Sarah Riva

Sarah Riva serves as Assistant Professor of History and Honors Program Director at Barry University, where she has taught since 2021 while leading the Honors Program since 2024 through oversight of admissions, curriculum, advising, and extracurricular initiatives.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in History with Graduate Certificate in African and African American Studies from University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• Master of Arts in Public History from University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• Bachelor of Arts in History from Royal Holloway, University of London

Dr. Riva specializes in 20th century U.S. race relations with deep expertise in the long Civil Rights Movement, particularly the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and systemic educational discrimination. Her research examines historical power dynamics in African American communities through critical analysis of segregationist policies and resistance movements, emphasizing how discriminatory practices shaped educational access and civil rights activism across geographical contexts.

Her publications reveal consistent focus on pivotal Civil Rights Movement episodes, especially Southern desegregation battles and legal challenges to educational inequality. These works demonstrate methodological rigor in archival analysis of field reports and landmark court cases, contributing significantly to understanding pre-Brown v. Board struggles and urban civil rights campaigns.

As Honors Program Director, Dr. Riva actively enhances student development through her executive committee role in the Florida Collegiate Honors Council, creating statewide research and presentation opportunities while maintaining her teaching responsibilities in U.S. African American, African, and world history courses.