Marielle Masolo (UK/DRC)

marielle masolo
DPhil in History of Medicine, Science and Technology

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and raised in the United Kingdom, I am a researcher exploring how faith and medicine have long intertwined in the struggle to make sense of illness. I am drawn to the ways disease unsettles the human condition, exposing our fragility while awakening a restless search for meaning, hope, and healing.

 

I graduated with First Class Honours in History from Queen Mary University of London (2022), where my dissertation, The Battle of Sommeil: Missionary Interpretations of Traditional Congolese Healing Practices, 1880–1930, examined Congolese healing practices in relation to human trypanosomiasis and was awarded the History Dissertation Prize. I later completed an MSc with Distinction in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology at Linacre College (2024), which received the Royal Historical Society Master's Scholarship and was awarded the Charles Webster Prize for Best Dissertation in Cohort.

 

Building upon my master's research, my doctoral study will explore the interplay of faith, medicine, and colonial power in Central Africa, focusing on the Belgian Congo in the twentieth century. I am particularly interested in how moments of crisis stirred both spiritual and medical responses, and how prophetic figures reimagined what it meant to heal amid epidemic and empire. In tracing these entanglements, I seek to understand how disease, belief, and authority converged to shape Congolese experiences of suffering and hope. I am also interested in understanding how these histories continue to echo in the enduring relationship between faith and healing in Central African communities today.

 

As a first-generation scholar, I hold a strong interest in education access and widening participation. Beyond my academic work, I can often be found writing fiction or discovering new coffee spots.

 

I am deeply grateful to the Ertegun Graduate Scholarship Programme for the opportunity to pursue this study, and I look forward to contributing to and learning from its vibrant community.