doula Training | Ancient Song Doula Services

I.N.S.P.I.R.E. Method Training | Shades of Blue

~ 2021 ~

Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Components of Care | Postpartum Support International

Legal and Ethical Dilemmas in Perinatal Mental Health | Maternal Mental Health NOW

Birth & Disability | Birth Advocacy Doula Trainings

~ 2020 ~

Peer Support Specialist | New York Academy of Peer Services

~ 2019 ~

Doula Mentorship | Birdsong Brooklyn

~ 2018 ~

Birth & Postpartum Doula | Carriage House Birth, Brooklyn, NY

Fellowship, Grants, Honors & Awards

~ 2024~

Dissertation Fieldwork Grant | Wenner-Gren

~ 2023~

Predoctoral Research Development Grant | Social Science Research Council-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program

~ 2022~

Artist Advocates in Residency Program | New Yorkers for Culture & Arts

Graduate Studies Enhancement Grant | Social Science Research Council-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program

SVA-Lemelson Fellowship | Society for Visual Anthropology

~ 2021 ~

Graduate Studies Enhancement Grant | Social Science Research Council-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program

Scholarship for Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training | Perinatal Mental Health Alliance for People of Color and Postpartum Support International (PSI)

~ 2019  ~

Graduate Research Fellowship | National Science Foundation

~ 2018 ~

Associate Fellowship | Institute for Recruitment of Teachers (IRT)   

Seed Grant | The Collaborative to Advance Equity through Research (CAETR) at Columbia University

~ 2017 ~

Summa Cum Laude | Barnard College of Columbia University

Membership | Phi Beta Kappa

Bold Organization Award for V-Day 2017 | Barnard College of Columbia University

Bold Student Award | Barnard College of Columbia University

~ 2015 ~

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship (MMUF) | Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Publications

– forthcoming –

“Wading in Digital Waters: Black Mad/Cripistemologies of Motherhood and “Mental Illness” in Online Support Groups Amid the Double Pandemic,” Mad Studies Anthology. Eds. Efrat Gold and Simon Adam.

~ 2025 ~

“Mental Health and Black Futurity: Life, Birth, and Caregiving in Double Pandemics.” How To Be Disabled in a Pandemic. Eds. Faye Ginsburg, Rayna Rapp and Mara Mills, NYU Press.

~ 2023 ~

“Media, Mediumship, and the Supernatural.” American Anthropologist website, May 19.  

“Mad/Cripistemologies of Pandemic Parenting: Insights for Our “Post-COVID-19” Present.” Mad in America

~ 2021 ~

“Visions of Black Futurity Amidst the Double Pandemic of COVID-19 and Police Brutality.” Somatosphere

Speaking

~ 2023 ~

Presenter | American Anthropological Association (AAA) Annual Meeting, Toronoto, Canada

Participated in a roundtable called “Forty Years of Feminist Anthropology on Reproductive Politics: An Intergenerational Conversation”

Guest Speaker | Department of Anthropology, Rice University

Accepted an invitation from Dr. Helena Fietz  to be a guest speaker for an undergraduate anthropology class

Engaged students in a discussion about my texts Dr. Fietz put on the syllabus, including An Astrological Diagnosis, “Mad/Cripistemologies of Pandemic Parenting: Insights for Our “Post-COVID-19” Present” and various posts from my blog

Panelist | Screening Scholarship Media Festival, CAMRA (Collective for Advancing Multimodal Research Arts) University of Pennsylvania

Presented film An Astrological Diagnosis on a panel titled “Mind and Memory, Knowledge and Spirit”

Guest Lecturer | New York University

Delivered a one-hour long lecture to an undergraduate Intro to Medical Anthropology class of 60 students

~ 2022 ~

Panelist | Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)

Presented a paper titled “Pandemic Parenting and Psychiatric Disability: Mad/Cripistemology At The Intersection Of Reproduction And Global Mental Health” on a the panel COVID and Cripistemology: Disability and Knowledge During a Pandemic

Presenter | American Anthropological Association (AAA) Annual Meeting, Seattle WA

Presented research on autoethnographic filmmaking conducted during SVA/Lemelson Foundation Fellowship and screened film An Astrological Diagnosis       

Guest Speaker | Department of Anthropology, Rice University

Accepted an invitation from Dr. Helena Fietz  to be a guest speaker during one session of her undergraduate anthropology class “Culture, Psychiatry, and Mental Illness”

Engaged students in a discussion about my texts Dr. Fietz put on the syllabus, including “Visions of Black Futurity” and various posts from my blog

