An immigrant from the Dominican Republic and a native of Queens, NY, Keren is a first-generation Latina in higher education. She graduated from St. John’s University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in History.
Through the dual degree program at Columbia University and the London School of Economics, Keren completed her dissertation, awarded with distinction, titled “Precious Pearls, Stolen Bodies: Violence, Commodification, and Resistance of Enslaved Pearl Divers in Sixteenth-Century Nueva Cádiz de Cubagua.” Supervised by Dr. Christopher Brown and Dr. Jake S. Richards, her research explored the lives of enslaved African and Indigenous pearl divers off the coast of modern-day Venezuela through the lens of labor and exploitation.
Her research interests include alternative forms of enslavement in the sixteenth-century Spanish Caribbean and the transatlantic slave trade. She hopes to continue her education by pursuing a PhD in History, focusing on violence in sixteenth-century Santo Domingo.
Beyond academia, Keren is actively involved in her community as an early childhood literacy advocate. She has also served as an adjunct professor, teaching Early American History to first-generation college students.
