Areas of Expertise

Dr. Caldwell has conducted innovative research in the United States and Brazil focusing on gender and racial equity and intersectionality. Her research highlights how the relationship between race and gender shapes Black women’s experiences, as well as activism, in Brazil, the United States, and other areas of the Americas.  She has also conducted HIV/AIDS and public health research in Brazil and the United States.

Dr. Caldwell is a passionate advocate for gender and racial equity in higher education and has developed innovative and impactful professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers through her work as the Co-founder and Director of the African Diaspora Fellows Program.

Professional Experience

Dr. Caldwell is a professor of African and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She has also held faculty positions in the California State University system and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her academic leadership experiences include work in the areas of faculty development, faculty affairs, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She has served as the Director of Faculty Diversity Initiatives in the UNC-Chapel Hill College of Arts and Sciences and as Co-PI and Special Assistant to the Provost for TEAM ADVANCE, a nearly $1 million National Science Foundation grant focused on faculty mentoring. She has also served as the PI for a $3 million National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant at Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Caldwell’s research on issues of race, gender, health, and policy has been funded by grants and fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, UNC Center for AIDS Research, Mellon Foundation, and theAmerican Psychological Association.

Dr. Caldwell’s research and writings have been published in the the Washington Post, the Conversation, the Raleigh News & Observer, as well as in academic journals such as, Social Science & Medicine, The Journal of the National Medical Association, Meridians, Revista Estudos Feministas (Brazil), and Saúde em Debate (Brazil).

Dr. Caldwell is a highly sought after speaker and consultant. She regularly leads workshops and training sessions on gender and racial equity, as well as with teachers and school administrators focusing on K-12 education.