Tara Hollies

Tara Hollies (she/her) has been the Visiting Assistant Professor of African History at
Macalester since 2021. She earned her PhD in African History from Michigan State University
in 2020 with her dissertation earning distinction.

Dr. Hollies’ research, which has been funded by Fulbright and Social Science Research
Council grants, privileges indigenous African knowledge, perspectives, and periodization, and
she is particularly interested in the themes of law, religion, gender, and anti/de/colonization. Her
first book project (still underway) examines the changing gender dynamics of law and religion in
Igboland, southeastern Nigeria from the origins of Igbo society up to the arrival of British
missionaries and colonial officials in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, respectively.
Specifically, the work traces how female-centric Igbo law became eclipsed by male-centric
colonial law as well as how Igbo people responded to this change, primarily between the 1890s
and 1940s.

Dr. Hollies earned the Excellence-in-Teaching award from Michigan State University in
2020 for her love of, and commitment to, mentoring students within and outside of the
classroom. She has continued to express her devotion to student-centered learning during her
time at Macalester—teaching a variety of African and gender history courses, serving as the
college’s Phi Alpha Theta faculty advisor, chairing history senior capstone panels, advising many
Macalester students and alumni who apply for Fulbright awards each fall, and collaborating with
student organizations like Afrika! and History Club to plan and host campus events.