Catherine John Camara has a doctorate in Literature with an emphasis in African diaspora literary and cultural studies. She is a full professor and chair of the Africana Studies Department at the University of Rhode Island. She was born and raised in Jamaica and migrated with her family to Boston, Massachusetts where she attended Medford High School and Boston College. She received her PhD from the University of California at Santa Cruz where she studied with Akasha Hull, Kristin Ross, James Clifford and Herman Gray. Her research addresses philosophical issues relevant to folk culture in African American and African Caribbean contexts.