Trishula Rachna Patel is an accomplished assistant professor of African/African diaspora history whose interests and expertise encompass precolonial and modern African history, legal history, race and segregation in African contexts, mobility and migration within and beyond Africa, modern South Asian history, and methods of oral history and archival fieldwork in the global south. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, International Relations, and French Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University - Graduate School of Journalism, and a Master of Arts in World History with a GPA of 3.96 from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Patel has had extensive experience in both teaching and research. She has served as a graduate research fellow at the Fulbright Association, a teaching associate and graduate teaching assistant at Georgetown University, an adjunct professor at American University, and a former teacher at the Arundel School. Her proficiency in journalism and writing was honed as a former intern at The Washington Post, formerly working for SAVA360 as a writer, The Uptowner as a social media editor, and Philadelphia Weekly as an intern and freelance writer. Dr. Patel has also served as the editor of the Penn History Review and as a beat reporter for The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Dr. Patel's academic publications and upcoming works include the history of cricket in Zimbabwe, Indian diplomats in Central Africa, Mahatma Gandhi's legacy outside the subcontinent, and xenophobia and nativism in 21st century Africa. Her Ph.D. dissertation focused on the history of the South Asian diaspora in Zimbabwe, where she was born and raised.