Lisa Maya Knauer

Lisa Maya Knauer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her work bridges anthropology, social justice, and interdisciplinary studies, with affiliations in the Black Studies Program, Women, Gender and Sexuality Program, and Sustainability Studies.

• Research Focus: Explores racialized identities, transnational cultural flows, environmental justice, and the gendered dynamics of genocide/violence through ethnographic fieldwork and community engagement.
• Teaching: Offers courses like SOA 102 (Social Problems), SOA 211 (Politics of Commemoration), and SOA 335 (Environmental Justice), emphasizing original ethnographic work and critical analysis over textbooks.
• Community Work: Co-founded an immigrant workers’ center and a Mayan women’s organization in New Bedford after ICE raids (2007), and conducted Fulbright research (2011) on Mayan women’s self-representation via community radio in Guatemala.