Brenda Chalfin

Brenda Chalfin is Professor of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Florida, where she also serves as Director of the Center for African Studies (2016–present). She has held affiliations with multiple interdisciplinary centers including the Center for International Business Education and Research and the School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Research Focus: At the intersection of political and economic anthropology, Chalfin examines urban infrastructure, state processes, maritime governance, and material flows (waste, oil, plastics). Her work spans Ghanaian cities like Tema and Takoradi, analyzing neoliberal state practices, border dynamics, and techno-political systems.

Key Projects: Author of Waste Works: Vital Politics in Urban Ghana (2023) and Neoliberal Frontiers (2010), she explores infrastructural breakdown, port governance, and plastic futures through collaborative design charettes and 'Lateral Anthropology' pedagogy. Current research involves plastic studies with Ghana's University for Development Studies and Nuku Studio.

Scientific Recognition:

• Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) fellowship
• Woodrow Wilson International Center fellowship
• Radcliffe Institute fellowship
• Three successive US Department of Education Title VI grants
• National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (2015)

Academic Contributions: Supervised 20 PhD students, teaches graduate courses on Economic Anthropology and Infrastructure, and co-designed interdisciplinary courses like Impact of Materials on Society. Has served on editorial boards of Journal of Modern African Studies and Environment and Planning D: Society and Space.