NCID-2240
Celeste Watkins-Hayes
University of Michigan
Education/Degree:
1 Sociology (Harvard University)
About
Dr. Celeste Watkins-Hayes is a University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, the Jean Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, and Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor. Prior to joining the faculty at U of M, she served as a professor of sociology and African American studies and Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. Watkins-Hayes is a nationally-recognized scholar and expert on HIV/AIDS; social policy and safety nets; and race, class, and gender. Her latest book, Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality, (University of California Press, 2019) is an examination of the decades-long transformation of the AIDS epidemic told through the voices of over two hundred female AIDS activists, policy officials, advocates, and women living with HIV/AIDS who have been on the front lines of this fight. The book’s release has been covered by The Chicago Tribune, Ms. Magazine, EBONY, Chicago Public Radio, New York Public Radio, Detroit Public Radio, POZ Magazine, the PBS Newshour, Chicago Tonight, and several other outlets across the country.
Remaking A Life has won several awards, including the Eliot Freidson Outstanding Publication Award bestowed by the American Sociological Association Medical Sociology Section, the Distinguished Book Award Section from the ASA Section on Sex and Gender, the Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award from the Association for Humanist Sociology, the Mirra Komarovsky Book Award from the Eastern Sociological Society, and the Alison Piepmeier Book Prize from the National Women's Studies Association. In addition to her academic articles and essays, Watkins-Hayes has published pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Chicago Magazine, and other media outlets. Watkins-Hayes holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Harvard University and a B.A. from Spelman College. She served on the board of trustees of Spelman College for over a decade in various leadership roles, leading the search process for the college’s 10th president. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Current Work
My research interests lie at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and institutions. This intellectual commitment is motivated by my desire to offer analyses and prescriptions, based on empirically- and conceptually-rich research, that address the real-world issues that limit human potential. How do government and non-profit institutions address (or fail to address) the needs of those facing economic hardship? How do women financially and socially cope with living with HIV/AIDS, and how does this affect their abilities to take care of themselves and their families? What will rising income inequality mean for the ability of individuals to move up the economic ladder?
Whether the focus is on how intersections of race, gender, class, and health shape one’s experiences in the labor market, the opportunities and constraints facing bureaucracies that target those on the bottom of the economic ladder, or the dilemmas challenging upward mobility in an age of rising income inequality, I investigate how individuals negotiate key questions of survival and mobility in a context of racial and gender hierarchies and economic constraints. My scholarship therefore speaks directly to current policy debates.
Research Area Keyword(s)
Urban poverty, social policy, HIV/AIDS, non-profit & government organizations, and race, class, and gender