Ndouba Zahui

Ndouba Zahui serves as a French teacher and PhD candidate in the French department at the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville, Virginia. With more than six years in the education field, she structures her teaching around cultural lessons that introduce students to Francophone and French cultures, drawing on the historical context of French colonization in West African countries. Zahui holds a master's degree in communication focused on media and radio speaking from Ivory Coast, a second master's in French, and an associate degree in performing arts, which she integrates into her work through poetry readings and explorations of Black representation in media. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at UVA while maintaining office hours, preparing instructional materials, and conducting thesis research in the library. Zahui is a member of the African American Literature Association and attributes her success to her resilience, having overcome verbal abuse and sexual harassment from a professor during her bachelor's studies in Ivory Coast who claimed she would never succeed. After moving to the United States, she restarted her education, earned acceptance to five PhD programs including UVA, and now teaches French while pursuing her doctorate. Outside her professional role, she volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and previously served meals to the homeless through the Food Foundation in Florida. She is also a practicing Catholic who draws strength from her faith.