Education
2019 – present
PhD Student | 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 (in progress) | NYU Departments of Anthropology & Cinema Studies
Feminist Research Methodologies and Digital Feminist Research | The New School
Training
~ 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
~ 2022~
Graduate Studies Enhancement Grant | Social Science Research Council-Mellon Mays Graduate Initiatives Program
Birth Equity Scholar | National Birth Equity Collaborative
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
~ 2021 ~
“Visions of Black Futurity Amidst the Double Pandemic of COVID-19 and Police Brutality.” Somatosphere
Speaking
~ 2022 ~
Guest Speaker | Department of Anthropology at 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 ~
Embodying Ancestry Presenter | CAETR Seed Grantee Presentation
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 ~
Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Regional Conference, Brooklyn College
Presented preliminary ethnographic research from field site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Teaching
~ 2022 ~
Teaching 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)
Fostered a safe environment for attendees to share struggles with their mental health in biweekly group sessions
Educated attendees on perinatal mental health and provided self-help resources
Languages
Native: English
Advanced: Spanish, French
Nadia Naomi Mbonde 