Niara Foster

Niara Foster is a Chicago native and PhD student in American Studies and African American Studies. Her research considers how Black folks utilize Black sacred traditions, cultural productions, and other such technologies of opacity to (re)shape histories of radicalism, healing, and archival methodology.

Niara holds a degree in African American Studies from Emory University, where she graduated with Highest Honors, producing an honors thesis that examined the radical efforts, communal practices, and healing frameworks of Black women granny midwives during the changing medical landscape of the Progressive Era.

In Summer 2023, Niara was awarded the Humanity in Action fellowship in Berlin. As a Fellow, she developed a blog-style speculative archive that is a creative commentary on memory and a tribute to Black women’s ways of knowing. She is also a member of THRVE Magazine, an imaginative health justice platform.