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 the vice provost for faculty affairs and diversity and a professor of African and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She has 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 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 received grants and fellowships from the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, UNC Center for AIDS Research, Mellon Foundation, American Psychological Association, and the National Science Foundation.

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.