Mariah Stember

Mariah Stember is a gender scholar focused on southern Africa. Stember’s work investigates how war transforms gender roles and how a country’s gender regime affects the nature of conflict. Her research examines women and the Namibian liberation struggle, and finds that Namibian women furthered the movement in vital ways, as combatants, caregivers, and leaders. She earned her Ph.D. in women, gender and sexuality studies from the University of Kansas. Previously, Stember has taught in Germany, Namibia, and the U.S. She had Fulbright grants in Namibia in 2019 and in Germany in 2002, studied health, human rights, and social transformation in Kenya in 2010, and served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Namibia from 2012 – 2014.

Recent Courses Taught

Introduction to WGS
Introduction to Feminist Theory

Research Interests

Southern Africa, gender, conflict, and liberation movements, memory studies, human rights, social justice

Distinctions

Grants and Fellowships

• Fulbright & International Institute of Education U.S. Student Fellowship to Namibia, 2019-2020.
• Kiswahili Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. From the University of Kansas African Studies Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, 2017-2019.
• Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant, Office of International Programs, University of Kansas, 2018.
• Scholarly Presentation Award, Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, University of     Kansas, 2017 & 2018.
• Kiswahili Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship. Summer African Language Institute, University of Kansas, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, 2017.
• U.S. Ambassador Self-Help Grant, U.S. Embassy in Namibia. 2014.
• U.S. Peace Corps Partnership Grant, U.S. Peace Corps. 2014.

Awards

• Summer Research Scholarship. Office of Graduate Studies, University of Kansas, 2020.
• Debicki International Travel Award. Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas, 2020.
• Baur Student Award for Research and Study of Social Conflict and Conflict Resolution. Department of     Sociology, University of Kansas, 2019.
• Tradition of Excellence Award. KU Endowment, University of Kansas, 2019.
• First Place Award, Advanced Kiswahili. African Languages Festival, University of Kansas, 2019. 
• Graduate Summer Research Award, Hall Center for the Humanities, University of Kansas, 2019. 
• Research Travel Award, Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Kansas, 2019. 
• Research Excellence Award, Dean’s Office, University of Kansas, 2018.
• Pederson Scholarship for Studies at the University of Oslo International Summer School, Office of Study Abroad and Global Engagement, University of Kansas, 2018.
• Ege Scholarship. International Summer School, University of Oslo, 2018.
• Women for Women Award, Emily Taylor Center for Women & Gender Equity, University of Kansas,  2017. 
• Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory Scholar, Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, University of Kansas, 2017 - 2019.

Select Publications

• Cloete, E., Bannikov, M., & Stember, M. (2020). African Women and their Network of Support: Intervening Connections. New York: Lexington.
• Stember, M. (2020). "The Revolution is in the Everyday": Women in the Namibian Liberation Movement. In Clote, E., Bannikov, M., & Stember, M. (Eds.), African Women and their Network of Support: Intervening Connections. New York: Lexington.
• Stember, M. (April 2020). "Marriage as a Class Marker in Southern Africa," Review of the book The Decline of Marriage in Namibia: Kinship and Social Class in a Rural Community, by J. Pauli. Journal of Southern African Studies.

Professional Affiliations

National Women’s Studies Association
African Studies Association

Appointed to the Faculty

2021

Educational Background

Ph.D., University of Kansas
M.A., University of Kansas
M.A., University of Washington
B.A., St. Olaf College