Alana Ackerman

Alana Ackerman is a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation, focusing on armed conflict, violence, displacement, and state dynamics in the Global South. Her work intersects with migration, asylum, and refuge studies, particularly in Latin America, Ecuador, and Colombia.

• PhD in Anthropology with a minor in Gender and Women's Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• MA in Anthropology from FLACSO Ecuador
• BA in Spanish from Tufts University

Ackerman's research examines how refugees navigate violence and displacement in spaces of refuge, challenging conventional understandings of safety and state power. Her current book project ethnographically documents Colombian refugees' experiences in Ecuador, analyzing cross-border persecution, anti-Black racism, and state dynamics post-2016 peace accords.

Her scholarly contributions have been supported by grants from the Fulbright-Hays Program and the Social Science Research Council. Publications appear in journals such as American Anthropologist and Political and Legal Anthropology Review.

• Fulbright-Hays Program
• Social Science Research Council

Ackerman’s work bridges critical refugee studies, migration research, and Latin American studies, offering a nuanced perspective on displacement and state mechanisms in conflict-affected regions.