2019 - Dr. Christian Mbarga

Department of Romance Languages
BA, MA (Bielefeld), BEd (Laurentian), PhD (John Hopkins)

Dr. Christian Mbarga is an internationally recognized scholar who specializes in French 19th century literature, African ethnography and lexicology, linguistics, and French second language didactics. His scholarly work has received critical praise and is widely cited. In 2012, he began multi-disciplinary research on the history of the Beti peoples of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Congo through a postcolonial perspective. He hopes his research will create a reliable record of a culture whose elders are the primary and last knowledge holders. Dr. Mbarga has made multiple trips to Cameroon to interview elders and has transcribed more than 50 hours of recorded interviews. Three books on this research were published this year: Les Beti/Baki au cœur du Cameroun. Histoire récente des Betsenga (Evondo) et autres ‘Sanaga,’ Les Evondo, Ehondo, Aby et autres Betsenga. Migrations et sédentarité du XVIIe siècle à nos jours, and La société beti à travers la culture et les généalogies Betsenga/Evondo. These books, described as an outstanding contribution to Francophone Postcolonial Studies, were launched at STU this term, and will be launched in Paris, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire in the coming months. Dr. Mbarga joined the Department of Romance Languages in 2003 after earning a BA and MA from the University of Bielefeld in Germany, a BEd from Laurentian University, and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University.