As an Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College of Columbia University, Tamara’s teaching focuses on three interrelated areas: the history of slavery and freedom in Latin America; the process of racial formation in the region; and the ways in which gender shaped the experience of enslavement and racialization. As a writer, she has written commentary on fashion, pop culture, and travel, with the latter subject being particularly close to her heart. Her early exposure to international travel came while a scholarship student at a private high school. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, she spent a semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina to conduct independent research on race and national identity in the region. Her semester abroad inspired her to pursue a PhD in Latin American History at the University of Michigan, where she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for dissertation research in Peru. Tamara is a co-founder of The Wandering Scholar, a 501c3 non-profit whose mission is to make international education opportunities accessible to students from low-income backgrounds. Tamara has written for publications such as The Root, TIME, Slate and the Guardian. She is the author of “Exquisite Slaves: Race, Clothing, and Status in Colonial Lima” (Cambridge University Press). “Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad” is her second book, published by Crown/Penguin Random House. Learn more about Tamara at: www.tamarajwalker.com