Faculty and Staff

Amelia Lyons, Ph.D.

• Associate Professor
• Email: [email protected]
• Campus Location: CNH534D
• View CV

Education

• Ph.D. from University of California, Irvine (2004)

Research Interests

Modern Europe, French and French Colonial History, Decolonization, Women's History, Gender Studies

Recent Research Activities

Dr. Lyons' research focuses on the origins of Algerian migration to France at the height of decolonization, i.e. during the War for Algerian Independence (1954-1962). Her book, The Civilizing Mission in the Metropole: Algerian Families and the French Welfare State (SUP, 2013), examines the history of Algerian family settlement and the development of government sponsored social welfare for Algerians and other immigrant communities in France. She has just begun a research project studying the Constantine Plan for Algeria (1958), and the development of social programs at the height of the Algerian war.  In particular, she is interested in examining the Service des centres sociaux, established by antrhopologist Germaine Tillion.

Selected Publications

Books

• The Civilizing Mission in the Metropole: Algerian Families and the French Welfare State during Decolonization, Stanford University Press, 2013.

Articles/Essays

• “French or Foreign? The Algerian Migrants’ Status at the End of Empire (1962-1968),” Journal of Modern European History, vol. 12, no. 1 (2014), 126-144.
  
• “Genre et décolonisation: le cas du Service social familial Nord-Africain,” in Politique et administration du genre en migration Mondes atlantiques, XIXe-XXe siècles, ed. Philippe Rygiel, collection histoires contemporaines (Paris: Editions Publibook Université, 2011), 137-155
• “Social welfare, French Muslims and decolonization in France: the case of the Fonds d'action sociale,” Patterns of Prejudice, vol. 43, no. 1 (February 2009), 65-89.
• "Des bidonvilles aux HLM: Le logement des familles algériennes en France avant l'indépendance de l'Algérie," Hommes et Migrations, no. 1264 (November-December 2006) 35-49.
• "The Civilizing Mission in the Metropole: Algerian Immigrants in France and the Politics of Adaptation during Decolonization," Geschichte und Gesellchaft, 23 (2006) 489-516.

Awards

• Fulbright Grant, France 2000-2001
• Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Illinois, 2005-2006

Courses

• Spring 2026
• Fall 2025
• Summer 2025
• Spring 2025
• Fall 2024
• Summer 2024
• Spring 2024
• Fall 2023
• Summer 2023