Studying Black Feminist Thought in Italy as Rome Prize Fellow

“Whenever I said I was interested in Black Italians, people would ask: ‘Are there Black people in Italy?’,” said Duke doctoral student Barbara Ofosu-Somuah.  

The question — and the assumptions behind it — helped spark Ofosu-Somuah’s research into Black Italian literature, translation, and the circulation of Black feminist thought in contemporary Italy. Now, the Romance Studies Ph.D. candidate has been awarded the prestigious Rome Prize, earning a year-long fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, where she will continue advancing her dissertation research. 

Ofosu-Somuah’s interest in Italy began through family connections. She first studied Italian as an undergraduate at Middlebury College because of relatives who had immigrated to Italy from Ghana, sparking her curiosity about the country’s language and culture. During a study abroad experience to Florence, she became increasingly interested in the experiences of Black people living in Italy. This curiosity that eventually grew into her doctoral research, and to the fellowship widely regarded as the field of Italian Studies’ most prestigious honor. 

“The Rome Prize is one of the fellowships everyone whispers about when you first start your program,” Ofosu-Somuah said. “People talk about what it means to spend time at the American Academy and what it can represent professionally.” 

Ofosu-Somuah will be in residence from September 1, 2026, through July 1, 2027, with a cohort of about 30 scholars, artists and writers selected from a highly competitive international pool. Fellows live and work together on the academy’s campus on Rome’s Janiculum Hill, where housing, meals and workspace are provided so recipients can focus fully on their intellectual and creative work. 

For Ofosu-Somuah, the fellowship offers both time and intellectual community as she advances her research. 

“The year in Rome will give me space to really think expansively about my work,” she said. “Being in a city that’s so deeply rooted in history and cultural exchange, while also being in community with scholars from many different disciplines, will be incredibly generative.” 

Her research examines the cultural and literary work of Black Italian writers and the ways Black feminist ideas circulate in Italy through translation and other forms of cultural production. 

Integrating archival research with oral history, Ofosu-Somuah seeks to document how Black feminist politics became embedded within Italian feminist discourse, and how Black Italian women writers have articulated a distinct political vision of belonging within Italy’s complex racial and colonial history. 

Her project draws on institutional archives, editorial records, newspapers and oral histories to argue that Black Italian feminists have played a critical role in shaping national conversations about citizenship, migration and belonging. 

A key focus of her work is how Black feminist ideas — particularly those of writers such as bell hooks, Angela Davis and Audre Lorde — have circulated in Italy through translation and literary exchange. 

“Black feminism developed in a very particular historical moment,” Ofosu-Somuah said. “What fascinates me is how those ideas move across languages and borders, and how Black writers in Italy build their own intellectual and cultural projects from them.” 

Her research also tracks a recent surge in Italian translations of Black feminist texts. Before 2020, only a handful of these works had been translated into Italian. In the years since, many more have appeared, often published by small independent presses. 

For Ofosu-Somuah, translation itself is a central site of inquiry. “I’m interested not only in the literal act of translation but in the cultural work that translation performs,” she said. “Who gets translated? Which texts circulate? What kinds of intellectual traditions get built through those choices?” 

“Black feminism developed in a very particular historical moment. What fascinates me is how those ideas move across languages and borders, and how Black writers in Italy build their own intellectual and cultural projects from them.” – Barbara Ofosu-Somuah 

Mentorship at Duke has played an important role in shaping her scholarly path. Ofosu-Somuah, who is also pursuing certificates in African & African American Studies and Feminist Studies works closely with faculty from all three departments. Her advisor is Associate Professor of Romance Studies Saskia Ziolkowski, whose guidance and support have helped expand the project. 

Ziolkowski was instrumental in bringing Italian-Somali writer Igiaba Scego to Duke as a visiting scholar during Ofosu-Somuah’s first year in her Ph.D. program. The opportunity to study with and learn from Scego — whose work engages questions of migration, race and Italian identity — helped deepen Ofosu-Somuah’s research interests and ultimately shaped the direction of her dissertation. 

Ofosu-Somuah is now translating one of Scego’s novels into English, continuing her work at the intersection of literature, translation and cultural exchange. 

During her fellowship year, Ofosu-Somuah plans to continue writing her dissertation while engaging with Rome’s archives, bookstores and cultural institutions. She is particularly interested in feminist archives and independent bookstores that specialize in multilingual and international literature. 

“The Academy is really about thinking in community,” she said. “You’re surrounded by artists, historians, architects and writers — people approaching big questions from very different angles. That kind of environment pushes you to think differently about your own work.” 

The fellowship also represents a personal milestone. Born in Ghana and raised in the Bronx, Ofosu-Somuah is a first-generation college student and the first in her immediate family to pursue graduate study beyond a bachelor’s degree. 

“I’ve been a kid of scholarships my whole life,” she said. “To have the chance to spend a year in Rome doing this work feels like an incredible gift.”