Meet Dr. Catherine John

Catherine John Camara has a doctorate in Literature with an emphasis in African diaspora literary and cultural studies. She's chair of Africana Studies 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 Gloria 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. In addition to literature, she teaches courses on film and Hip Hop culture.

 

She has received three teaching awards and pioneered study abroad programs to the Caribbean. She co-created an Unlearning Racism workshop for faculty and staff of the University of Oklahoma. 

 

Catherine is married to master drummer and dancer Aboubacar Camara and is Iya and stepmother to Kadiatou, Aicha and Ibrahim Camara.