Dr. Maimouna Barro is Associate Director at the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois. She received a Master's in African Studies, a doctoral degree in education, as well as a minor in Gender Relations in International Development (GRID) from the University of Illinois. 

In her role as Associate Director in charge of academic programming and curriculum development, Dr. Barro teaches undergraduate and graduate core courses in African Studies and oversees an undergraduate minor, a graduate minor, a Master of Arts degree, as well as and a joint degree in African Studies and Library Information Science. Dr. Barro’s research interests include issues related to women, gender, education, and social change in Senegal and West Africa.  Her current research addresses questions related to a more people-centered approach to regional integration and focuses on the importance of women’s informal networks in the regional integration project in West Africa.