About Me

I am a sociologist of race and ethnicity with a focus on race and racism in transnational contexts. My work thinks about migration and about racism and racial stratification in the U.S. and Latin America. My current research touches on transnational constructions of Blackness and the ways in which Afro-Latinxs navigate competing definitions of Black identity in the U.S. My areas of concentration are sociology of race and ethnicity and organizational sociology. I am also pursuing a Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. My work has been supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. I am also an alumna of the Mark Claster Mamolen Dissertation Workshop at the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at Harvard University.

I earned my PhD and MA in Sociology from Duke University, and my BA in Sociology and Africana Studies from Bowdoin College, where I was an MMUF fellow ‘16 and an IRT fellow. At Bowdoin, I did research on racist incidents on college campuses in the U.S.

Starting in Fall 2024, I will be Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston University.

Education

PhD, Sociology, Duke University, 2024

MA, Sociology, Duke University, 2021

BA, Sociology & Africana Studies, Bowdoin College, 2017

In 2022, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education recognized me as a “Rising Graduate Scholar” for my commitment to research and service to my university.

“Pamela takes time to work in the service of other causes, whether that means working with organizations … or contributing time and research to her own institution.” says Dr. Paula D. McClain, dean of the graduate school and vice provost for graduate education at Duke University. “Rather than hoarding knowledge within the academy, she has made efforts to leverage her learning to contribute to efforts beyond her own advancement.”

Read more here.