Sarah Bakker

Sarah Bakker is a Lecturer Faculty in the Department of Sociology & Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University, affiliated with the College of Health & Social Sciences. She specializes in sociocultural anthropology, focusing on religious studies, sound studies, and critical race theory. Her interdisciplinary research bridges North American, European, and Middle Eastern perspectives on race, religion, gender, and migration through ethnographic work with Syriac diaspora communities.

Dr. Bakker holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She teaches social research methods and emphasizes anti-racist and trauma-informed pedagogy, incorporating Writing Across the Curriculum techniques to nurture student scholarship.

Her research explores transnational sociopolitical identities among Middle Eastern Christian refugees and immigrants in Western Europe, particularly through the lens of religious kinship systems and sensory practices. Key publications include works in American Ethnologist, Cultural Anthropology, and Current Anthropology.

• Awards: Social Science Research Council Fellowship, Charlotte W. Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship, Wenner-Gren Hunt Fellowship
• Current Project: Book manuscript Sonic Icons: Kinship, Christianity, and the Ethics of Recognition

Her advising portfolio includes mentoring students across sociology, anthropology, and women's studies programs, though specific advisee names are not listed here.