معرفی
Karen E. Richman is a Professor of the Practice and Director of Undergraduate Academic Programs at the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. She holds concurrent faculty positions in the Departments of Romance Languages and Literatures and Anthropology, and is affiliated faculty in Africana Studies and Gender Studies. As a cultural anthropologist with expertise in Haitian and Mexican migration studies, she has been a Kellogg Institute faculty fellow since 2002.
Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Music from Wesleyan University, and both Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology from the University of Virginia.
Richman's research focuses on religion, migration, transnationalism, performance, gender, and production and consumption, with particular emphasis on Haitian and Mexican communities in the United States. Her work explores how cultural practices, especially around religion and savings behavior, shape immigrant experiences and adaptation. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Haiti and Mexico, examining dynamics of migration, religious conversion, and economic practices.
Her scholarship reveals consistent themes across her publications: the role of cultural values in financial behavior, religious syncretism in diaspora contexts, and the gendered dimensions of migration. Richman has pioneered interdisciplinary approaches, collaborating with economists to study Latino retirement savings and with engineers to examine Haitian construction practices related to climate change.
- Open Course Ware Excellence Award for Creole Language and Culture
- Robert F. Heizer Prize for Best Journal Article in Ethnohistory
- Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2015)
- Newberry Library Fellowship
- Social Science Research Council Fellowship
Richman actively mentors students through thesis courses and directed readings, with research focusing on Mexican immigration, Caribbean diasporas, and Creole language and culture. She has secured significant grant funding from organizations including the National Endowment for Financial Education and the National Science Foundation for her interdisciplinary work on immigrant savings behavior and Haitian responses to natural hazards.
She leads the Cross-Cultural Leadership Program and has served as Program Chair for the Haitian Studies Association conference at Notre Dame. Richman is also involved in community initiatives, advising student groups like the Latino Honors Society and the Student Coalition for Immigrant Advocacy.
