Oneka LaBennett

Oneka LaBennett is a Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity and Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Southern California. She serves as the Director of USC’s Black Studies Center and has authored and co-edited significant works in Caribbean and African Diaspora studies, including Global Guyana (2024) and Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century (2012). Her research intersects race, gender, and popular culture.

• Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from Harvard University (2002)

Research Interests: LaBennett’s work focuses on youth culture, Black girlhood, race and gender, popular culture, urban anthropology, and the African Diaspora. She explores the global Caribbean through critical lenses, emphasizing transnational identities and environmental justice.

Scientific Awards:

• Shortlisted for the 2025 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature

Recent Publications address diasporic erasure, environmental racism, and digital cartographies in Caribbean contexts. Her scholarship combines ethnography, critical theory, and cultural analysis to interrogate race, gender, and migration dynamics.