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Biography

Vânia Penha-Lopes is Professor of Sociology at Bloomfield College of ����vlog, where she teaches courses on introduction to sociology, racial/ethnic relations, family, and social inequality. She is also co-chair of the Brazil Seminar at Columbia University, a member of the Laboratório de Estudos Negros -LEN at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, a research fellow at the Washington-Brazil Office-WBO, and a former member of the executive committee of the Brazilian Studies Association-BRASA. A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr. Penha-Lopes graduated with honors from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and from New York University, with Master’s degrees in Anthropology and in Sociology, and a Ph.D. in Sociology. As a post-doctoral fellow at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, she did research on the first graduating class of Brazilian university quota students. Dr. Penha-Lopes has lectured extensively on comparative race relations and has been interviewed by the BBC of London, UOL, Época, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, O Estado de São Paulo, and The Washington Post.

Selected Publications:

Books:

The Presidential Elections of Trump and Bolsonaro, Whiteness, and the Nation. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2022). (The Top 75 Community College Titles: October 2022 Edition - Choice 360)

Racismo Lá e Cá: 60 Crônicas. E-book. (2020)

Confronting Affirmative Action in Brazil: University Quota Students and the Quest for Racial Justice. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books (2017).

Contins, Marcia, Vânia Penha-Lopes, and Carmem Silvia Moretzsohn Rocha (eds.). \sReligiosidade e Performance: Diálogos Contemporâneos. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad (2015).

Pioneiros: Cotistas na Universidade Brasileira. Jundiaí, SP: Paco Editorial (2013).

Edited Journal:
Penha-Lopes, Vânia and Paulo Sérgio da Costa Neves (guest editors). Dossiê Ações Afirmativas no Brasil. Revista TOMO, n. 24, January-June. (2014).

Article:
“Definindo os Outros: Os Usos de Donald Trump das Identidades Negras e Judaicas.” Revista Digital do Niej, ano 8, no. 10, pp. 138-149. niej.historia.ufrj.br (2025).

Research

Comparative racial/ethnic relations; affirmative action in Brazil and the U.S.; social stratification and inequality; family; masculinities.