Michaela Feinberg

Michaela Feinberg is a sixth-year doctoral student who specializes in African history. Her research interests include theater, dance, and colonial education in French West Africa. Her dissertation project, titled Choreographing Empire: Theater, Folklore, and Colonial Education in Senegal, examines the way that students and teachers established a new artistic tradition in French West Africa during and just after colonial rule. Her work illuminates how African students and teachers engaged in transnational and cross-cultural discourses within Africa and the diaspora to think critically about colonial rule and establish new artistic practices on their own terms. Her research is generously supported by the Yale MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. 

Prior to Yale, Michaela graduated summa cum laude from Muhlenberg college with a major in History and minor in Anthropology.

At Yale, Michaela also works as a Lead Writing Partner at the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and as a Graduate Assistant at the Office of Fellowships. She is passionate about helping students develop their writing skills and making academia accessible to all.