Carina Ray

Carina Ray is the A.M. and H.P. Bentley Chair in African History and an Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan's Department of History. Her research focuses on Ghana and its diasporas, with expertise in race, sexuality, colonialism, migration, and print cultures. She earned her Ph.D. in History from Cornell University in 2007.

Her work explores themes such as comparative colonialisms, gendered nationalism, and the intersection of race and political power. Major publications include Crossing the Color Line: Race, Sex, and the Contested Politics of Colonialism in Ghana (2015), recognized with prestigious awards from the American Historical Association and African Studies Association. She has contributed to leading journals like American Historical Review and serves as series co-editor for New African Histories and other academic presses.

Current projects include (Im)Pressing Blackness, analyzing print culture's role in shaping racial identity in Ghana, and an oral history project on Cuban-African Cold War interactions. Her research bridges transnational histories, emphasizing marginalized voices and material culture.

Awards include the 2016 Wesley-Logan Book Prize and 2017 Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize. She has held editorial roles for Ghana Studies and American Historical Review. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates historical methodologies with gender and postcolonial studies.