Dr. Deborah Thomas

Professor

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Biography

Deborah Thomas is the R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she also serves as the Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography and Chair of the Department of Anthropology. With a focus on Political Life, Race, Gender, and the Afterlives of Imperialism, her works interrogate the cycles of dispossession and community building within diasporic movements. Thomas has published widely, contributing to numerous peer-reviewed journals and has authored several impactful books such as 'Exorbitance: Speculative Ethnography and Inheritance' and 'Exceptional Violence: Embodied Citizenship in Transnational Jamaica.' She has received numerous awards, including the Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Book Award and the Guggenheim Fellowship. As a multi-modal ethnographer, her current project, titled 'Middle Passages Returns,' seeks to create complex engagements with histories of empire. Beyond academia, Thomas was a professional dancer with Urban Bush Women and has actively contributed to social justice initiatives through her leadership roles in various research and policy organizations.

Research Interests

Experience

Professor

— Present

University of Pennsylvania • Philadelphia, PA

R. Jean Brownlee Professor of Anthropology, Director of the Center for Experimental Ethnography, and Department Chair.

Awards

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Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Book Award

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Guggenheim Fellowship

Courses

ANTH 0020 Anthropology, Race, Making Modern World ANTH 1160 Caribbean Culture Politics ANTH 3340/6340 Feminist Ethnography ANTH 5087 Race, Nation, Empire ANTH 6010 Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Culture and Society ANTH 6550 Methods of Grantwriting Anthropological Research

Requirements for University of Pennsylvania

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.6
GRE General
Verbal
Required:162
Quantitative
Required:162
Overall
Required:162
GMAT
Total Score
Required:728
Overall
Required:728
TOEFL
Total
Required:115
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree or equivalent Strong quantitative background
Application Checklist
  • Academic Transcripts
  • Letters of Recommendation (2-3)
  • Resume/CV
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Essays
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