Dr. Laila Haidarali

Biography

Laila Haidarali is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Queen's University, specializing in modern U.S. history, particularly African American history, women, gender, and sexuality. With a Ph.D. from York University, she has published significant works, including her monograph 'Brown Beauty: Race, Sex, Color in the Harlem Renaissance and World War II', which examines the development of the discourse surrounding brown beauty among African American women during the interwar period. Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach, utilizing a variety of textual sources such as essays, fiction, poetry, and advertisements to understand the cultural impact of brown beauty on African American identity and the civil rights movement. Currently, her SSHRC-funded project focuses on the transnational history of African-diasporic women's involvement in beauty, modeling, and fashion from the 1940s to the early 1970s, expanding the scope of her initial work on U.S. history to include contributions from Canada, the Caribbean, and the UK. Haidarali is dedicated to mentoring graduate students in the fields of women, gender, and sexuality studies within the historical context.

Research Interests