As an undergrad in 2011, Zoë Berman packed her bags for Rwanda to work on Stories for Hope, a storytelling project promoting intergenerational dialogue in the wake of the Rwandan genocide. Her first lesson upon arriving in the country? How to say “hello” in the local language, Kinyarwanda. Her teacher? A customs officer in the Kigali airport.
More than a decade after that encounter, Berman reflected on the significance of learning Kinyarwanda in deepening her connections with youth and fellow researchers. Conversing in the language allowed her to break translational barriers and foster more authentic, relaxed exchanges.
“I am lucky to have had fantastic (Rwandan) teachers,” Berman said. “Speaking Kinyarwanda totally transformed my work and helped me make a lot of really wonderful friends.”
Her undergraduate experience with Stories for Hope sparked a lasting interest in Rwanda’s complex post-colonial history — particularly the legacy of Belgian colonialism, which played a direct role in the crystallization of ethnic identities that led to the genocide. Berman is now a sociocultural anthropologist, postdoctoral fellow, and DAAS assistant professor whose work and teaching remain focused on Rwanda’s post-genocide generation. Originally from Ann Arbor, Berman earned a Ph.D. in comparative human development at the University of Chicago, returning to Michigan in August 2024 as part of the Michigan Society of Fellows, a university-wide interdisciplinary program.
Berman’s current research centers around Rwanda's post-genocide generation, a cohort born after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. In her first book project, Berman aims to explore the tension young Rwandans face as they navigate the government’s push to move beyond ethnic labels while simultaneously acknowledging intergenerational memories of genocide. She describes this as a “contradictory imperative,” where youth are expected to forget their ethnic identities but also remember the ethnic violence of the past.
At U-M, Berman will teach a combined DAAS/anthropology class on trauma and mental health in post-colonial Africa in the winter 2025 term. This course extends into another research interest: the rise of Rwanda’s mental health sector and its focus on post-genocide trauma recovery.
Outside of the classroom, you can find Berman spending her time in nature, cooking, and hopefully in a pottery studio in the near future (a “hobby ambition,” as she puts it).
