Rebecca Blackwell

Rebecca Blackwell, PhD, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of South Florida (USF), College of Arts and Sciences. She also serves as a Postdoctoral Scholar Researcher at the (Im)migrant Well-Being Research Center. Her research focuses on cultural understandings of health and illness in policy-making, migration, race and ethnicity, disability, and human rights, with recent emphasis on Latinx communities' legal status and home-making practices. Dr. Blackwell holds a PhD in Sociology (2021), MA in Latin American Studies (2016), and BA in Modern Languages (2008).

Her work has been published in journals such as Centro Journal and Women, Gender, and Families of Color. She has received the USF Hispanic Heritage Status of Latinos Award (2016). Teaching experience includes courses on Medical Sociology, Emotions in Society, and Social Problems. She is actively involved in academic service, including roles at the Social Problems Theory Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and the University of South Florida's Academic Freedom Policy Revision Committee.

Dr. Blackwell’s research extends to collaborative projects like the Puerto Rican Post-Disaster Migration Survey and interdisciplinary work on cascading disasters’ impacts. She contributes to translating academic work into policy and public discourse, leveraging qualitative methodologies and social psychology frameworks.