Richards, Hazel

Hazel Richards (she/her) is a PhD student in Atlantic history. Her research focuses on twentieth-century French Guiana and departmentalization, particularly the case of the Territory of Inini. She is interested in questions of decolonization, citizenship, sovereignty, and empire. Other themes that interest her are carcerality and borders/borderlands. Her work has been supported by Columbia’s Institute of Latin American Studies.

Education

Before coming to Columbia, she received her B.A. from Williams College in History, French, and Comparative Literature. She wrote her undergraduate honors history thesis on the role of World War II in Martinique’s choice of departmentalization.