Guest Speaker | Birth & Disability Master Class, Birth Advocacy Doula Trainings (BADT)

Delivered a one-hour presentation on the intersection of race and mental health crisis response along the perinatal spectrum integrating my research and live experience for a live class of 50 students

Answered students’ questions and provided education resources for further study

Panelist | Calling In: How we perpetuate ableism in our modern time, Birth Advocacy Doula Trainings (BADT)

Served on a panel discussing productive ways to address harmful ideologies and behaviors towards disability

Responded to audience questions concerning racialized oppression experience by Black disabled birthing people

~ 2021 ~

Panelist | Decarcerating Care: Fireside Chat, Institute for the Development of Human Arts (IDHA)

Served on a panel discussing carceral mental health systems threatening societal wellbeing

Explored intersections between mental and reproductive health care impacting parents living with mental illness  

Panelist | Center for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), University of Cambridge

Presented a paper titled “Visions of Black Futurity: The Politics of Self and Community Care at the Intersection of the Double Pandemic of COVID-19 and Police Brutality” on a panel addressing “Social Power and Mental Health” via Zoom

Panelist | Medusa Graduate Student Union Conference, University of Toronto

Presented a paper titled “Visions of Black Futurity: The Politics of Self and Community Care at the Intersection of the Double Pandemic of COVID-19 and Police Brutality” on a panel addressing “Revolutionary Futurities” via Zoom

~ 2018 ~

Presenter | CAETR Seed Grant Recipient Reception

Funded with a seed grant from CAETR, Embodying Ancestry was an ethnographic portrait series empowering women of color ages twenty to thirty in New York with methods in oral history, archival work, and embodied practice to explore their own ancestry

~ 2017 ~

Presenter | Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Regional Conference, Brooklyn College

Presented preliminary ethnographic research from field site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Teaching

~ 2023 ~

Anti-Carceral Approaches to Psychosis & Altered States, Project LETS

Served as a panelist for lived experience storytelling event and taught two skill-based training on holistic forms of care, offered tools to support clients

Mentor | Mellon Mays Undergraduate Summer Colloquium

Fostered the professional development of the mentee by sharing their expertise about graduate school and conducting research

Teaching Assistant | Introduction to Medical Anthropology, NYU College of Arts & Sciences

Led two 20 student recitation sections, advised students one-on-one in office hours and graded assignments

Delivered a one-hour long lecture to an undergraduate Intro to Medical Anthropology class of 60 students

~ 2022 ~

Course Assistant | Medical Anthropology, NYU College of Arts & Sciences

Assisted in tailoring syllabus to the cohorts’ interests and advised students one-on-one in office hours

            Delivered lectures on the anthropology of mental health and reproduction

            Facilitated class discussion with 120 students on Zoom and graded assignments  

~ 2021 ~

Co-Teacher | Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings (BADT) & Project LETS (Lets Erase the Stigma)

Co-taught a training called “Crisis Response for Birth Workers” empowering birth professionals with tools to help their clients navigate mental health crises in pregnancy and postpartum

Co-Teacher | Project LETS (Lets Erase the Stigma)

Taught a portion of a teach-in entitled “Disabled and mad histories of pathologization and how we fought back” to a live audience of 55 people

Prepared and presented a lesson entitled “The History of Hysteria: Unpacking Sanist Legacies of Sexism & Racism” via Zoom”

~ 2018 ~

Teaching Assistant | Barnard Africana Studies Department

Assisted in administering course managing archival materials, learning the Scalar platform, and organizing digital humanities sessions

Managed the digital humanities pedagogy by maintaining the class blog & readings, commenting on student posts, reviewing student work, and working with students on crafting their research projects

Created landing page for Digital Shange project & student book, co-wrote an introduction with the professor, and edited final projects

2015 – 2017

Public Speaking Tutor & Head Fellow | Barnard College Writing & Speaking Center

Developed curriculum on embodied speaking practice and overcoming speaking anxiety

Held one-on-one sessions which enhanced students’ abilities to deliver class presentations and boost confidence during interviews

Facilitated specialized professional development public speaking workshops for student and faculty

Led recruitment strategies to increase cohort diversity for the class of 2017 Speaking Fellow cohort

Volunteering

~ 2022 ~

Perinatal Support Group Co-Facilitator | Postpartum Support International (PSI)

Collaborated with support group coordinators to launch PSI’s first perinatal bipolar support group

Co-created and delivered educational material on perinatal bipolar for group attendees

Co-facilitated biweekly group sessions cultivating a safe environment for attendees to share struggles, create community and find resources

Languages

Native: English

Advanced: Spanish, French